Today, April 5, is Robert Bloch’s birthday. He was born in 1917. For those of you who are poor at math, not sure what day/year it is, or didn’t read the title of the post, that would make him 101 today if he were still alive.
Bloch was one of the most influential writers of horror, crime, and science fiction of the last century. He wrote a number of novels, the most famous being Psycho. And while the Hitchcock film is deservedly considered a classic, you should give the book a try if you haven’t read it. There are some differences. Bloch’s written sequels have nothing to do with the film sequels.
In my mind, though, Bloch was better as a short story writer. The reason I think that may be in part because I’ve a fondness for short fiction. He started writing for Weird Tales when he was just 17, IIRC. While is early stuff is pretty rough around the edges, it was no worse that what Farnsworth Wright was buying at the time, and soon became better than much of the stuff by authors long forgotten. Bloch was an earlier correspondent of Lovecraft. Much of his early work was lovecraftian pastiche. He soon developed his own voice and went on to write some great horror and dark fantasy fiction, such as “Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper”, “The Man Who Collected Poe”, and the Hugo Award winning “The Hell-Bound Train”. If Bloch had any faults, it was that he couldn’t stand Robert E. Howard’s Conan. (That’s a pretty big fault, if you ask me, but Bloch’s body of work is sufficiently good that I’m willing to overlook it.)
Over the last few years I’ve gotten into the habit of blogging about an author’s work on their birthday. At the moment, I’m swamped with the day job and slowly going under. That’s why it’s been like a ghost town around here lately. I’ve either not had the time to write (blog posts or fiction) or not had the energy when I had the time. So, no, I’m not dead. (Sorry to disappoint some of you.) I’ve just been dealing with Real Life.
I’m hoping to read something short this evening. If so, I’ll try to post about it here once I get this mountain of exams graded. I hope to do that, but I may not be able to pull it off.
But don’t let that stop you from raising a glass is Robert Bloch’s memory and celebrating his work by reading a short story or two.
At last year’s NecronomiCon Providence, I bought a copy the collection SUCH STUFF AS SCREAMS ARE MADE OF.
http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?33701
Last night, I read Gahan Wilson’s introduction, “The Tunnel of Love,” “The Unspeakable Betrothal,” “The Girl From Mars,” and “The Head Hunter.” I also hopped to the end and read Bloch’s afterword, which is a good one.
Really glad I scored a copy of the book!
I’ve got Bloch’s FLOWERS FROM THE MOON (Arkham House), McNamee! Put that in your pipe and smoke it! 😛
Nice!
Yeah, I’ve got that one, too. Not as polished as his later work, but still worth reading.
That is an excellent book. You did well. I should reread it.
“He wrote a number of novels, the most famous being Psycho.”
I finally read PSYCHO a few months ago. Near as I can figure, the only place that the Bates Motel could’ve been located is in SEK and, most likely, my home county. It’s the only thing that makes geographical sense. I’m not sure Bloch had any good idea of the geography, though.
That was what I figured when I read it. It certainly wasn’t set in California. I’ve read Psycho II, Bloch’s novel which has nothing to do with the film of the same name. It’s set in California, but it makes clear the original was in a different state. It’s been so long since I read it, I don’t remember if it said exactly where. I liked the movie sequel better than Bloch’s sequel.
“If Bloch had any faults, it was that he couldn’t stand Robert E. Howard’s Conan. ”
He sure didn’t and he never changed his mind. That said, he seems to have been fond of REH’s horror work. His foreword to THE BLACK STONE collection made up for a lot, IMO.
Ironically, his story “Black Lotus” could be said to be a tale set in the post-Hyborian Age.
I have not read that story. At least I don’t think so. I’ll have to track down a copy.
I’m pretty sure Bloch’s dislike was limited to Conan, not Howard’s work in general.