Literary fiction, as a strict genre, is all but dead. Meanwhile, most genres flourish.

- Dean Koontz

In my books, I never portray violence as a reasonable solution to a problem. If the lead characters in the story are driven to it, it's at the extreme end of their experience.

- Dean Koontz

If you have to pay the bills, and you write something you're not proud of, use a pen-name for that.

- Dean Koontz

Never, never try to scope the market.

- Dean Koontz

In my personal life, I'm a comic novel. But then, so are we all, because we're human beings.

- Dean Koontz

If you want to publish two books a year under your own name and your publisher doesn't, maybe you need a different publisher.

- Dean Koontz

When I'm working on a novel, I work 70-hour weeks.

- Dean Koontz

Because people see violence on the movie screen, they're not going to go out and hold up a liquor store and kill somebody. It really doesn't correlate.

- Dean Koontz

Your mind always does worse things than people can show in a movie.

- Dean Koontz

Vladimir Nabokov said the two great evils of the 20th century were Marx and Freud. He was absolutely correct.

- Dean Koontz

I receive about 10,000 letters a year from readers, and in the first year after a book is published, perhaps 5,000 letters will deal specifically with that piece of work.

- Dean Koontz

I've got a long list of books I wish I'd never written-and I've kept them all out of print for the past 20 years.

- Dean Koontz

I think it's the people who have no doubt that every word they put down is gold that probably don't write very well.

- Dean Koontz

I think it's perfectly just to refuse service to anyone based on behavior, but not based on race or religion.

- Dean Koontz

I have been reading Stephen King since CARRIE and hope to read him for many years to come.

- Dean Koontz

Although I've said a million times that I'm not a horror writer, I do like horror.

- Dean Koontz

Although charismatic, James Dean is no Harrison Ford. In the majority of his movies, sooner or later he got the crap beaten out of him.

- Dean Koontz

A fanatic is a nut who has something to believe in.

- Dean Koontz

My wife is my first audience. She's a tough lady, so I can't say that I ever scare her. Except, of course, when she sees me the way I look before breakfast.

- Dean Koontz

I've not seen in my lifetime any politician who is a heroic figure. The manipulation that all politicians use on one level or another is so transparent.

- Dean Koontz