For the racing driver, see Robert Bloch (racing driver).
Robert Bloch
Bloch in 1976
Born
Robert Albert Bloch (1917-04-05)April 5, 1917 Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Died
September 23, 1994(1994-09-23) (aged 77) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Pen name
Tarleton Fiske, Will Folke, Nathan Hindin, E. K. Jarvis, Floyd Scriltch, Wilson Kane, John Sheldon, Collier Young[1]
Occupation
Novelist, short-story writer
Nationality
American
Period
1934–1994
Genre
Crime, Fantasy, Horror, Science fiction
Notable works
Psycho, Psycho II, Psycho House, American Gothic, Firebug
Spouse
Marion Ruth Holcombe
(m. 1940; div. 1963)
Eleanor Zalisko Alexander
(m. 1964–1994)
Children
1
Website
robertbloch.net
Robert Albert Bloch (/blɒk/; April 5, 1917 – September 23, 1994) was an American fiction writer, primarily of crime, psychological horror and fantasy, much of which has been dramatized for radio, cinema and television. He also wrote a relatively small amount of science fiction. His writing career lasted 60 years, including more than 30 years in television and film. He began his professional writing career immediately after graduation from high school, aged 17. Best known as the writer of Psycho (1959), the basis for the film of the same name by Alfred Hitchcock, Bloch wrote hundreds of short stories and over 30 novels. He was a protégé of H. P. Lovecraft, who was the first to seriously encourage his talent. However, while he started emulating Lovecraft and his brand of cosmic horror, he later specialized in crime and horror stories working with a more psychological approach.
Bloch was a contributor to pulp magazines such as Weird Tales in his early career, and was also a prolific screenwriter and a major contributor to science fiction fanzines and fandom in general.
He won the Hugo Award (for his story "That Hell-Bound Train"), the Bram Stoker Award, and the World Fantasy Award. He served a term as president of the Mystery Writers of America (1970) and was a member of that organization and of Science Fiction Writers of America, the Writers Guild of America, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Count Dracula Society. In 2008, The Library of America selected Bloch's essay "The Shambles of Ed Gein" (1962)[2] for inclusion in its two-century retrospective of American true crime.[3]
His favorites among his own novels were The Kidnapper, The Star Stalker, Psycho, Night-World, and Strange Eons.[4] His work has been extensively adapted into films, television productions, comics, and audiobooks.
^Haynes, Diana (c. 1998). a.k.a.: 50 Years of American Literary Pseudonyms. Carlsbad, California: Primulum Books Ltd. p. 4. ISBN 0-9666470-0-9.
^The essay was previously collected in The Lost Bloch, Volume Three: Crimes and Punishments (2002) "Bibliography: The Shambles of Ed Gein". isfdb.org. Internet Speculative Fiction Database. Retrieved October 8, 2013.
^Library of America. "True Crime: An American Anthology". Library of America. Retrieved October 8, 2013.
^Larson, Randall (1989). The Bloch Companion: Collected Interviews 1969–1986. Starmont House. ISBN 1-55742-147-1.
Robert Albert Bloch (/blɒk/; April 5, 1917 – September 23, 1994) was an American fiction writer, primarily of crime, psychological horror and fantasy...
from the Stars" by RobertBloch. Bloch wrote a third story in the sequence, "The Shadow from the Steeple", in 1950. In Providence, Robert Blake, a young writer...
Dunwich horror and others. selected by August Derleth, introduction by RobertBloch (corrected 7. printing ed.). Sauk City, Wis.: Arkham House. p. 117. ISBN 0870540378...
Norman Bates is a fictional character created by American author RobertBloch as the main protagonist in his 1959 horror novel Psycho. He has an alter...
Lila Loomis (née Crane) is a character created by American author RobertBloch in his 1959 thriller novel Psycho; she is the sister of Norman Bates's victim...
Adele Bloch-Bauer (1881–1925), Austrian entrepreneur Albert Bloch (1882–1961), American painter Alexandre Bloch (1857–1919), French painter Alfred Bloch (1877-...
Felix Bloch (23 October 1905 – 10 September 1983) was a Swiss-American physicist and Nobel physics laureate who worked mainly in the U.S. He and Edward...
under the alias Marie Samuels, is a character created by American author RobertBloch in his 1959 thriller novel Psycho. She is portrayed by Janet Leigh in...
Simon Bloch (German: [ɛʁnst ˈblɔx]; July 8, 1885 – August 4, 1977; pseudonyms: Karl Jahraus, Jakob Knerz) was a German Marxist philosopher. Bloch was influenced...
with other contemporary writers including Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E. Howard, RobertBloch, Frank Belknap Long, Henry Kuttner, Henry S. Whitehead, and...
RobertBloch and incorporated by H. P. Lovecraft into the lore of the Cthulhu Mythos. Ludvig Prinn's Mysteries of the Worm first appeared in Bloch's short...
"The Titan in the Crypt" by J. G. Warner "Fane of the Black Pharaoh" by RobertBloch "Curse of the Black Pharaoh" by Lin Carter "The Curse of Nephren-Ka"...
that he is dead. Written by James Houghton, based on a short story by RobertBloch and guest-starring Brent Spiner as Reverend Peabody. 10 "Djinn, No Chaser"...
Derleth, August. "The Return of Hastur". In Price, Robert M. (ed.). The Hastur Cycle. Bloch, Robert. "Heritage of Horror". The Best of H. P. Lovecraft:...
comic locked-room mystery novel Now You See It ... (1995), dedicated to RobertBloch. He also wrote the screenplays for several movies, including the comedy...
similarities except for the main plot twist. The film's script was written by RobertBloch, author of the novel Psycho. The cinematographer for The Cabinet of Caligari...
stories. His more famous friends and collaborators include RobertBloch, author of Psycho; Robert E. Howard, creator of Conan the Barbarian; and August Derleth...
Ambrose Bierce Algernon Blackwood RobertBloch Marjorie Bowen John Buchan Mikhail Bulgakov Leonora Carrington Robert W. Chambers Leonard Cline Mary Elizabeth...
cases the works themselves serve as an important plot device. Thus, in RobertBloch's tale "The Shambler from the Stars", a weird fiction writer seals his...
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