Dean R. Koontz started out as a Science Fiction writer, but didn't find much recognition until he worked out the kind of tale he does best - a mixture of thriller, horror, and science fiction... then he became a best-selling author, and his early stories have become collectible. Compared to his early SF novels, I think these early stories are a better indication of the kind of writer Koontz would become.

The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction: August 1968 (Volume 35, Number 2)
Cover by Gahan Wilson (for "The Devil and Jake O'Hara.")

Serial: "Sos the Rope" (Part 2 of 3) by Piers Anthony (had 2 sequels.)

Novelets: 'Death to the Keeper" by K. M. O'Donnell (Barry N. Malzberg)
"Soldier Key" by Sterling E. Lanier (a "Brigadier Ffellowes" tale.)

Stories: "The Devil and Jake O'Hara" by Brian Cleeve" (sequel to "The Devil and Democracy")
"The Twelfth Bed" by Dean R. Koontz
"A Sense of Beauty" by Robert Taylor.

Film Review: "2001: A Space Odyssey" by Samuel R. Delany & Ed Emshwiller.

Science: "The Terrible Lizards" by Isaac Asimov.

Joseph W. Ferman is Publisher, Edward L. Ferman is Editor. Book Reviews by Judith Merrill, cartoon by Gahan Wilson.