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Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} The Best of Robert Bloch by Robert Bloch The Best of Robert Bloch by Robert Bloch. The Best Of by Edited By Robert Bloch. Edited By Robert Bloch. Published by Nelson Doubleday. Used Condition: Very Good. Condition: Very Good. Publisher: Nelson Doubleday, NYC., 1976. Book Club Edition. NEAR FINE hardcover book in VERY GOOD dust- jacket. Spine Tone. Dj has chips at the extremities. NOT remainder marked. NOT price-clipped. NOT faded. NOT ex-library. All of our books with dust-jackets are shipped in fresh, archival-safe mylar protective sleeves. The Best of Robert Bloch. Robert Bloch. Published by Del Rey / Ballantine Books, 1977. Used - Softcover Condition: VERY GOOD. Mass Market Paperback. Condition: VERY GOOD. Light rubbing wear to cover, spine and page edges. Very minimal writing or notations in margins not affecting the text. Possible clean ex-library copy, with their stickers and or stamp(s). More buying choices from other sellers on AbeBooks. GRAVEN IMAGES: The Best of Horror, and Film Art from the Collection of Ronald V Borst, Introduction by ; Reminiscences By ; ; Robert Bloch; ; ; . Borst, Ronald V with Keith Burns and Leith Adams; Intro by Stephen King; Reminiscences By Forrest J Ackerman; Clive Barker; Robert Bloch; Ray Bradbury; Harlan Ellison; Peter Straub. Published by N.Y. / New York: Grove Press, 1992, 1st Edition, First Printing, New York, NY, 1992. Used - Hardcover Condition: Near Fine (see description) Hard Cover. Condition: Near Fine (see description). Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine (see description). Photo Cover (illustrator). First Edition. ------hardcover , a Near Fine example in a Near Fine price clipped dustjacket, very short (1/4") closed tear along lower edge of front panel, 240 pages, packed with colour photos of all things fantastical relating to the movies, this was done the right way with all colour illustrations as b&w would just not do justice to these masterpieces, any image directly beside this listing is the actual book and not a generic photo ///NOT SIGNED - --GUARANTEED to be AVAILABLE/// Size: 9.25w x 12h Inches. Not Signed. Price Clipped Jacket. The Best of Robert Bloch (22 Short stories); Enoch, Past Master; Movie People; Man Who Collected Poe; That Hellbound Train. And more) Robert Bloch; [Editor]; Lester del Rey [Introduction]; Published by Ballantine Books, USA, 1977. Used - Softcover Condition: Very Good to Fine. Soft Cover. Condition: Very Good to Fine. Paul Alexander Painted Cover (illustrator). First Edition By This Publisher,. 397 pages >> Minor cover scuffing, creasing; Size: 12mo - over 6�" - 7�" Tall. Mass Market Paperback. ISBN 13: 9780345257574. Contents: Yours Truly ; Enoch; Catnip; The Hungry House; The Man Who Collected Poe; Mr. Steinway; The Past Master; I Like Blondes; All on a Golden Afternoon; Broomstick Ride; Daybroke; Sleeping Beauty; Word of Honor; The World-Timer; That Hell-Bound Train; The Funnel of God; Beelzebub; The Plot is the Thing; How Like a God; The Movie People; The Oracle; The Learning Maze. "synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title. Shipping: FREE Within U.S.A. Customers who bought this item also bought. Top Search Results from the AbeBooks Marketplace. 1. The Best of Robert Bloch. Book Description Mass Market Paperback. Condition: New. Brand New!. Seller Inventory # VIB034525757X. 2. The Best of Robert Bloch. Book Description Condition: new. Seller Inventory # BBB_newA_034525757X. 3. Best of Robert Bloch Bloch, Robert and Rey, Lester Del. Book Description Condition: New. New. Seller Inventory # Q-034525757X. 4. The Best of Robert Bloch. Book Description Condition: new. Seller Inventory # think_cr1_034525757X. 5. The Best of Robert Bloch. Book Description Condition: new. Seller Inventory # HolzGA_New_034525757X. 6. The Best of Robert Bloch Robert Bloch and Lester del Rey. Book Description Condition: New. New. Seller Inventory # Q-034525757x. 7. The Best of Robert Bloch. Book Description Condition: New. A+ Customer service! Satisfaction Guaranteed! Book is in NEW condition. Seller Inventory # 034525757X- 2-1. The New Rambler. Robert Bloch began his career basically as one of H.P. Lovecraft’s sidekicks, but, as popular as has become, Bloch’s is still bigger. People might say that they’re afraid of the Great Old Ones but actually changed the public’s bathing routines. Early Bloch steered closer to Lovecraft’s mythos and away from deep impacts. “The Faceless God” is the sort of storyline that Lovecraft might have written but in a different style. In “The Faceless God,” after torturing the secret location from a native trader, an obese “adventurer” unearths an idol of the faceless god, a facet of . His team of workers abandons him, and, alone in the burning desert, he succumbs to madness and . Not a bad story but not one of Bloch’s best. If it had been written in Lovecraft’s adjective-heavy style, it would have been more distinct. If it had been written in Bloch’s later style with more of a touch in cheek tone, the ending would have more of a jolt. As is, it hits all the beats but none of them stand out. It’s more of a place-holder story. I’m not trying to be critical of Bloch–he wrote this at an age when I was still moping about SAT scores. It shows that while he began in Lovecraft’s circle, he grew as a writer to his own voice and style. Even though it’s not Bloch’s best, I would recommend the story for fans of the . Nyarlathotep is portrayed in a manner different from any of Lovecraft’s depictions but totally compatible within the standards that Lovecraft established. Unlike many other writers, Bloch gave a fresh look at the Great Old Ones without contradicting Lovecraft’s own stories. 13 MORE ROBERT BLOCH HORROR STORIES. A few years ago I took a look at 15 horror short stories by Robert Bloch (https://horrordelve.com/2016/04/04/robert-bloch/). It was fun to do and has consistently been one of Horror Delve’s most popular posts, so I decided to give it another go. Without further ado, here are thirteen more excellent stories by the legendary Robert Bloch. THE STORIES: “The Feast in the Abbey” (1930) – On his way to visit his brother’s house in Vironne, a traveler is forced to seek shelter in a large, moss-covered, monastery he stumbles across. The portly monks welcome him inside. The place is filled with surprisingly opulent furnishings. He’s further awed by the enormous, gluttonous feast they invite him to share with them. Their conduct continues to decline, and he begins to question what sort of religion these men follow as the story moves toward its brutal finale. “” (1936) – From Bloch’s Lovecraft-inspired batch of tales, this one follows father and son archeologists who have come across an ancient parchment that reveals the location of a hidden tomb. The father is obsessed with uncovering its secrets which lies hidden behind a door that has a the image of a seven-headed god emerging from a distorted, ever-shifting body on it. The parchment says Anubis is the “opener of the way” . “Mother Of Serpents” (1936) – The unscrupulous President of Haiti pays the price for turning on his conjure-woman mother and her fellow voodoo practitioners. “Return to the Sabbath” (1938) – A couple of Hollywood executives stumble upon a terrifying scene from a foreign film called Return to the Sabbath when they duck into a seedy burlesque theater for a rest. They are taken by how amazing and realistic the actor portraying the pale, gaunt corpse pulling himself out of the ground during a satanic ritual is. They decide they must sign this actor to appear in one of their films, but they struggle to find any information on him or the film as it had apparently been recorded for private use only and wasn’t supposed to be released to the public. They eventually discover his name is Karl Jorla and sign him to a contract solely because he wants to escape Europe as he claims Return to the Sabbath was filmed with, and for, an actual sect of devil worshipers who are very upset about it getting out. This is another excellent tale by Bloch which references horror legends Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi and Peter Lorre. This story was adapted in the second season of Presents as The Sign of Satan starring . “Manikins of Horror” (1939) – Colin is a brilliant doctor who suffered a mental break which lands him in an insane asylum under the care of Doctor Starr. He asks for, and receives, clay to sculpt with during his stay. With it he begins crafting perfect replicas of human beings, complete with organs, brains, etc. in miniature form. Soon, they begin to move and follow the order of their creator. This story was adapted (rather poorly) as the framing story in the film Asylum (also called House Of Crazies) . “ of the ” (1945) – A wealthy collector of occult curios named Maitland is offered a skull by a man who claims it belongs to the infamous sadist the Marquis de Sade. Maitland is intrigued by it even after discovering the seller wants to be rid of it because its presence has been disturbing him. He later learns that there seems to be a terrible curse upon it that has led to the deaths of many of its previous owners. After encountering the skull, Maitland begins to have dreams about being tortured, but he still wants the skull. This story was loosely adapted into the 1966 film The Skull which starred a pair of horror movie icons, and Christopher Lee. “ Took An Axe…” (1946) – A man receives a call while at his office from the girl he loves begging him to help her. He races off to her evil father’s house where she lives. When he arrives, he discovers her father laying on the floor having been killed by axe blows to the head. His girlfriend believes an evil force, which she refers to as an Incubus, comes out of her body as she sleeps and it murdered the man. The more she describes the few details she can recall, the more it reminds the man of the infamous Lizzie Borden murder case from 1892. “The Man Who Collected Poe” (1951) – A man who loves fantasy books is enticed to visit the gothic house of a wealthy book collector named Launcelot Canning after meeting him at a bibliophilic meeting. Canning claims to have the most complete collection of Edgar Allen Poe books and paraphernalia anywhere. This claim is proven upon his arrival as Launcelot is the third generation of his family to have obsessively acquired them by any means necessary including theft and black magic. His prize acquisition turns out to be a deadly threat. “That Hell-Bound Train” (1958) – Remembering the song his father always used to sing about “that Hell-bound train” which is loaded with sinners on their way to Hell, a young man encounters the train conducted by the Devil who offers to make a deal in order to insure he keeps on track to become a passenger in the future. He asks for a way to freeze time when he reaches the happiest point of his life, thus insuring he can spend eternity there. The Devil agrees and gives him a watch, telling him to turn it backwards whenever he decides he’s reached that point. This inspires him to work hard to put himself in that perfect situation, but things don’t go as he planned. “The Living Dead” aka “Underground” (1967) – A Parisian actor helps the Nazis overtake his country by advising them to use the abandoned Chateau Barsac, which locals are afraid of because they believe its deceased former owner Count Barsac was a . The actor even made himself up to look like the undead Count to further drive away the locals, but there’s a danger involved in doing a job too well. “Double Whammy” (1970) – A carnival barker incurs the terrible wrath of a gypsy fortuneteller after her granddaughter kills herself when the barker spurns her. The fortuneteller casts a powerful curse on him called The Double Whammy , which is incured when she catches him regarding his reflection with her in the background. “Everybody Needs A Little Love” (1984) – After helping a fellow divorced drinking buddy steal the mannequin of a beautiful woman from the store he works at, he begins to realize the man believes it’s a real woman. He names her Estelle and his life begins to be controlled by her. This story was adapted for an episode of the television series . “The Night Before Christmas” (1987) – A struggling artist is hired to paint the portrait of the beautiful wife of a wealthy man named Carlos Santiago. While Santiago is away on business, the painter and his subject fall in love with each other, but Santiago is a devious, dangerous man. There is nothing supernatural in this story, but its ending is a brutal one. Article by Matt Cowan. Share this: Like this: Related. 6 thoughts on “ 13 MORE ROBERT BLOCH HORROR STORIES ” Bloch’s longevity means his large body of work can be down broken into eras. I like Lovecraft era and his more modern eras, separated by many decades. His work was always so easily readable. I really want to try and track down the Tales From the Darkside episode that adapts “Everybody Needs A Little Love” after reading the story. I’m certain I saw it when it originally aired but I’ve forgotten it since then. That’s a series that was really good but I never saw much of. I seem to recall it airing in repeats somewhere between 11pm and 1 am on channel 11 here in NYC. It was a little too late for me to watch it but I recall hearing the iconic opening from the other room where my mother would be watching. Someone must stream it online. I remember loving it, but it’s been so long since I watched them, my memory of the episodes has mostly faded away. I’ve read a few Bloch stories as part of the Deal Me In Short Story Challenge over the years, but I think I’ve only read one of those on this list (The Man Who Collected Poe). One of my favs of his is “The Hungry House”, which is among those anthologized in the spectacular “” anthology. “Hungry House” is a good one (I covered it in my first Bloch article). It was also adapted in an episode of the television series Thriller, hosted by Boris Karloff in the early 60’s. Robert Bloch. Robert Albert Bloch (April 5 1917, – September 23 1994, ) was a prolific American writer. He was the son of Raphael "Ray" Bloch (1884, Chicago-1952, Chicago), a bank cashier, and his wife Stella Loeb (1880, Attica, Indiana-1944, , WI), a social worker, both of German-Jewish descent. Bloch wrote hundreds of short stories and over twenty novels, usually , science fiction, and, perhaps most influentially, ( Psycho and ). He was one of the youngest members of the Lovecraft Circle; Lovecraft was Bloch's mentor and one of the first to seriously encourage his talent. He was a contributor to pulp magazines such as in his early career, and was also a prolific screenwriter. He was the recipient of the (for his story "That Hell-Bound Train"), the , and the . He served a term as president of the Mystery Writers of America. Robert Bloch was also a major contributor to science fiction fanzines and in general. In the 1940s, he created the humorous character Lefty Feep in a story for . He also worked for a time in local vaudeville, and tried to break into writing for nationally-known performers. He was a good friend of the science fiction writer Stanley G. Weinbaum. Contents. Early writing career [ edit | edit source ] During the 1930s, Bloch was an avid reader of the Weird Tales . H. P. Lovecraft, a frequent contributor to that magazine, became one of his favorite writers. As a teenager, Bloch befriended and corresponded with Lovecraft, who gave the promising youngster advice on his own fiction-writing efforts. [1] Bloch's first professional sales, at the age of just seventeen, were to Weird Tales with the short stories "The Feast in the Abbey" and "The Secret in the Tomb". Bloch's early stories were strongly influenced by Lovecraft, and a number of his stories were set in, and extended, the world of Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. It was Bloch who invented, for example, the oft-cited Mythos texts and Cultes des Goules . The young Bloch even appears, thinly disguised, as the character "Robert Blake" in Lovecraft's story "", which is dedicated to Bloch. In this story, Lovecraft kills off the Bloch character, repaying a courtesy Bloch paid Lovecraft with his tale "The Shambler from the Stars", in which the Lovecraft-inspired figure dies; the story goes so far as to use Bloch's then-current street address in Milwaukee. (Bloch even had a signed certificate from Lovecraft [and some of his creations] giving Bloch permission to kill Lovecraft off in a story.) Bloch later wrote a third tale, "The Shadow From the Steeple", picking up where "The Haunter of the Dark" finished. After Lovecraft's death in 1937, Bloch continued writing for Weird Tales , where he became one of its most popular authors. He also began contributing to other pulps, such as the science fiction magazine . He gradually evolved away from Lovecraftian imitations towards a unique style of his own. One of the first distinctly "Blochian" stories was "Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper", which was published in Weird Tales in 1943. The story was Bloch's take on the Jack the Ripper legend, and was filled out with more genuine factual details of the case than many other fictional treatments. [2] Bloch followed up this story with a number of others in a similar vein dealing with half-historic, half-legendary figures such as the Man in the Iron Mask ("Iron Mask", 1944), the Marquis de Sade ("The Skull of the Marquis de Sade", 1945) and Lizzie Borden ("Lizzie Borden Took an Axe. ", 1946). Politics [ edit | edit source ] In 1939, Bloch was contacted by James Doolittle, who was managing the campaign for a little-known assistant attorney in Milwaukee, Wisconsin named Carl Zeidler. He was asked to work on his speechwriting, advertising, and photo ops, in collaboration with Harold Gauer. They created elaborate campaign shows; in Bloch's 1993 autobiography, Once Around the Bloch , he gives an inside account of the campaign, and the innovations he and Gauer came up with — for instance, the original releasing-balloons-from-the-ceiling shtick . He comments bitterly on how, after Zeidler's victory, they were ignored and not even paid their promised salaries. He ends the story with a wryly philosophical point: “ If Carl Zeidler had not asked Jim Doolittle to manage his campaign, Doolittle would never have contacted me about it. And the only reason Doolittle knew me to begin with was because he read my yarn ("The Cloak") in Unknown . Rattling this chain of circumstances, one may stretch it a bit further. If I had not written a little vampire story called "The Cloak", Carl Zeidler might never have become mayor of Milwaukee. „ Psycho and screenwriting [ edit | edit source ] Bloch became most famous as the author of the novel Psycho , which was adapted by into the screenplay for the film of the same name, directed by Alfred Hitchcock. His best-known work as a screenwriter is probably The Night Walker (1964), which he wrote for . He also penned two scripts for the original series of , "Catspaw" and "What Are Little Girls Made Of?". In both of these episodes there are direct references in dialogues to incredibly ancient beings known as Old Ones. It is said that he seemed happiest, among his television work, with his contributions to the Boris Karloff-hosted series Thriller . Bloch also contributed to Harlan Ellison's science fiction anthology, . His story, "A Toy for Juliette", evoked both the Marquis de Sade and Jack the Ripper. In fact, Ellison's own contribution to the anthology was a direct follow-up of Bloch's, and was titled "The Prowler in the City at the Edge of the World". Bloch died in 1994. He was cremated and interred in the Room of Prayer columbarium at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles. Writings on Bloch [ edit | edit source ] There is an essay on his work, with particular reference to the novels Psycho and The Scarf , in S. T. Joshi's book The Modern Weird Tale (2001). Joshi examines Bloch's literary relationship with Lovecraft in a further essay in The Evolution of the Weird Tale (2004). In addition, Randall D. Larson has authored three reference books about Robert Bloch: The Robert Bloch Reader's Guide (1986, a literary analysis of Bloch's entire output through 1986), The Complete Robert Bloch (1986, an illustrated bibliography of Bloch's writing), and The Robert Bloch Companion (1986, collected interviews). A compilation of Bloch's Cthulhu Mythos fiction, titled Mysteries of the Worm , was published by with commentary by Robert M. Price.