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Robert Bloch

Robert Bloch was an American writer whose career stretched from 1934 until 1994. He worked in many genres, including horror, pulp, science fiction and crime. A recipient of the Bram Stoker Award, Hugo Award and World Fantasy Award, Bloch also served as the president of the Mystery Writers of America.

His most famous work is Psycho, which would later be adapted into a movie by Alfred Hitchcock. In addition, Robert Bloch wrote hundreds of short stories, screenplays, teleplays and over 20 novels.

Robert Bloch - Friend of H.P. Lovecraft

Robert Bloch was born on April 5th, 1917 in Chicago, Illinois. His father was a bank cashier, and his mother was a social worker. He loved Lon Chaney as a child, and this spurred on his interest in the realm of the fantastical.

In 1927, when he was only 10 years old, he purchased an issue of Weird Tales. Inside, he first discovered the works of H.P. Lovecraft. Six years later, he began a correspondence with the author.

Lovecraft encouraged the young man to write short stories, and Bloch made his first professional sale a year later. He would maintain his friendship with Lovecraft until the writer’s death in 1937.

Robert Bloch continued to write for Weird Tales, and he later expanded to other pulp magazines. Along the way, he also wrote for vaudeville, worked at an ad agency and became a campaign strategist for a mayoral candidate in Milwaukee.

In 1959, Bloch’s novel Psycho was published. It received a number of positive reviews, and he later sold the movie rights for $9,500. The film adaptation would become one of the most famous horror movies of all time.

Robert Bloch continued to write up until his death in 1994 from cancer. He was cremated, and his ashes are interred at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.

Robert Bloch Quotes

Robert Bloch BooksA talented writer, Bloch was always ready to thrill readers with a clever phrase or quote. Here are a few Robert Bloch quotes you might not be familiar with.

“The man who can smile when things go wrong has thought of someone else he can blame it on.”

“Despite my ghoulish reputation, I really have the heart of a small boy. I keep it in a jar on my desk.”

“I haven’t had so much fun since the rats ate my baby sister.”

Robert Bloch Books List

The following is a complete list of Robert Bloch books. His professional writing career stretched from 1934 until his death in 1994. He was also known to use the pen names of Tarleton Fiske, Wilson Kane and Collier Young. This list includes Robert Bloch novels, Robert Bloch short stories and Robert Bloch collections.

Robert Bloch Novels

  • The Scarf (1947, rev. 1966)
  • Spiderweb (1954)
  • The Kidnapper (1954)
  • The Will to Kill (1954)
  • Shooting Star (1958)
  • Psycho (1959)
  • The Dead Beat (1960)
  • Firebug (1961)
  • The Couch (1962)
  • Terror (1962)
  • Ladies Day / This Crowded Earth (1968)
  • The Star Stalker (1968)
  • The Todd Dossier (1969)
  • Sneak Preview (1971)
  • It's All in Your Mind (1971)
  • Night World (1972)
  • American Gothic (1974)
  • Strange Eons (1978) (a Cthulhu Mythos novel)
  • There Is a Serpent in Eden (1979)
  • Psycho II (1982) (not related to the film of the same name)
  • Night of the Ripper (1984)
  • Unholy Trinity (1986) (includes The Scarf, The Couch and The Dead Beat)
  • Lori (1989)
  • Screams: Three Novels of Suspense (includes The Will to Kill, Firebug and The Star Stalker)
  • Psycho House (1990)
  • The Jekyll Legacy (1991)
  • Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper (1991) (Pulphouse; a 100-copy hardbound signed edition of Bloch's famous short story)
  • The Thing (1993) (Pretentious Press; a limited edition of 85 copies of the author's first appearance in print - a parody of H.P. Lovecraft which originally appeared in the April 1932 issue of The Quill, his Lincoln High School literary magazine)
  • Psycho - The 35th Anniversary Edition(1994)(Gauntlet Press; limited to 500 copies; last work to be signed by Bloch before his death; includes an intro by Richard Matheson and an afterword by Ray Bradbury)

Robert Bloch Short Story Collections

  • The Opener of the Way (1945)
  • Sea Kissed (1945)
  • Terror in the Night (1958)
  • Pleasant Dreams: Nightmares (1960)
  • Blood Runs Cold (1961)
  • Nightmares (1961)
  • More Nightmares (1961)
  • Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper (1962)
  • Atoms and Evil (1962)
  • Horror 7 (1963)
  • Bogey Men (1963)
  • House of the Hatchet (1965)
  • The Skull of the Marquis de Sade (1965)
  • Tales in a Jugular Vein (1965)
  • Chamber of Horrors (1966)
  • The Living Demons (1967)
  • Dragons and Nightmares (1968)
  • Bloch and Bradbury (1969)
  • Fear Today, Gone Tomorrow (1971)
  • House of the Hatchet (1976)
  • The King of Terrors (1977)
  • The Best of Robert Bloch (1977)
  • Cold Chills (1977)
  • Out of the Mouths of Graves (1978)
  • Such Stuff as Screams Are Made Of (1979)
  • Mysteries of the Worm (1981)
  • Midnight Pleasures (1987)
  • Lost in Space and Time With Lefty Feep (1987)
  • The Complete Stories of Robert Bloch: Volume 1: Final Reckonings (1987)
  • The Complete Stories of Robert Bloch: Volume 2: Bitter Ends (1987)
  • The Complete Stories of Robert Bloch: Volume 3: Last Rites (1987)
  • Fear and Trembling (1989)
  • Mysteries of the Worm (rev. 1993)
  • The Early Fears (1994)
  • Flowers from the Moon and Other Lunacies (1998)
  • The Lost Bloch: Volume 1: The Devil With You! (1999)
  • The Lost Bloch: Volume 2: Hell on Earth (2000)
  • The Lost Bloch: Volume 3: Crimes and Punishments (2002)
  • The Reader's Bloch: Volume 1: The Fear Planet and Other Unusual Destinations (2005)

Robert Bloch As an Editor of Anthologies

  • Twilight Zone the Movie (1983)
  • Psycho-paths (1991)
  • Monsters in Our Midst (1993)
  • Robert Bloch's Psychos (1997)

Robert Bloch Non Fiction Books

  • The Eighth Stage of Fandom (1962)
  • Out of My Head (1986)
  • Once Around the Bloch: An Unauthorized Autobiography (1993)
  • Robert Bloch: Appreciations of the Master (1995)

Robert Bloch Short Stories Collected in Anthologies

  • The Night Side (1947)
  • Far Boundaries (1951)
  • Fever Dream and Other Fantasies (1951)
  • Night's Yawning Peal (1952)
  • Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1957)
  • The Fantastic Universe Omnibus (1960)
  • Spine Chillers (1961)
  • Dark Mind Dark Heart (1962)
  • The Fiend in You (1962)
  • The 4th Pan Book of Horror Stories (1963)
  • The Vampire (1963)
  • When Evil Wakes (1963)
  • Kurt Singer's Ghost Omnibus (1964)
  • Sleep No More (1964)
  • The Boris Karloff Horror Anthology (1965)
  • Everyman's Book of Classic Horror Stories (1965)
  • Beyond the Curtain of Dark (1966)
  • I Can't Sleep at Night (1966)
  • The Playboy Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy (1966)
  • Terror! (1966)
  • Dangerous Visions 1 (1967)
  • New Worlds of Fantasy (1967)
  • The Playboy Book of Horror and the Supernatural (1967)
  • Tales of Terror (1967)
  • Time Untamed (1967)
  • The Evil People (1968)
  • Hauntings: Tales of the Supernatural (1968)
  • Legends for the Dark (1968)
  • The Midnight People (1968)
  • A Man Called Poe (1969)
  • Other Worlds, Other Times (1969)
  • The Satanists (1969)
  • Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos Volume 2 (1969)
  • The Unspeakable People (1969)
  • The Witchcraft Reader (1969)
  • The Freak Show (1970)
  • The Hollywood Nightmare (1970)
  • A Sea of Space (1970)
  • The Ghouls Book 2 (1971)
  • The Necromancers (1971)
  • Partners in Wonder (1971)
  • The Year's Best Horror Stories (1971)
  • The 7th Fontana Book of Great Horror Stories (1972)
  • The Year's Best Horror Stories II (1972)
  • The Edge of Never (1973)
  • The Nightmare Reader Volume 2 (1973)
  • Summoned from the Tomb (1973)
  • Christopher Lee's New Chamber of Horrors (1974)
  • A Clutch of Vampires (1974)
  • The Devil's Children (1974)
  • The Hounds of Hell (1974)
  • Christopher Lee's 'X' Certificate (1975)
  • The Rivals of Frankenstein (1975)
  • The Star Book of Horror 1 (1975)
  • Tales of Terror From Outer Space (1975)
  • The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction 22nd Series (1976)
  • Frights: New Stories of Suspense and Supernatural Terror (1976)
  • The Ides of Tomorrow: Original Science Fiction Tales of Horror (1976)
  • Realms of Wizardry (1976)
  • Tales of Unknown Horror (1976)
  • Weird Tales Volume 2 (1976)
  • The Rivals of Dracula (1977)
  • Weird Legacies (1977)
  • Whispers (1977)
  • Chamber of Horrors (1978)
  • Shadows (1978)
  • Frights 2 (1979)
  • The Great SF Stories One: 1939 (1979)
  • Les Meilleurs Recits de Weird Tales Tome 3 (1938-1942) (1979)
  • The Master's Choice Book 1 (1979)
  • Dark Forces (1980)
  • New Terrors 2 (1980)
  • The Giant Book of Horror Stories (1981)
  • Modern Masters of Horror (1981)
  • A Treasury of Modern Fantasy (1981)
  • The Gruesome Book (1983)
  • Haunted Houses: The Greatest Stories (1983)
  • Magic for Sale (1983)
  • Masques: All New Works of Horror and the Supernatural (1984)
  • Top Fantasy (1984)
  • Realms of Darkness (1985)
  • Terrorists of Tomorrow (1985)
  • A Treasury of American Horror Stories (1985)
  • Cutting Edge (1986)
  • Hallowe'en Horrors (1986)
  • Masters of Darkness (1986)
  • A Century of Horror 1970-1979: The Greatest Stories of the Decade (1987)
  • The Colour of Evil (1987)
  • Masques 2 (1987)
  • Jack the Ripper (1988)
  • Silver Scream (1988)
  • Curses (1989)
  • Hot Blood: Tales of Provocative Horror (1989)
  • Between Time and Terror (1990)
  • Dark Voices: The Best from the Pan Book of Horror Stories (1990)
  • The Mammoth Book of Terror (1990)
  • Amazing Stories: The Anthology (1991)
  • The Night Fantastic (1991)
  • Vampires: The Greatest Stories (1991)
  • The Mammoth Book of Vampires (1992)
  • Ghosttide (1993)
  • Monsters in Our Midst (1993)
  • Nursery Crimes (1993)
  • To Sleep, Perchance to Dream...Nightmare (1993)
  • Dark Destiny (1994)
  • Doubles, Dummies and Dolls: 21 Terror Tales of Replication (1994)
  • The Mammoth Book of Frankenstein (1994)
  • Young Blood (1994)
  • Angels of Darkness (1995)
  • The Best New Horror 6 (1995)
  • The Best of Weird Tales (1995)
  • Ghost Movies: Famous Supernatural Films (1995)
  • More Phobias (1995)
  • The Oxford Book of Twentieth-Century Ghost Stories (1996)
  • Rivals of Dracula (1996)
  • The Vampire Hunters' Casebook (1996)
  • Virtuous Vampires (1996)
  • The Wizards of Odd: Comic Tales of Fantasy (1996)
  • Cyber-Killers (1997)
  • Dancing with the Dark (1997)
  • The Flying Sorcerers (1997)
  • Don't Open This Book! (1998)
  • Knights of Madness: Further Comic Tales of Fantasy (1998)
  • The Mammoth Book of Fantasy All-Time Greats (1998)
  • The Young Oxford Book of Aliens (1998)
  • California Sorcery (1999)
  • Tales of The Cthulhu Mythos (1999)
  • Technohorror: Tales of Terror, Suspense, and Intrigue (1999)
  • The Mammoth Book of Haunted House Stories (2000)
  • My Favorite Horror Story (2000)

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