Phantoms

Title: Phantoms

Author: Dean Koontz

Published in: 1983

Date read: 2nd May 2006

Score: 4/5

Genre: Horror, Thriller

Plot: (Warning, may contain spoilers):
"Phantoms" by Dean Koontz, published in 1983, is a chilling and suspenseful horror novel that blends elements of science fiction with cosmic dread, set in a deserted Colorado mountain town.

The story begins with Dr. Jennifer Paige and her younger sister, Lisa Paige, arriving in the quiet, picturesque town of Snowfield, Colorado, for a relaxing vacation. However, they immediately discover something is terribly wrong: the town is utterly deserted. No people, no cars, just an eerie silence. Even more unsettling are the horrifying, mutilated corpses they begin to find, along with cryptic, horrifying messages scrawled on walls.

As they search for answers, Jennifer and Lisa encounter a grotesque scene: a local baker who appears to have liquefied from the inside out. They quickly realize this is no ordinary disappearance or serial killer.

They soon find a small group of military personnel, led by Sheriff Bryce Hammond and his deputy, Chief Inspector Jesse Long. This military team was sent to investigate similar inexplicable disappearances and deaths. Together, they form a small, isolated group trapped within Snowfield, as a mysterious force prevents them from leaving.

The entity responsible for the town's fate is gradually revealed to be an ancient, shape-shifting, and malevolent organism that has existed for millennia, lying dormant deep beneath the Earth. This entity, which the survivors eventually call the "Ancient Enemy," is not just a monster; it possesses immense intelligence, can absorb the biomass and memories of its victims, and uses fear and psychological manipulation as its primary weapons. It creates terrifying illusions, resurrects grotesque versions of its victims, and plays horrifying games with the survivors.

The novel becomes a relentless cat-and-mouse game as the small group tries to understand the entity's nature, its weaknesses, and a way to stop it before they too become its victims. They discover a hidden research facility and learn about earlier attempts to understand and contain the creature.

"Phantoms" explores themes of existential dread, the nature of evil, the limits of scientific understanding, and the sheer terror of facing an intelligence that operates beyond human comprehension. The climax sees the dwindling group making a desperate stand against the Ancient Enemy, in a terrifying battle for survival that pushes them to their absolute physical and psychological limits, culminating in a shocking confrontation with the entity's true, cosmic horror.

Comments:
My mother and older brother read this when I was a child and years later, I recognised it as "one they both raved about". I thoroughly enjoyed it but it was not what I had expected, for some years, I had built it up as a haunted house story but it was much more.

Books that we've read by Dean Koontz (27):
Demon Seed (1973), Icebound (1976), The Voice of the Night (1980), Phantoms (1983), Darkness Comes (1984), Watchers (1987), Dragon Tears (1993), Mr. Murder (1993), Tick Tock (1996), False Memory (1999), The Face (2003), Odd Thomas (Odd Thomas, #1) (2003), The Taking (2004), Forever Odd (Odd Thomas, #2) (2005), Velocity (2005), Life Expectancy (2005), Brother Odd (Odd Thomas, #3) (2006), The Husband (2006), Odd Hours (Odd Thomas, #4) (2008), Breathless (2009), Relentless (2009), The Silent Corner (Jane Hawk, #1) (2017), The Whispering Room (Jane Hawk, #2) (2017), The Crooked Staircase (Jane Hawk, #3) (2018), The Forbidden Door (Jane Hawk, #4) (2018), The Night Window (Jane Hawk #5) (2019), The Other Emily (2021)