Dean Koontz’s “Phantoms”
I’m back, and just in time for one of my favorite holiday seasons of the year: Halloween! Over the next few weeks I’ll be reviewing horror novels (unless something particularly great fall into my lap), and I thought I’d bring us into October with a book by Dean Koontz: Phantoms.
Phantoms follows Jenny and Lisa Paige as they return home to Jenny’s home of Snowfield, California, a little ski resort village in the Sierra-Nevada Mountains. As they arrive they begin to realize the town is quieter than usual, and begin searching the town for signs of an accident. The sisters quickly discover that the entire town is dead, filled with mutilated bodies, and desperately try to reach out to a nearby town for help. As a team of police join the girls, they begin an investigation to discover what devoured Snowfield, and find themselves face-to-face with an enemy of unbelievable power and influence.
Dean Koontz is one of my favorite authors, particularly in the horror genre, because he brings a thriller-like approach to his writing. On the one hand, Phantoms oozes suspense in the opening chapters, akin to some of Stephen King’s earliest works. On the other hand, the action is frantic and you certainly won’t be seeing two hundred pages of buildup with no antagonist. Koontz writing is pleasantly stable throughout the entirety of the novel. While there won’t be mindblowing moments of prose like you would expect in a Ray Bradbury psychological horror delve, Koontz deftly switches between horror, thriller, and mystery as needed, without ever letting the book lose steam. Characterization is much the same way. I’ll probably never consider the cast of Phantoms to be amongst my favorite protagonists, but their interactions amongst one another are completely believable, and they are characters that you can easily empathize with (which is fundamental to a horror story). As for scares, Phantoms capitalizes on the setting to the fullest degree. Snowfield feels absolutely eerie, and you, as well as Jenny and Lisa, will be wondering what is lurking around each and every corner.
With fluid and skillful writing, a setting that would creep out just about anyone, and pacing that will keep you turning pages well past the witching hour, Dean Koontz’s Phantoms is a great read to usher in the Halloween season. I hope you all enjoy the book as much as I have this past week, and I can’t wait to jump straight into my next horror story!
