Odd Thomas Series

Odd Thomas
by Dean Koontz

Many years ago, I read Demon Seed by Dean Koontz. Since it has been such a long time, I cannot remember the details of the novel or even the denouement. Nevertheless, I remember never wanting to read another Koontz’s novel. It was an interesting plot, a home monitoring smart computer develops humanistic emotion of obsession for the lady of the house (Susan), who is a twice survivor of abuse. I recall enjoying the fast pace novel, but hating the conclusion. Now, today, I cannot remember why I hated the end, but it is the reason I have shunned Koontz’s novels.

A few weeks ago, I noticed that Dean Koontz published Odd Hours, fourth installment to his Odd series, which is currently seventh on the New York Times book review bestseller list. I had heard that the series is very interesting, narrated by a young man (Odd Thomas) of twenty-years-old, who is a short-order cook in the arid Californian town of Pico Mundo with the gift to see dead people and other things. Odd creates a memoir recounting his life experiences seeing the dead, conveying, and fulfilling their wishes. In Odd Thomas (book one), Odd takes a proactive approach when an abundant amount of ominous visitors “bodachs” surround a strange man and then denizens of Pico Mundo. Odd must protect the people he cares for and save Pico Mundo from a grand massacre.

I am glad I gave Dean Koontz another try. Even though M. Night Shyamalan has already made The Six Sense, and it is a great movie, Odd Thomas is nevertheless creative and interesting though it does have similar aspects to Shyamalan’s most popular film.

The first chapter is gripping, disclosing Odd Thomas' talent and his proactive approach towards the dead. Aspects of the story unfold slowly never revealing too much but not being overbearingly concealed. There is a stirring plot twist; just when everything seems to be revealed and only the pursuit seems to matter, more questions arise. In addition, even an element of the conclusion was unexpected.

I will surely be reading Forever Odd soon.

For more information on Dean Koontz's Odd Thomas series visit Odd's website Odd Thomas. There you can view Odd's webisodes called the Odd Passenager An Odd Thomas Story.

Horror 100 Best Books

Even though I am a horror veteran enthusiast, there is always more that I can discover about the genre. Close to ten years ago I bought Horror 100 Best Books edited by Stephen Jones and Kim Newman; a long time has past, but I still find myself skimming the pages to find another worthy horror book to read. The book is the collaboration of renowned horror authors writing about their favorite horror (meaning anything that is disturbing, aberrant) novel.

I would recommend horror fans to purchase or borrow this book, for there are more reading recommendations. The list is not a definitive ranking of the best horror novels but should be approached as a guide.

Note: This is an old edition, which was published in 1998.  The most recent edition was published in 2005.  

The list:

1. The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe

2. The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare

3. The White Devil by John Webster

4. Calbe Willimas by William Godwin 

5. The Monk by Matthew Gregory Lewis

6. The Best Tales of Hoffman

7. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen 

8. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

9. Melmoth the Wanderere, by Charles Maturin

10. The Confessions of a Justified Sinner by James Hogg

11. Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allan Poe

12. Twice-Told Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne 

13. The Black Spider by Jeremias Gotthelf

14. The Wandering Jew by Eugéne Sue

15. The Confidence Man by Herman Melville 

16. Uncle Silas by J. Sheridan Le Fanu

17. Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Rober Louis Stevenson

18. She by H. Rider Haggard

19. The King in Yellow by Rober W. Chambers 

20. The Island of Dr Moreau by H. G. Wells

21. Dracula by Bram Stoker

22. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

23. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

24. The Jewel of Seven Stars by Bram Stoker

25. Ghost Stories of an Antiquary by M. R. James

26. The House of Souls by Arthur Machen

27. John Silence by Algernon Blackwood

28. The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton

29. The House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgson

30. The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce

31. Widdershins by Oliver Onions

32. The Horror Horn by E. F. Benson

33. A Voyage of Arcturus by David Lindsat

34. The Trial by Franz Kafka

35. Something About Eve by James Branch Cabell

36. Medusa by E. H. Visiak

37. The Werewolf of Paris by Guy Endore

38. The Last Bouquet by Marjorie Bowen

39. The Cadaver of Gideon Wyck by Alexander Laing

40. A Second Century of Creepy Stories by Hugh Walpole

41. The Dark Tower by C. S. Lewis

42. Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo

43. The Outsider and Others by H.P. Lovecraft

44. Out of Space and Time by Clark Ashton Smith

45. Conjure Wife by Fritz Leiber

46. Night Has a Thousand Eyes by Cornell Woolrich 

47. The Lurker at the Threshold by H. P. Lovecraft & August Derleth

48. Deliver Me from Eva by Paul Bailey

49. And the Darkness Falls by Boris Karloff

50. The Sleeping and the Dead by August Derleth

51. Track of the Cat by Wlter Van Tilburg Clark

52. The Sound of His Horn by Sarban

53. Lord of the Flies by William Golding

54. I am Legend by Richard Matheson

55. The October Country by Ray Bradbury

56. Nine Horrors and a Dream by Joseph Payne Brennan

57. Psycho by Robert Bloch

58. Quatermass and the Pit by Nigel Kneale 

59. Cry Horror! by H. P. Lovecraft

60. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

61. The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by Philip K. Dick

62. The Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosinski

63. The Crystal World by J. G. Ballard

64. Sub Rosa by Robert Aickman

65. The Green Man by Kingsley Amis

66. The Compleat Werewolf by Anthony Boucher

67. Grendel by John Gardner 

68. The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty 

69. The Sheep Look Up by John Brunner 

70. Worse Things Waiting by Manly Wade Wellman

71. Burnt Offerings by Robert Marasco

72. 'Salem's Lot by Stephen King 

73. Deathbird Stories by Harlan Ellison

74. Murgunstrumm and Others by Hugh B. Cave

75. Sweetheart, Sweetheart by Bernard Taylor

76. All Heads Turn When the Hunt Goes By by, John Farris

77. The Shining by Stephen King

78. Falling Angel by William Hjortsberg

79. The Wolfen by Whitley Strieber

80. The Totem by David Morrell

81. Ghost Story by Peter Straub 

82. The Land of Laughs by Jonathan Carrol

83. The Cellar by Richard Laymon

84. Red Dragon by Thomas Harris 

85. The Keep by F. Paul Wilson

86. The Dark Country by Dennis Etchison

87. In a Lonely Place by Karl Edward Wagner

88. The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers

89. The Arabian Nightmare, by Robert Irwin

90. The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks

91. The Ceremonies by T. E. D. Klein

92. Mythago Wood by Robert Holdstock

93. Who Made Stevie Cry? by Michael Bishop

94. Song of Kali by Dan Simmons

95. Damnation Game by Clive Barker

96. Hawksmoor by Peter Ackroyd

97. A Nest of Nightmares by Lisa Tuttle

98. The Pet by Charles L. Grant

99. Swan Song by Robert McCammon

100. Dark Feasts by Ramsey Campbell