Wilderness and Other Stories

by Dean R. Koontz

“The world is a machine that produces endless surprises and mysteries layered on mysteries.”



"Wilderness," a darkly intriguing short story first published as an e-book original, was written as prelude to Dean Koontz’s novel of mystery, suspense, and strange wonder—Innocence.



Addison Goodheart was born in an isolated home surrounded by a deep forest, never known to his father, kept secret from everyone but his mother, who barely accepts him. Only in the woods, among the wildlife, is Addison truly welcome. Only there can he be at peace. Until the day he first knows terror, the day when his life changes radically and forever....



Twelve of the other fourteen short stories and novelettes included in this audio anthology were most recently reissued in a print collection entitled Strange Highways, published by Warner Books (1995). The other two—"The Scariest Thing I Know" (2000) first published in Martha Stewart Living magazine and "Hostage Situation" (2009) in The New York Times Summer Thriller series.



Only the short work "Down in the Darkness," has ever been produced for audio.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Audiobook, Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Suspense

Audio CD

First published August 13, 2014

About the author

Librarian's Note: This author writes under the name Dean R. Koontz and Dean Koontz. As both names appear on his works, both should be kept.

Acknowledged as "America's most popular suspense novelist" (Rolling Stone) and as one of today's most celebrated and successful writers, Dean Ray Koontz has earned the devotion of millions of readers around the world and the praise of critics everywhere for tales of character, mystery, and adventure that strike to the core of what it means to be human.

Known Pseudonyms:
Leigh Nichols,
Brian Coffey,
David Axton,
Owen West,
Deanna Dwyer
Aaron Wolfe.
K.R. Dwyer
John Hill
Richard Paige
Anthony North

Reviews

[Sammy Loves Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful collection of short stories about an abomination, a creepy cellar door, and kittens just to name a few!!

[☾❀Apple✩ Blossom⋆｡˚ · Rating 3 out of 5]

some of these were really good but some others were so bad it made me want to hate the good ones too

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable set of stories to listen to. However, I read many of them from "Strange Highways".
New ones in this collection: "Wilderness", "The Scariest Thing I Know" and "Hostage Situation".

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Of course, I didn't find out until the "end credits" part of this short story collection that some of these stories were from Dean Koontz's Strange Highways collection. I already read that. Somehow, The Basement story has been in 3 different collections I have read. It's a decent short story, but it gets a bit boring when it repeats in a different piece of work. My favorite in this collection was probably the one with "the boy" in the woods. I had not yet read the book he ties into, but I did enjoy getting this prequel or back-story to that book in short story format first.

I think some of these short stories were not enough of a developed story to be that interesting. For example, the children. It was easy enough to piece together what was going on during the story, but it was just a small snippet in the middle of "events" that would be their lives. It was after their "big decision" (trying not to write a spoiler), and before "what comes next" and just wasn't that interesting.

[Mashona · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read only a couple of DK's novels throughout my years so it's safe to say I'm a newbie - all of these stories were new to me. I liked the stories on a whole - of course maybe 2 of them were predictable, but I enjoyed them anyway. Trying to figure out what to read next...

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't like this book as much I hoped to. I enjoyed some of the short stories, such as - The Black Pumpkin, Ollie's Hands and Kittens. The rest are all read and already forgotten.

[Shirley Yant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good bunch of short stories.

[Ida · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection of short stories. Ranging from thrillers to down right creepy! All good.😀

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed majority of the stories in this collection. I love novels but I also live short stories in most forms. Definitely doesn't disappoint if you're looking for something more laid back.

[Nganka]

short stories review-

kittens - 2.5 - mid
ollie's hands- 3.25 - a well-written tragic tale

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection of Koontz shorts. Lots of thrills, a few surprises, and a few tears. A perfect blend.

[Carly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun book with some quality stories. Not every story is great, but enough are for you to enjoy reading this book. What surprised me most was that it had some stories in it very similar to Stephen King's Bazaar of Bad Dreams to an eerie extent!

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some cool ideas translated into stories, but my impression of Koontz's Odd Thomas books was that they were overwritten and this collection confirms it. Things are said twice that never need to be said.

[Jefferson Holbrook · Rating 4 out of 5]

some stories are incredible, some not so much, though.

[Jenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few of the stories are top notch along with several that are mediocre, but overall an enjoyable read.

[Sarah Stevens · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't finish

[Kelly Nielsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stories range from good to great. My favorite being "The night of the storm"

[Eric Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

only 3 new stories rest are rehashed from Strange Highways.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved some of the stories, but even the ones that weren't my favorite were good. I haven't read a lot of Dean Koontz's short stories, so they were all new to me and perfect for my Fall reading!

[Darryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed this. The science fiction shorts were light, creative and interesting.

[George · Rating 1 out of 5]

Put off reading it for three years, only to find out that it's not my kinda book. Listened to two chapters, then put it away.

[Tanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of these were a blast from the past, as they're all mostly from Strange Highways. I recalled most of them pretty well, and it was nice to get that old feeling of loving Dean Koontz, but not enough to make me live the book. a couple bright spots, like the one about the basement stairs, and trick or treating, but some real stinkers too (we three, eww... I'm with holding opinion on the title story because I know it's essentially a first chapter to a whole book, which I haven't read.) This however makes me want to pick up some old DK like Lightning or The Bad Place, or Strangers.