Novels

Demon Seed

Originally  House of Night

Mass Market Paperback - First printing

Release Date: June 1973
Copyright: Copyright © 1973 by Dean Koontz
Page Count: 182
SBN: #N7190 / 553-10930-8
Cover Price: 95¢
States: “A Bantam Book / published June 1973”
This printing lists “Dean R. Koontz” on cover but “Dean Koontz” on title page and no “R” in the copyright statement.

Mass Market Paperback - Second Printing

Release Date: April 1977
Copyright: Copyright © 1973 by Dean Koontz
Cover Photos © 1977 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc.
Publisher: Bantam
Page Count: 182
Cover Price: $1.75
States: "2nd printing ...... April 1977"

Front and back covers have photos from the film.

Lists “Dean R. Koontz” on both cover and title page.


Notes

From “Dean’s Drive or Some Days in the Life of a Another Writer”
p11: “Writer is now investigating suspense-mystery-gothic fields in which he is also working. He is especially fond of the suspense form where he feels he is actually doing something unique and creative. Now, too, he turns to another experimental sf novel HOUSE OF NIGHT, which-at this writing-he has just finished and is hunting a market for. Times have gotten rough again. He would turn to porno, but porno is dead and he can’t stand writing it anymore. Besides, Ted White from his Olympus has once publicly criticized the writer for writing porn and may return with even more insidious attacks.”

“My title was HOUSE OF NIGHT. Editor said it sounded like a novel about a house of prostitution. He said DEMON SEED sounded less risqué. Go figure.”
Facebook, January 10 at 1:02 PM

Listed under on page 72 Books Received in Richard E. Geis’ The Alien Critic #6, (May) 1976

A brief review appears on page 79 in Richard E. Geis’ Science Fiction Review #21 (May 1977) which calls it a “novelization” of the film. This is corrected in issue #22. See Demon Seed (film).

Erotic UniverseErotic Universe: Sexuality and Fantastic Literature, edited by Donald Palumbo
“Technology and Sexuality in Science Fiction: Creating New Erotic Interfaces” by Valerie Broege
p105: “In addition to robots and other, even simpler types of machines, computers have also been invested with sexual and romantic yearnings for human beings. In Dean Koontz’s Demon Seed, Susan Abramson’s home computer is described as her father-lover, specifically designed to key all the desirable reactions of security, happiness, and reliance in her psyche. This computer, however, is taken over by Proteus, an experimental computer that Koontz portrays as having a masculine psyche and the desire to have a son by Susan so that he can implant his own knowledge and personality into a flesh-and-blood being. He falls in love with Susan and takes pleasure in seeing her in various nude postures. The computer even goes so far as to penetrate her with an amorphous-alloy member and to stimulate her to multiple orgasms. Unfortunately for Proteus, his love is not reciprocated; Susan finally manages to damage him sufficiently to free herself from his grip.”

Other editions:

French paperback
UK Mass Market Paperback – Film edition

Last updated on July 23rd, 2018