Complete Stories of Robert Bloch: Final Reckonings (Complete Stories of Robert Bloch, Volume 1)

These stories should NEVER go out of print! Yet Volume 2 of this three volume set already has. Mr Bloch's stories have been adapted for movies and TV in some of the most memorable and haunting shows ever seen. Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, a masterwork of suspense and terror was originally penned by Mr Bloch as was it's sequel . The episodes of Thriller penned by Mr Bloch are the pinnacle of TV terror. Yet, as famous as these works are, Mr Bloch's most powerful gift was the short story. The ability was to craft a tale like a pyramid so that the reader climbs the perfectly placed steps all the way to the top. then get a shock, or a chill, or some other surprise every time you read. And then, you repeat the process with the next story! Literature courses should be taught using Mr Bloch's work. He was a giant while Clive Barker and Steven King are crass amateurs scribbling graffiti.

I bought this for our son and he really liked the illustrations and story.

This is a wonderful short story collection by Lovecraftian apostle Robert Bloch. Bloch is an accomplished writer of chilling and gripping short stories that will have you reading them through to the very end. He has a creative and masterful style that paints a scene before you walk into it. You are made aware of your surroundings and the feelings of each of his characters as Bloch is a masterful genius of science fiction for any age. Most of these stories were written in the 1950's but are relevant for today in terms of holding your interest--definitely for those of us that love creative sci-fi. Some of the best stories are -- Mannikins of Horror -about an invalid neurosurgeon who brings miniature clay beings to life through his masterful skill as a doctor and surgeon, The Unspeakable Betrothal, about beings from another world channeling through a young girl's dreams and The Goddess of Wisdom, about a futuristic time where rocket travel is mainstream and interaction with people is something to be coveted... overall, a great find if you can find it! By the way, he wrote for various tv shows, including Alfred Hitchcock and the Twilight Zone!

Robert Bloch was a genius, he captured all the awe and wonder of science fiction and horror of the 50's and 60's (Psycho is still knocking people's socks off). Not horror in always a bloody sense, some that scared the heck out of you just by thinking about it (like Lucy's Here To Stay). This is a hard collection to get your hands on, I would suggest buying this while the cost is still down, I got it for around $14. I got the second volume for $32 dollars and only one other seller was selling in the same range, otherwise expect to pay around $70 for the second volume. A truly special writer who knew psychology and engineering. The publisher may want to consider another edition of both volumes so these stories are more accessible to the public.

Robert Bloch has a wonderful, inventive imagination, and this collection of short stories taps into that wonderful reservoir for a delightful, dark book.

Block can write, that's plain. He is able to enter into the mind of his character and speak with the appropriate voice. That said, these stories fail at their goal of inspiring either interest or dread.From the first page the reader can predict the ending...well, maybe not exactly but close enough to make reading the rest a bore and reading the final twist anticlimactic.When one of his characters is expected to be a vampire only to reveal himself as a werewolf in the last line, is this a payoff worth plodding through a long, bland story? It is not.When a "man" describes his appetite for blondes for ten pages and then in the last page he reveals himself to be an alien who eats blondes, is this shocking? No. It's been expected from the first line and was not worth the long, hard slog through to the end.As for the best part of any fiction or film, the part before the explanations, the part where you're asking yourself: where can this be going? how can this be? how can it all make some sort of sense? Well, that mystery is nonexistent in Bloch's writing, and that's a shame. Why suffer through a story only to be rewarded with a hackneyed, trite, expected ending?It is well that many of the writers from the golden age of SF are being brought back into print, but some authors deserve to be allowed to fade into obscurity.

Mannikins of HorrorAlmost HumanThe Beasts of BarsacThe Skull of the Marquis de SadeThe Bogey Man Will Get YouFrozen FearThe Tunnel of LoveThe Unspeakable BetrothalTell Your FortuneThe Head ManThe Shadow From the SteepleThe Man Who Collected PoeLucy Comes to StayThe Thinking CapConstant ReaderThe PinThe Goddess of WisdomThe Past MasterWhere the Buffalo RoamI Like BlondesYou Got to Have BrainsA Good ImaginationDead-End DoctorTerror in the NightAll on a Golden AfternoonFounding FathersString of Pearls

Robert Bloch was an incredible writer. He's mostly known for writing "Psycho." I didn't discover him until I took a literature class in college but he writes with an incredible kind of style that builds suspense until the very last pages of a story. If you like being mesmerized and scared at the same time you should definitely pick this volume up.

This collection of short stories covers the early work of Robert Bloch. It is a mixture of horror, crime and science fiction. It reminds us that Bloch was once a disciple of H.P Lovecraft with tales such as 'The Unspeakable Betrothal' and the excellent 'The Shadow from the Steeple'. Bloch's writing style is much more polished and concise than the sometimes brilliant but often verbose prose of Lovecraft. He clearly always aspired to be a successful professional rather than a gifted amateur.My own favourite stories in the collection are the aforementioned 'The Shadow from the Steeple' and the classic 'The Skull of the Marquis de Sade'. Incidentally, despite references in the story, de Sade killed only in his writings.My interest in Robert Bloch was reawakened by watching "Star Trek" repeats on television, three of which he wrote. He was certainly a major author in the fantasy/horror field.

Great collection of stories from fantasy/horror maestro Bloch.

Such an excellent read! But why doesn't Amazon obtain the imprint rights for Volumes 2 & 3? They are available but used and at crazy prices. If Amazon printed and retailed at a reasonable price, they would achieve many sales and make a lot of people very happy. Come on Amazon.

Robert Bloch wrote Psycho on which Alfred Hitchcock based his film. But he was a master of short stories and here is a collection of the best.Buy it, love it, but keep a light on. Some of these tales are not for the nervous.

If you like horror-fantasy stories from the 50s, then this is for you.My favourite tales are "Frozen Fear" "A Good Imagination" and"Terror In The Night".There are a number of science fiction storiestoo.Bloch seems to be in his element when a plot revolves around crimerather than the supernatural.