THE STALKING DEAD The lights went out. Somebody giggled. I heard footsteps in the darkness. Mutter- ings. A hand brushed my face. Absurd, standing here in the dark with a group of tipsy fools, egged on by an obsessed Englishman. And yet there was real terror here . Jack the Ripper had prowled in dark­ ness like this, with a knife, a madman's brain and a madman's purpose. But Jack the Ripper was dead and dust these many years—by every human law . Hollis shrieked; there was a grisly thud. The lights went on. Everybody screamed. Sir Guy Hollis lay sprawled on the floor in the center of the room—Hollis, who had moments before told of his crack-brained belief that the Ripper still stalked the earth . The Critically Acclaimed Series of Classic Science Fiction NOW AVAILABLE: The Best of Stanley G. Weinbaum Introduction by Isaac Asimov The Best of Fritz Leiber Introduction by Poul Anderson The Best of Frederik Pohl Introduction by Lester del Rey The Best of Henry Kuttne'r Introduction by Ray Bradbury The Best of Cordwainer Smith Introduction by J. J. Pierce The Best of C. L. Moore Introduction by Lester del Rey The Best of John W. Campbell Introduction by Lester del Rey The Best of C. M. Kornbluth Introduction by Frederik Pohl The Best of Philip K. Dick Introduction by John Brunner The Best of Fredric Brown Introduction by Robert Bloch The Best of Edmond Hamilton Introduction by Leigh Brackett The Best of Leigh Brackett Introduction by Edmond Hamilton *The Best of L. Sprague de Camp Introduction by Poul Anderson ♦The Best of Raymond Z. Gallon Introduction by J. J. Pierce ♦The Best of Murray Leinster Introduction by J. J. Pierce ♦The Best of Jack Williamson Introduction by Frederik Pohl ♦The Best of Hal Clement Introduction by Ben Bova ♦The Best of James Blish Introduction by Lester del Rey * COMING SOON FROM DEL REY BOOKS THE BEST OF Kobzlt TSiock Edited and with an Introduction by LESTER DEL REY A Del Rey Book BALLANTINE BOOKS • NEW YORK / A Del Rey Book Published by Ballantine Books Copyright © 1977 by Robert Bloch Introduction: Robert Bloch: The Man Who Wrote "Psycho” Copyright © 1977 by Lester del Rey All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copy­ right Conventions. Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simul­ taneously in Canada by Ballantine Books of Canada, Ltd., Toronto, Canada. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 77-3394 ISBN 0-345-25757-X Printed in Canada. First Edition: November 1977 Cover art by Paul Alexander ACKNOWLEDGMENTS “Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper,” copyright © 1943 by Weird Tales for Weird Tales, July 1943. Copyright © 1971 by Robert Bloch. “Enoch,” copyright © 1946 by Weird Tales for Weird Tales, Sep­ tember 1946. Copyright © 1974 by Robert Bloch. “Catnip,” copyright © 1948 by Weird Tales for Weird Tales, March 1948. Copyright © 1976 by Robert Bloch. “The Hungry House,” copyright © 1951 by Greenleaf Publications, Inc., for Imagination, April 1951. “The Man Who Collected Poe,” copyright © 1951 by All-Fiction Field, Inc., for Famous Fantastic Mysteries, October 1951. “Mr. Steinway,” copyright © 1954 by Ziff-Davis Publishing Corporation for Fantastic, April 1954. “The Past Master,” copyright © 1955 by The McCall Corporation for Blue Book, January 1955. “I Like Blondes,” copyright © 1956 by H.M.H. Publishing Corpo­ ration for Playboy, January 1956. “All on a Golden Afternoon,” copyright © 1956 by Fantasy House for The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, June 1956. “Broomstick Ride,” copyright © 1957 by Headline Publications, Inc., for Super-Science Fiction, December 1957. “Daybroke,” copyright © 1958 by Ballantine Books, Inc., for Star Science Fiction Stories. “Sleeping Beauty,” copyright © 1958 (as “The Sleeping Red­ heads”) for Swank, March 1958. “Word of Honor,” copyright © 1958 by H.M.H. Publishing Corpo­ ration for Playboy, August 1958. “The World-Timer,” copyright © 1960 by Ziff-Davis Publishing Company for Fantastic Science Fiction Stories, August 1960. “That Hell-bound Train,” copyright © 1958 by Mercury Press for The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, September 1958. “The Funnel of God,” copyright © 1960 by Ziff Davis Publish­ ing Company for Fantastic Science Fiction Stories, January 1960. “Beelzebub,” copyright © 1963 by H.M.H. Publishing Corporation for Playboy, December 1963. “The Plot Is the Thing,” copyright © 1966 by Mercury Press for The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, June 1966. “How like a God,” copyright © 1969 by Galaxy Publishing Corpo­ ration for Galaxy Science Fiction, April 1969. “The Movie People,” copyright © 1969 by Mercury Press for The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, October 1969. “The Oracle,” copyright © 1971 by Penthouse International, Ltd., for Penthouse, May 1971. “The Learning Maze,” copyright © '1974 by Robert Bloch for The Learning Maze. This book— which I suggested they cut into four equal parts— is - for Win, Frank, Barbara a n d P eter. Contents Introduction: Robert Bloch: The Man Who Wrote Psycho, by Lester del Rey xi Yours Truly, Jack the ,Ripper 1 Enoch 21 Catnip 39 The Hungry House 55 The Man Who Collected Poe 79 Mr. Steinway , 97 The Past Master 113 I Like Blondes 141 All on a Golden Afternoon 153 Broomstick Ride 185 Daybroke 197 Sleeping Beauty 209 Word of Honor 225 The World-Timer 237 That Hell-Bound Train 271 The Funnel of God 289 Beelzebub 319 The Plot Is the Thing 329 How Like a God 337 The Movie People 355 The Oracle 369 The Learning Maze 377 Author’s Afterword: “Will the Real Robert Bloch Please Stand Up?” 393 Robert Bloch: The Man Who Wrote Psycho B y n o w , R o b e r t B lo c h must be thoroughly tired of being introduced as the man who wrote Psycho-, after all, it is many years since he published the novel from which the movie was made and it is typical of only one aspect of Bloch’s varied talents. The label sticks firmly to him, however, and to most people he is the master of shock and horror. In many ways, this is a false label for the writer, and it’s completely wrong for the man, as I’ve come to know him over the past thirty years. The Robert Bloch I know is a pleasant, gentle man of unfailing patience and quick sensitivity, which he usually hides behind a mask of good-natured banter. He is one of the kindest and most thoroughly decent men I’ve ever met. He and his charming and devoted wife, Elly, have a host of friends, ranging from glamour queens and famous writers to neophyte fantasy fans, to all of whom he gives unquestioning loyalty and love. Bloch was bom in 1917, which meant that his early teens were spent during the Great Depression—not a good time for a sensitive youngster! Financial disasters plagued his family and forced them to move away from all the friends he had made. To make things worse, he had to remain at home to protect a younger sister while his mother worked to support the family during this pe­ riod of incipient poverty. In school, he was surrounded xil THE BEST OF ROBERT BLOCH by much older students, since he had been advanced in his classes far beyond his years. Rather naturally, he turned to books and magazines for the companionship he could not find elsewhere. He chose the fantastic sort of literature that could stir his active imagination most strongly. In those days, science fiction offered marvelous vistas of futures in which no depression could happen and where men would tread other worlds as conquering heroes. Weird Tales carried fantasies in which the dull terrors of real life were for­ gotten in make-believe nightmares that were exciting rather than depressing. Bloch soon began to try writing, modeling his stories after the horror fiction of H. P. Lovecraft, whose Cthulhu Mythos blended elements of science fiction and fantasy and involved ancient aliens from space that had once ruled Earth and still strove in banishment to seize the souls of hapless mortals for foul and arcane ends. In 1932, Bloch wrote to Lovecraft and was rather sur­ prised to receive a prompt and friendly answer. Their correspondence continued until Lovecraft’s death in 1937. Lovecraft encouraged the younger writer and of­ fered all possible help and criticism. When Bloch was only seventeen, he began selling stories to Weird Tales and quickly became one of the most popular writers for that magazine. By 1938, he was an active member of the Milwaukee Fictioneers, a group of writers that included Ray Pal­ mer. When Palmer was named editor of Amazing Sto­ ries (and, later, Fantastic Adventures), he persuaded Bloch to write for him. This brought forth an entirely new type of writing from Bloch. He ceased to write only of gloomy things in demon-haunted crypts and turned to a much more modem style. Some of his stories from this period were about a character named Lefty Feep; these were told in slangy, Runyonesque style, displaying wit and humor in full measure. Had I been making the selections for this book, I’d probably have included at ROBERT BLOCH: THE MAN W H O W R O T E PSYCHO least one of these. But perhaps the author’s choice is wise; in most of the Lefty Feep stories the slang is three decades out of fashion, and they would probably need some rewriting for today’s readers. Bloch went on from Palmer’s two fantasy magazines to writing a series of detective and suspense stories for other magazines supervised by the same editor; again, Bloch’s versatility was shown by his ability to fit the style smoothly to the type of story.