The "prince of horror" writer turns eighty today

As we know, there is only one king, but there can be many princes. But in modern world literature, where the title of "king of horror" has belonged to Stephen King for many decades, there has also been only one "prince of horror" for many decades - Dean Koontz. And if it were not for King, the throne would unconditionally belong to the "older brother" (Koontz is 2 years older than King).

At the same time, Koontz cannot be called "eternally second" - on the New York Times bestseller list, 14 of his novels in hardcover and 16 in paperback occupied first place. Until recently, it was believed that King was ahead in terms of circulation - 400 million copies against 250 million for Koontz, but according to the latest data, Koontz already has 450 million.

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However, it all depends on how you count, since in his youth, Koontz, due to poverty, wrote under pseudonyms everything that was sold, including 30 erotic novels. Having become a rich man, Koontz bought all the rights to them in order to prohibit the republication of some and release others in a revised form. However, apparently, he quickly got tired of the second option.

As has already been said, Koontz writes more often and more diversely, if we keep in mind the genre component of King, and he does not have the signature snobbery of the "king" - like, each of his new books should be an event in the world of literature. Perhaps this came from poverty in childhood, and then in his youth, when he was forced to write at night while working as a teacher, until his wife said that she was giving him five years, during which she would earn money for both of them, and he should become a writer. And Koontz justified the trust.

Another thing that distinguishes Koontz from King is that the "king of horror" wrote his first, most terrible and, it must be admitted, best novels, by his own admission, under the influence of alcohol and harmful substances. Koontz drew "inspiration" (if you can use this word in this case) from his childhood - his father was an alcoholic and a fighter.

And, as the author of his biography, based on an interview with Koontz himself, psychologist Catherine Ramsland, wrote back in the 90s, Koontz draws many plots for his novels from his life and the lives of his loved ones. And also from his beloved dogs.

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