Did this 1981 Dean Koontz novel really predict the birth and spread of Coronavirus?
Yesterday, social media and viber groups were furiously sharing a photo of Dean Koontz’s novel The Eyes of Darkness, specifically of a page that apparently alluded to this year’s COVID-19 outbreak.
In the passage that was cited, a man-made virus called the “Wuhan-400” was being described in detail. The fictional disease was described “a perfect weapon” that was developed at RDNA labs outside of the city of Wuhan. As we all know, Wuhan in China’s Hubei province is ground zero for the COVID-19 outbreak, which has claimed more than 2,000 lives around the world so far.
“It afflicts only human beings. No other living creature can carry it. And like syphilis, Wuhan-400 can’t survive outside a living human body for longer than a minute, which means it can’t permanently contaminate objects or entire places the way anthrax and other virulent microorganisms can,” the excerpt reads. “And when the host expires, the Wuhan-400 within him perishes a short while later, as soon as the temperature of the corpse drops below eighty-six degrees Fahrenheit.”
A lot of people online, however, were quick to puncture a hole in this Koontz-as-Nostradamus theory, with some even speculating that he might not have even made the reference at all.
Fact or fiction
Dean Koontz began his life as a novelist at the age of 23, starting with the 1968 novel Star Quest. Now at 74 years old, he has created a bibliography of suspense thrillers that regularly makes use of horror, mystery, and science fiction elements. He has written over 120 books, with 17 of his works adapted into a movie.
The Eyes of Darkness was first published in 1981, and was written under one of Koontz’s 10 pen names, Leigh Nichols. In it, a mother, Christina Evans, grieves the loss of her son Danny, who perished suddenly and inexplicably along with a group of campers. But after starting to accept her son’s death, she suddenly gets messages and signs from nowhere telling her that Danny is still alive. Christina then begins hunting for the truth of what really happened.
Those who do not buy into the whole prediction narrative have made a couple major points. For one, when The Eyes of Darkness first came out, it did not even make use of the name “Wuhan-400.” Instead, it was called “Gorki-400,” making Russia as its country of origin. The name was only changed to “Wuhan-400” years later, with some hypothesizing that it wasn’t even Koontz who made the change, but a book editor looking to ease up on the demonization of Russia. (Or maybe to just diversify on the demonization. After all, Russia shouldn’t have the monopoly on fictional, best-seller or blockbuster villainy.)
Apart from this, many point out that COVID-19 and Wuhan-400 are just too starkly different. The latter has a 100 percent fatality rate while the former is only floating around at two percent. The manmade fictional virus can kill in about four hours while the COVID-19 can incubate inside the body for as long as two weeks.
As of this writing, the author has yet to comment about his book’s supposed sudden clairvoyance. He’s currently more preoccupied with promoting his other titles, or gushing over his wife Gerda and dog Elsa. At this point, it’s safe to say that it’s all just a panic-inducing coincidence.
The Lost Book of Remedies is the revolutionary e-book which is suitable for one of the tools in survival kit because the creator of this program was mentioned lots of benefits about natural medicinal herbs and ingredients to make you feel safe, secure by protecting the health of yourself and dependents in any crisis. Even you can plant it in your backyard to grow effective medicinal herbs to save the life of anyone without wasting your money and time. This e-book will guide you on the right path to provide security, water, food, and all the medicines for securing your life or loved ones at all the time. This guide discussed the common plants that are grown in your backyard, but you don’t know the benefits of that plan which may help you to overcome any significant issues. Sometimes it may replace your antibiotic pills, reduce inflammations, stops bleeding, reverse arthritis, lowers cholesterol, regulates blood sugar level, defeats degenerative brain diseases and much more.
Books can be your best pre-collapse investment.
Carnivore’s Bible (is a wellknown meat processor providing custom meat processing services locally andacross the state of Montana and more. Whether your needs are for domestic meator wild game meat processing)
The Lost Book of Remedies PDF ( contains a series of medicinal andherbal recipes to make home made remedies from medicinal plants and herbs.Chromic diseases and maladies can be overcome by taking the remediesoutlined in this book. The writer claims that his grandfather was taughtherbalism and healing whilst in active service during world war twoand that he has treated many soldiers with his home made cures. )
Easy Cellar(Info about building and managing your root cellar, plus printable plans. The book on building and using root cellars – The Complete Root Cellar Book.)
The Lost Ways (Learn the long forgotten secrets that helped our forefathers survive famines,wars,economic crisis and anything else life threw at them)
LOST WAYS 2 ( Wordof the day: Prepare! And do it the old fashion way, like our fore-fathers did it and succeed longbefore us,because what lies ahead of us will require all the help we can get. Watch this video and learn the 3 skills that ensured our ancestors survival in hard times offamine and war.)
Survival MD (Best Post Collapse First Aid Survival Guide Ever)
Conquering the coming collapse (Financial advice and preparedness )
Liberty Generator (Build and make your own energy source)
Backyard Liberty (Easy and cheap DIY Aquaponic system to grow your organic and living food bank)
Bullet Proof Home (A Prepper’s Guide in Safeguarding a Home )
Family Self Defense (Best Self Defense Strategies For You And Your Family)
Survive Any Crisis (Best Items To Hoard For A Long Term Crisis)
Survive The End Days(Biggest Cover Up Of Our President)