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Standalone Novels, Novellas, and Collections Reading Order.

Quick Answer

Start Standalone Novels, Novellas, and Collections by Dean Koontz with "Shattered", then follow the publication sequence. This order preserves the intended narrative twists and world-building progression.

These are standalone horror and suspense novels, as well as collections of Dean Koontz's shorter works.

Reader's Guide

This series spans 17 main titles released between 1985 and 1991. For the best experience, we recommend following the Publication Order below to preserve key plot reveals.

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Official Verdict

Short Answer:
Start with "Shattered"

To experience the narrative as intended, read the main sequence in Publication Order.Ignore novellas and side stories until you finish the first 3 core novels. This resolves all timeline confusion and preserves every major twist.

Why This Order Is Confusing

Many reading lists for Standalone Novels, Novellas, and Collections conflict because early publishers often labeled short story collections as standalone novels, or rearranged internal chronologies for marketing. This guide follows original author intent and narrative continuity to settle the debate for good.

Can I skip the short stories?

Technically yes, but we strongly advise against it for Standalone Novels, Novellas, and Collections. The shorter volumes often establish the core character motivations and world-building that the main saga assumes you already know.

I watched the show/movie first — where should I start?

Ignore the screen adaptations' timeline. Start with "Shattered" to see the original depth of the world. The books offer a significantly different (and usually more complete) experience than the on-screen versions.

Why do people disagree on the order?

Disagreement usually stems from the conflict between purely chronological order and publication order. Most long-term fans recommend publication order to preserve the emotional arc and mystery reveals.

Curator's Strategy

Recommended Reading Order Strategy

The authoritative way to read the "Standalone Novels, Novellas, and Collections" series is in Publication Order. Start with the first published book. It's the way the author intended the world to be revealed.This ensures you experience character reveals and plot twists exactly as the author intended.

Complete Series Reading Order

Publication Reading Order17 Titles

Why Publication Order?We recommend reading in Publication Order (default). This follows the author's release schedule, ensuring you experience plot twists, character growth, and world-building exactly as intended without spoilers.
Best Start Here
1

Shattered

Pub: 1985

As Alex and Colin speed toward their new home in San Francisco where Courtney awaits them, they are pursued by a madman who is also eager to see Courtney. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

2

Phantoms

Pub: 2002

Plot details hidden until you finish "Shattered".

“Phantoms is gruesome and unrelenting…It’s well realized, intelligent, and humane.”—Stephen King They found the town silent, apparently abandoned. Then they found the first body, strangely swollen and still warm. One hundred fifty were dead, 350 missing. But the terror had only begun in the tiny mountain town of Snowfield, California. At first they thought it was the work of a maniac. Or terrorists. Or toxic contamination. Or a bizarre new disease. But then they found the truth. And they saw it in the flesh. And it was worse than anything any of them had ever imagined...

3

Plot details hidden until you finish "Phantoms".

The chilling account of a pivotal encounter between innocence and ultimate malice, Darkness Under the Sun is the perfect read for Halloween—or for any haunted night—and reveals a secret, fateful turning point in the career of Alton Turner Blackwood, the killer at the dark heart of What the Night Knows, the forthcoming novel by #1 New York Times bestselling author Dean Koontz. There once was a killer who knew the night, its secrets and rhythms. How to hide within its shadows. When to hunt. He roamed from town to town, city to city, choosing his prey for their beauty and innocence. His cruelties were infinite, his humanity long since forfeit. But still . . . he had not yet discovered how to make his special mark among monsters, how to come fully alive as Death. This is the story of how he learned those things, and of what we might do to ensure that he does not visit us.

4

Plot details hidden until you finish "Darkness Under the Sun (Novella)".

After Detective John Calvino receives a signed confession to a shocking crime from 14-year-old Billy Lucas, he feels that somehow Billy has come home with him, to his family. Then another killing spree happens, just as and when John Calvino dreaded it would. Billy is safely locked away, but not the "ghost", if the ghost exists, that links these murders with past crimes, and with John Calvino. Anything could happen, and surely will-- again.

5

Plot details hidden until you finish "What the Night Knows".

#1 New York Times bestselling author Dean Koontz takes readers into the darkest recesses of the human mind—and into the tempest of a father's obsession. A call in the middle of the night summoned psychiatrist Laura McCaffrey out into the rain-swept streets of Los Angeles. The police had found her husband-beaten to death. But what of her daughter, Melanie, whom he had kidnapped six years earlier? At the brutal murder scene, the police lead Laura into her husband's makeshift lab—and open the door to a rising tide of terror that has trapped Melanie in its midst...

6

Eyes Of Darkness

Pub: 20083

Plot details hidden until you finish "The Door to December".

A mother's greatest wish--or worst nightmare--comes true in this chilling novel by #1 New York Times bestselling author Dean Koontz. Tina Evans has spent a year suffering from incredible heartache since her son Danny's tragic death. But now, with her Vegas show about to premiere, Tina can think of no better time for a fresh start. Maybe she can finally move on and put her grief behind her. Only there is a message for Tina, scrawled on the chalkboard in Danny's room: NOT DEAD. Two words that send her on a terrifying journey from the bright lights of Las Vegas to the cold shadows of the High Sierras, where she uncovers a terrible secret...

7

Plot details hidden until you finish "Eyes Of Darkness".

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Welcome to the Pendleton. Built as a tycoon’s dream home in the 1880s and converted to luxury condominiums not quite a century later, the Gilded Age palace at the summit of Shadow Hill is a sanctuary for its fortunate residents. Scant traces remain of the episodes of madness, suicide, mass murder—and whispers of things far worse—that have scarred its grandeur almost from the beginning. But now inexplicable shadows caper across walls, security cameras relay impossible images, phantom voices mutter in strange tongues, not-quite-human figures lurk in the basement, elevators plunge into unknown depths. With each passing hour a terrifying certainty grows: Whatever drove the Pendleton’s past occupants to their unspeakable fates is at work again. And as nightmare visions become real, as a deadly tide begins to engulf them, the people at 77 Shadow Street will find the key to humanity’s future . . . if they can survive to use it. Includes the bonus novella The Moonlit Mind and an excerpt from Dean Koontz's The City.

8

Bad Place

Pub: 2004

Plot details hidden until you finish "77 Shadow Street (with bonus novella The Moonlit Mind)".

After repeatedly waking up in strange places and not knowing how he arrived there, Frank Pollard enlists the help of Nick and Julie Dakota, a husband-and-wife detective team, to watch where he goes in his sleep. Reissue.

9

Wilderness

Pub: 2013

Plot details hidden until you finish "Bad Place".

A chilling short story prequel to Dean Koontz's forthcoming full-length novel, INNOCENCE. Addison Goodheart is only eight years old, but he already knows he is not like other people. Addison Goodheart is a mystery even to himself. He was born in an isolated home surrounded by a deep forest, seeing no one but his mother, who barely accepts him. She is haunted by private demons and keeps many secrets - none of which she dreads more than the young son who adores her. 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...

10

Plot details hidden until you finish "Wilderness".

The singular journey of Odd Thomas is approaching its unforgettable conclusion in Saint Odd. But before Odd’s destiny is revealed, this exclusive eBook short story looks back—way back—to where it all began for Odd Thomas and Stormy Llewellyn, two souls who are destined to be together forever. Amid the dizzying rides, tantalizing games of chance, and fanciful attractions of a state fair, two teenage sweethearts on the cusp of life and love’s pleasures find their way to a shadowy carnival tent brimming with curiosities. There, from the bizarre and enthralling Gypsy Mummy, a mechanized merchant of dreams and prognosticator of tomorrows, the young couple learns what fate promises for them. But fate, for Odd Thomas and Stormy Llewellyn, is something altogether different: full of dark corners, sharp edges, and things no seer or soothsayer could ever anticipate. And for Odd Thomas, a gallant fry cook from a sleepy California desert town, the future beckons—to listen to unquiet spirits, pursue unsettling mysteries, and learn shocking truths . . . for a purpose far greater than himself. Acclaim for Dean Koontz and his Odd Thomas novels “This is Koontz working at his pinnacle, providing terrific entertainment that deals seriously with some of the deepest themes of human existence: the nature of evil, the grip of fate and the power of love.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review) “The nice young fry cook with the occult powers is Koontz’s most likable creation . . . candid, upright, amusing and sometimes withering.”—The New York Times “One would be hard-pressed to find a more satisfying read. . . . Not since Watchers has Dean Koontz created such an endearing and enduring character as Odd Thomas. . . . A superb story from one of our contemporary masters.”—San Antonio Express-News “An inventive . . . mix of suspense, whimsy and uplift.”—The Washington Post “Heartfelt and provocative . . . a wonderfully rich and entertaining story.”—Chicago Sun-Times “Suspense, tension, and surprising plot twists . . . Characters and the search for meaning, exquisitely crafted, are the soul of his work. . . . One of the master storytellers of this or any age.”—The Tampa Tribune

11

Plot details hidden until you finish "Odd Thomas: You Are Destined to Be Together Forever (Short Story)".

From the denizens of hell to unlikely heroes, from vengeful children to suspiciously humanlike robots, this new collection of tales from a genius of horror and suspense writing provides a hypnotic view of the strange highways of human experience. A masterful achievement--as profound as it is mesmerizing. (Ficiton--Horror)

12

Plot details hidden until you finish "Strange Highways And Other Stories".

From bestselling author Dean Koontz comes an eBook original novella, the first of two tales that pave the way for Ashley Bell, his new novel of dark suspense! A woman with a good heart and a troubling gift. A man with a twisted soul and a terrifying talent. In this literal war of wills, only one can survive. With just a touch, Makani Hisoka-O’Brien can see the deepest secrets that others conceal—and it frightens her. There’s danger in the terrible knowledge that floods her mind and haunts her conscience. With just a touch, Rainer Sparks can learn the biggest problems that others bear—and it thrills him. There’s profit to be made making problems go away, by any means . . . including murder. In a place as big as Southern California, these two might have never met and discovered one another’s chilling abilities. But good and evil have a way of colliding . . . with shattering consequences. Acclaim for Dean Koontz “Dean Koontz is a prose stylist whose lyricism heightens malevolence and tension. [He creates] characters of unusual richness and depth . . . with a level of perception and sensitivity that is not merely convincing; it’s astonishing.”—The Seattle Times “Demanding much of itself, Koontz’s style bleaches out clichés while showing a genius for details. He leaves his competitors buried in the dust.”—Kirkus Reviews “A rarity among bestselling writers, Koontz continues to pursue new ways of telling stories, never content with repeating himself.”—Chicago Sun-Times “Tumbling, hallucinogenic prose. ‘Serious’ writers . . . might do well to examine his technique.”—The New York Times Book Review “[Koontz] has always had near-Dickensian powers of description, and an ability to yank us from one page to the next that few novelists can match.”—Los Angeles Times “Koontz is a superb plotter and wordsmith. He chronicles the hopes and fears of our time in broad strokes and fine detail, using popular fiction to explore the human condition.”—USA Today “Characters and the search for meaning, exquisitely crafted, are the soul of [Koontz’s] work. . . . One of the master storytellers of this or any age.”—The Tampa Tribune “A literary juggler.”—The Times (London)

13

Husband

Pub: 20074

Plot details hidden until you finish "Last Light (Novella)".

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER We have your wife. You get her back for two million cash. On an ordinary afternoon, an ordinary man, a gardener of modest means, gets a phone call out of his worst nightmare. The caller is dead serious. He doesn’t care that Mitch can’t raise that kind of money. If she’s everything to you, then you’ll find a way. Mitch loves his wife more than life itself. He’s got sixty hours to prove it. He has to find the two million by then. But he’ll pay a lot more. He’ll pay anything. BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Dean Koontz's The City.

14

Night Window

Pub: 2019

Plot details hidden until you finish "Husband".

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Jane Hawk’s one-woman war comes to an explosive climax as the rogue FBI agent gambles everything against a terrifying conspiracy, for vengeance, for justice, and for humanity’s freedom—from the author of The Silent Corner. “Jane Hawk is arguably the best character Koontz has created. . . . Simply put, wow.”—Associated Press A visionary young filmmaker hunted for sport across a vast Colorado ranch by the celebrated billionaire at the heart of a monstrous cabal . . . A brilliant computer hacker slipping through top-secret databases a whisper ahead of security trackers, gathering the facts to fight the all-powerful perpetrators of mass murder . . . A pair of brutal operators, methodically shadowing their targets with every cutting-edge tool in the arsenal of today’s surveillance state . . . A sequence of quiet heroes—everyday citizens—stepping up, stepping forward, intent on countering the advancing darkness . . . A Vegas mob boss teamed with a homicidal sociopath, circling a beloved boy and his protectors, aiming to secure him as leverage against his fugitive mother . . . And that fugitive mother herself, ex-agent Jane Hawk, closing in on the malevolent architects of ruin she has stalked as they stalk her, prepared to sacrifice herself to finally bring them down. These are the people and circumstances of The Night Window, the thrilling new novel in Dean Koontz’s acclaimed Jane Hawk series. Replete—and then some—with the ingenious twists, the spellbinding action, the resonant themes, the sheer heart that have characterized Jane’s journey from the start, The Night Window follows its extraordinary heroine to her long-sought objective, in a stunning, unforgettable finale. Don’t miss any of Dean Koontz’s gripping Jane Hawk thrillers: THE SILENT CORNER • THE WHISPERING ROOM • THE CROOKED STAIRCASE • THE FORBIDDEN DOOR • THE NIGHT WINDOW “The spectacular finale to Jane’s story . . . will hit series fans with all the impact of a carefully calibrated hammer blow.”—Booklist (starred review) “The best installment in the series since the first . . . [Koontz] revs it up with entertaining encounters and offbeat humor.”—Kirkus Reviews

15

Big Dark Sky

Pub: 2022

Plot details hidden until you finish "Night Window".

A group of strangers bound by terrifying synchronicity becomes humankind's hope of survival in an exhilarating, twist-filled novel by Dean Koontz, the #1 New York Times bestselling master of suspense. As a girl, Joanna Chase thrived on Rustling Willows Ranch in Montana until tragedy upended her life. Now thirty-four and living in Santa Fe with only misty memories of the past, she begins to receive pleas--by phone, through her TV, in her dreams: I am in a dark place, Jojo. Please come and help me. Heeding the disturbing appeals, Joanna is compelled to return to Montana, and to a strange childhood companion she had long forgotten. She isn't the only one drawn to the Montana farmstead. People from all walks of life have converged at the remote ranch. They are haunted, on the run, obsessed, and seeking answers to the same omniscient danger Joanna came to confront. All the while, on the outskirts of Rustling Willows, a madman lurks with a vision to save the future. Mass murder is the only way to see his frightening manifesto come to pass. Through a bizarre twist of seemingly coincidental circumstances, a band of strangers now find themselves under Montana's big dark sky. Their lives entwined, they face an encroaching horror. Unless they can defeat this threat, it will spell the end for humanity.

16

Dragon Tales

Pub: 2012Optional

Plot details hidden until you finish "Big Dark Sky".

Gerda / Evelyn E. Smith Dragons' teeth / David Drake Two yards of dragon / L. Sprague de Camp A hiss of dragon / Gregory Benford ; Marc Laidlaw The dragon fang possessed by the conjurer Piou-Lu / Fitz-James O'Brien The bully and the beat / Orson Scott Card The king's head and the purple dragon / L. Frank Baum Soft come the dragons / Dean R. Koontz St. Dragon and the George / Gordon R. Dickson John Robert and the dragon's egg / Thomas N. Scortia Demon and demoiselle / Janet Fox Weyr search / Anne McCaffrey

17

Obsessions

Pub: 1991

Plot details hidden until you finish "Dragon Tales".

Book by Raisor, Gary

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is it okay to skip books in the Standalone Novels, Novellas, and Collections series?

We recommend ignoring novellas and short stories until you finish the core sequence. However, main sequence novels should never be skipped as they contain critical character development and plot progression.

What is the best order to read Standalone Novels, Novellas, and Collections?

The final answer for the best experience is to start with "Shattered" and proceed in publication order. This sequence preserves character developments and plot reveals exactly as Dean Koontz intended.

Can I read Standalone Novels, Novellas, and Collections books in any order?

No. The main narrative is strictly sequential. Skipping volumes or reading out of order will lead to significant plot spoilers and confusion regarding character arcs.

Are there spin-offs or companion books?

Yes, the Standalone Novels, Novellas, and Collections universe includes several companion works. These are marked as 'Optional' in our guide and can be read at any time without disrupting the main storyline.