The great Robert Bloch (1917-1994) was born on this date, April 5. He was a master of fantasy, horror, science fiction, and mystery. Fated to always be known as “The Man Who Wrote Psycho“, he wasn’t just a master of thrills and chills. He was a master of comedy.
I’m going to have to apologize up front for this post. I normally try to review something that is either in print or easy to come by in case anyone is interested in reading the story or book I’m reviewing.
I wanted to read something a bit longer than a short story, and I wanted to read something lighter in tone. There’s enough horror on the news right now, and my wife won’t turn it off.
“The Miracle of Ronald Weems” was just the thing I needed. It was funny, with several types of humor including wordplay, puns, and slapstick. Bloch’s sense of humor aligns very well with my own, and I chuckled more than once. There are few writers who can get me to do that.
Unfortunately this story, which was originally published in Imaginative Tales in the May 1955 issue, has only been reprinted once. That was in The Lost Bloch Volume Two: Hell on Earth, a limited edition book that was published in 2000. A quick search of ABE showed only one copy available. So if you don’t want to read the rest of this post, I understand.
Ronald Weems is a mousy salesclerk in a department store. The opening lines of the story are
Things were very quiet in ladies’ undergarments that morning.
Nothing was going on in panties, either. Girdles held up fairly well, but brassieres were sagging.
So was Ronald Weems
With an opening like that, I had to keep reading. Weems was raised by two spinster aunts, so his social skills are rather passive. He has a crush on a young lady who works in toys, and ends up buying a chemistry set that a customer had damaged and refused to pay for so she wouldn’t have the cost taken out of her wages.
Later he gets fired when he tries to stop a pickpocket during a fashion show of the new lingerie line. The main model is a starlet doing a publicity appearance, and Weems runs afoul of her, as well.
He goes home depressed and decides to commit suicide by drinking the chemicals in the set. Instead he gets the powers of levitation and telekinesis. What follows is a screwball comedy worthy of Cary Grant, only Cary Grant probably couldn’t play such a milquetoast role.
There’s romance, gangsters, and plenty of puns. This was a really fun story. As I said yesterday, in my post on Stanley G. Weinbaum, there isn’t enough of this type of things being written these days. Bloch showed off his intelligence and wit with this charming little tale. If you only know Bloch through his serious and darker material, take a little time to track down his lighter fare. He’s worth it.
‘Fated to always be known as “The Man Who Wrote Psycho“, he wasn’t just a master of thrills and chills.’
Somewhat OT for this post, but I finally read PSYCHO a couple of years ago. Not a bad novel. However, what really struck me was the LOCATION of the Bates Motel in the book. As near as I can determine, numerous factors point to it being almost literally in my backyard here in SEK. Knowing it only from the movie since I was a kid, that was quite surprising.
Yeah, Hitchcock took a few liberties with the book. Of course, Norman was modeled on real life killer Ed Gein, who lived in Bloch’s home state of Wisconsin. IIRC, Bloch didn’t move to Hollywood until PSYCHO was optioned for film.
I read a couple of collections of Bloch’s fiction years ago around Halloween. I enjoyed them but haven’t read anything by him since.
As prolific as Bloch was, there are some things that aren’t as good as some of his other work. I prefer his short fiction to his novels.
I just came across your great blog. By sheer coincidence, I recently received a magazine in which this Robert Bloch story was published in, albeit under a different title. “How Crime Flies” was serialized in the January and February 1973 issues of Gallery magazine, a Playboy clone. There is no mention made of the story being prior to 1973 and my guess is that Bloch simply resold the story to F. Lee Bailey, publisher of Gallery in its first years. All the best, Eric
Hi, Eric.
Thanks for the information and for dropping by. I wasn’t aware the story have been reprinted.
Best,
Keith
I love this blog! Again; a digital (or paperback) copy of Bloch’s comedic stories is long overdue! Stories like “Nursemaid to Nightmares,” “Black Barter,” “The Eager Dragon,” “A Good Knight’s Work,” “Mr. Margate’s Mermaid” and “The Miracle of Ronald Weems” would be a darn good read together! A few of them were in paperback a few decades ago, but the bigger grouping would be fun! Any publishers out there want to try, put me down for a copy!
Thanks, Jeff.
I that there should be a collection of Bloch’s humorous stories. At this point, I’d take a collection of any of his stories, humorous or not.