Strange Highways (story collection)
Encyclopedia
Strange Highways is a collection of 12 short stories and two novels by best-selling American
suspense
author Dean Koontz
, released in May 1995. Four of the stories are revised from their originals. A British edition of the book [identical contents; lacking only the novel] was previously issued by Headline in April 1995.
Cemetery Dance Publications
printed a limited edition hardcover of the book (ISBN 1-881475-15-8). It was slipcased and limited to 750 signed and numbered copies.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
suspense
Suspense
Suspense is a feeling of uncertainty and anxiety about the outcome of certain actions, most often referring to an audience's perceptions in a dramatic work. Suspense is not exclusive to fiction, though. Suspense may operate in any situation where there is a lead-up to a big event or dramatic...
author Dean Koontz
Dean Koontz
Dean Ray Koontz is a prolific American author best known for his novels which could be described broadly as suspense thrillers. He also frequently incorporates elements of horror, science fiction, mystery, and satire. A number of his books have appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List, with...
, released in May 1995. Four of the stories are revised from their originals. A British edition of the book [identical contents; lacking only the novel
Cemetery Dance Publications
Cemetery Dance Publications
Cemetery Dance Publications is a specialty press publisher of horror and dark suspense. Cemetery Dance was founded by Richard Chizmar, a horror author, while he was in college. It is associated with Cemetery Dance magazine, which was founded in 1988. They began to publish books in 1992.Cemetery...
printed a limited edition hardcover of the book (ISBN 1-881475-15-8). It was slipcased and limited to 750 signed and numbered copies.
Featured stories
- "Strange Highways" (novel): a failed author returns to his hometown after many years to attend his father's funeral, only to find himself suddenly and inexplicably thrust back through time to relive a traumatic event from his past. In the introduction, Koontz lists the Centralia, PennsylvaniaCentralia, PennsylvaniaCentralia is a borough and ghost town in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, United States. Its population has dwindled from over 1,000 residents in 1981 to 12 in 2005, 9 in 2007, and 10 in 2010, as a result of a mine fire burning beneath the borough since 1962...
mine fire as an inspiration for this story. - "The Black Pumpkin": a twelve year old boy tries to stop his cruel brother from buying a black pumpkin from a creepy pumpkin carver. He buys the pumpkin anyway, and later that night gets what he deserves.
- "Miss Attila the Hun"
- "Down in the Darkness": after a couple buys a new house, the husband discovers a mysterious door that leads to a dark cellar.
- "Ollie's Hands": a young man with extraordinary psychic abilities and his tragic attempt to pursue a relationship with a woman whose life he saves. [Revised version]
- "Snatcher": a purse snatcher steals a purse from a strange old woman, only to find that he's made a terrible mistake.
- "Trapped": a woman and her son trying to fend off an attack by giant, mutated rats.
- "Bruno": a private eye and a "probability cop" from another dimension hunt down a dangerous alien. [Revised version]
- "We Three": three siblings with special powers eliminate the rest of mankind, thinking that they're the "new race", but soon one of them is pregnant with a creature even more powerful who just might eliminate them. [Revised version]
- "Hardshell": a wounded cop stalks a killer through an abandoned warehouse, but there's more to this seemingly stereotypical situation than meets the eye.
- "Kittens": the first short story Koontz ever sold. A girl learns the truth about God "taking her kittens to Heaven", and she decides to get even. [Revised version]
- "The Night of the Storm": a group of intelligent robots go on a hunting trip in the woods, where they learn that the myth of "human beings" may not be a myth after all.
- "Twilight of the Dawn": a devout atheist who finds his lack of faith challenged in the wake of his son's painful death from cancer.
- "Chase" (novella)