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Phantoms

1983

  • horror stories
  • horror tales
  • fiction
  • women physicians
  • good and evil
  • mass murder
  • california, fiction
  • fiction, horror
  • fiction, thrillers, general
  • paige, jenny (fictitious character), fiction

The story

After finding one hundred and fifty people grotesquely dead in the tiny mountain town of Snowfield, California, officials cannot imagine anything as gruesome as the real reason for their death.

What it’s like

Cold mountain light and an isolated, snowbound California town give this book its look: a sheriff's office with flickering fluorescents, empty streets under grey winter skies, and a rising sense that the ordinary places have gone wrong. Koontz writes in a brisk, cinematic prose that cuts between short scenes and keeps the pressure tight, with plenty of procedural detail about who is found where and what the living can and cannot explain. The vibe is bleak, eerie unease that tips steadily toward dread. It suits a late-night read with the lights on, or a snowy weekend when you want to be fully absorbed. Violence and gore are significant: the mass deaths are grotesque, and the horror is frequently graphic, with frightening creatures, cruelty and sustained suspense rather than a gentle or cozy experience. The emotional core is a small group of people, including a determined woman physician, facing something that tests their nerve and their sense of right and wrong. It is for readers who enjoy page-turning supernatural horror, fast pacing and a clear line between good and evil.

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