Robert Albert Bloch (1917–1994) was a prolific and celebrated writer of crime, horror and science fiction. In 1989 he was the recipient of a Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement, which is presented periodically to an individual whose work has substantially influenced the horror genre. Psycho was Bloch’s most famous work, and it was on this chilling novel that the classic film of the same name by Alfred Hitchcock was based.
Psycho by Robert Bloch Synopsis
She was a fugitive, lost in a storm. That was when she saw the sign: motel – vacancy. The sign was unlit, the motel dark. She switched off the engine, and sat thinking, alone and frightened. She had nobody. The stolen money wouldn’t help her, and Sam couldn’t either, because she had taken the wrong turning; she was on a strange road. There was nothing she could do now – she had made her grave and she’d have to lie in it.
She froze. Where had that come from? Grave. It was bed, not grave. She shivered in the cold car, surrounded by shadows. Then, without a sound, a dark shape emerged from the blackness and the car door opened.
Psycho is not a tale for queasy stomachs or faint hearts. It is filled with horrifying suspense and the climax, instead of being a relief, will hit the reader with bone-shattering force.
‘More chillingly effective than any writer might reasonably be expected to be.’ – New York Times
‘A terribly chilling tale’ – Publishers Weekly
‘Adroit and blood-curdling’ – New York Tribune
The novel that inspired Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho
