Robert Bloch

[MTC]

Simple question really, what is your favourite Bloch collection or novel?
Are there any short stories in particular to look out for?

[enthusiast]

My favorite Bloch collection is called FEAR AND TREMBLING, which was published in the late 1980's and contains many stories first published in magazines and anthologies during the 1980's.

Favorite stories include:

"The Opener of the Way"
"The Skull of the Marquis De Sade"
"The Cheaters"
"The Chaney Legacy"
"Notebook Found in a Deserted House"
"Yourrs Truly, Jack the Ripper"
"Floral Tribute"
"The Movie People"

Known for his surprise endings and his skillful blending of humor and humor, Bloch was equally skillful at conveying a wider range of moods. The last two stories I mentioned, "Floral Tribute" and "The Movie People" might be described as gentle, touching love stories with a supernatural element. "Notebook found in a Deserted House" is probably the best of Bloch's stories in the Lovecraftian vein.

[Druidic]

"The Man Who Collected Poe" is my favorite Bloch story.
"That Hell Bound Train" is a good story that for some weird reason is often overlooked. It really shouldn't be; it won a Hugo in 1959.
"The Lighthouse" is an enjoyable posthumous collaboration with Poe. Thomas O. Mabbott suggested he should write it.
"The Mannikin" may be Bloch's best Lovecraft-influenced tale after "Notebook Found..." An idea similar to Whitehead's Cassius but more horrific in execution, as no doubt Lovecraft (who came up with it) intended.
"Sweet Sixteen" and "Under the Horns". Two lesser known tales but two of the best.
"Pleasant Dreams & Nightmares" was the collection I thought showed off Bloch's talents the best. Stories like "Catnip" and "Enoch" were unforgettable. ("Cat got your tongue?")

[MTC]

Thanks, this is very helpful. Coincidentally I came across this short recording of Robert Bloch where he talks about "Catnip" - and then more generally about writing. Maybe you know it already.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ign7Rymrfas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjwfqdOomOE

[Druidic]

Never heard Bloch's voice before. Thanks, MTC. Good recordings.

btw, skimming over some past recent posts I've become aware some misspellings have cropped up with alarming frequency. Unfortunately, for now, I'm not always sharp-eyed enough to catch typing errors so please bear with me until things improve, Thanks.

[Druidic]

I'm afraid I couldn't resist posting a link to Thriller's excellent adaptation of Bloch's "Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper." The title song is a nice touch!

YouTube

[Druidic]

I just discovered Bloch's "That Hell Bound Train" is available for online reading. It won a Hugo and is a very enjoyable piece of work.

http://will.tip.dhappy.org/projects/...d%20Train.html

[marioneta]

My only Robert Bloch book is Mysteries of the Worm, early tales of the Cthulhu Mythos, published by Chaosium. It is Bloch's tribute to Lovecraft. This is where I learned that he was more than just the creator of PSYCHO.

[hopfrog]

When I was a lonely Mormon missionary in Ireland, Robert Bloch (who had contributed a piece on Forry Ackerman for my fanzine, FANTASIA) wrote me regularly, wonderful letters that helped to cheer me when the work of knocking on doors and preaching became discouraging. I was then obsess'd with horror films, but had no interest in reading; but because of my friendship with Bob, I began to haunt little book shops in Ireland and purchase anthologies in which he was one of many writers, and that was how I discovered and fell in love with weird fiction. Bob encouraged me when I began, in Ireland, to write my own wee tales, much as H. P. Lovecraft had encouraged Bob when he was a teenager beginning to write. Unlike Bloch, I never had the nerve to send him any of my own fiction for evaluation as he had sent his to E'ch-Pi-El, yet he eventually saw some of those early published pieces and continued to be supportive until his death. He was my very real living link to H. P. Lovecraft and the WEIRD TALES circle. I adored him and still love his wonderful weird fiction. PSYCHO remains a classic novel of crime, perfectly told. My favourite Bloch book is THE EARLY FEARS (Fedogan & Bremer, 1994), a reprinting of Bob's first two Arkham House collections. I keep, in my edition, a letter from Bob that he wrote on Bates Motel stationary that he had printed up.

[marioneta]

Robert Bloch's introduction, Heritage of Horror, for Arkham House's THE DUNWICH HORROR AND OTHERS, H.P. Lovecraft, is one of the best assessments of Lovecraft's oeuvre. I especially like his take on Lovecraft's racism. A must read.