Ten years.  That’s how long it’s been since I read my first Dean Koontz book and thus started this dark disturbing horror filled journey.  Okay, that’s a little dramatic, but I’ll leave it in because it is kind of true.  Dean Koontz was the writer responsible for me becoming a horror writer and therefore picking up the book Tick Tock while in Borders all those years ago was, in a way, one of the first steps on this interesting quest -- the segments from his and Stephen King’s books that my Mother used to read to me and my brother when we were little could also be considered steps as well.

Despite the time that has passed I can still clearly picture the day I bought the book.  My Mom and I had gone to Borders because I wanted a new novel to read and didn’t yet have a car (I was sixteen at the time but hadn’t yet finished Drivers Ed).  Like most trips to the bookstore I

headed right to the horror section, but unlike most trips I had decided it was time to actually buy a book from this area rather than looking for a while and then heading to the mystery section.  Of course, my Mother was not aware of this decision, but for some reason I didn’t think she would object (years earlier she hadn’t allowed me to read Dean Koontz, only listen to the parts she deemed suitable for my me and my brother), because for the last year I had been gorging myself on Robin Cook and Michael Crichton books, both of whom had occasionally included adult situations in their stories, ones which

I sometimes had to read three or four times just to get the full effect, and which my Mother was aware of since she had read all the books as well.  So, Tick Tock in hand, I went up to my Mother and told her I had found a book to read and was ready to go, at which point she looked down to see what I had picked out and said, “That’s a scary one,” and left it at that.  I had been right.  The horror section was no longer off limits.

I started reading Tick Tock that night while in bed.  It was Christmas time so my room had an interesting array of colors to read by, first the lamp, which gave off normal light, and then the small Christmas tree I used every year, one which still had most of the colors in the light strand that had seen several years worth of use, all of which combined to make a pretty spooky basement room (am I the only one that finds Christmas lights on a dark snowy night somewhat spooky as well as festive?).  Now, most who have read this book know that it is more of a comedy than a horror story, but that comedy doesn’t really begin until after the first chapter, which, in my opinion, is still one of the scariest first chapters of any book ever written, one which terrified me to the point of being unable to do anything but continue reading until I reached a point where Tommy Phan (the main character) was momentarily safe, allowing me to close the book and try to sleep.  Unfortunately the terror continued after I put the book away, because back then I liked to listen to Christmas music while going to sleep at Christmas time and hit play on my tape player.  Normally such a situation wouldn’t add to the terror, but that night the tape player chewed up the cassette I wanted to listen too, thus creating a scene that was similar to one I had just read where Tommy Phan hears nothing but static on his radio and then voices calling his name.  Needless to say I shut the tape player off before my name echoed from it, something that probably wouldn’t have happened, but didn’t want to chance.

For those that haven’t read it, Tick Tock is the story of Tommy Phan, a Vietnamese American who writes detective stories for a living, something which his mother thinks is making him too ‘American’.  One night he arrives home to find a homemade rag doll sitting on his front steps (this is after he hears his name called on the radio by screaming voices from some dark abysses), and proceeds to bring it inside.  Needless to say the doll is more than it seems and soon Tommy Phan is on the run from a supernatural creature that is hell bent on killing him.  Thankfully he is not alone in this terrifying attempt at escape.  At his side is a waitress who isn’t quite normal, one who adds most of the comedy this story possesses, one who just might be able to help fight off this horrible creature.

Once finished with Tick Tock I read Twilight Eyes which my Mother happened to already have on the bookshelf in the laundry room (don’t ask me why they were kept there or why I didn’t just start with it when needing a new book) and then the Bad Place, both of which made it clear to me that I had to read everything this author wrote, my wallet staying pretty empty for the rest of the year as I bought his books three at a time, often buying more and more even though I had several to read already, my mind always wanting to finish the books as quickly as possible just so I could get started on another one.  Obviously, reading at this rate, it didn’t take long before all his books had been consumed and I needed to find another author, one who just happened to be Stephen King.      

NOTE: I’ve heard people say they haven’t read this book yet because it sounds too much like Child’s Play given that a doll is chasing people.  My advice, read the book.  It isn’t anything like Child’s Play, but to say anything else would give too much away.