| Movies | Music | Timeline | Awards |
| Robert Bloch | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Vital statistics | |
| Occupation | Author |
| Gender | Male |
| Birth Date | April 5, 1917 |
| Birth Location | Chicago, Illinois |
| Death Date | September 23, 1994, age 77 |
| Death Location | Los Angeles, California |
| Notable Works | Psycho That Hell-Bound Train Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper |
Robert Bloch, born April 5, 1917 in Chicago, Illinois, was a prolific author of horror, crime, fantasy, science fiction. He was known for twist endings and his wry humor. He wrote over dozen novels and several hundred short stories. He's had many movies based off of his works, the most famous being the 1960 Alfred Hitchcock adaptation of Psycho (1960) from Bloch's novel of the same name. He won numerous awards and a member of several prestigious writing organizations throughout his career.
Early in his career, H. P. Lovecraft served as Bloch's mentor. In the early part of Bloch's career he was a prolific contributor to the pulp magazines like Weird Tales and Amazing Stories. Over time, Bloch's stories evolved from the weird to the psychological. A recurring character in Bloch's stories was Jack the Ripper.
In 1959, Bloch wrote his most famous work: Psycho. It was loosely based on the real-life murderer Ed Gein. The novel inspired a film franchise and two sequels aslo written by Bloch. The book series and the movie series had nothing to do with the other beyond the adaptation of the first book.
Bloch was also a very accomplished screenwriter. He wrote screenplays for movies such as Straight-Jacket, The House That Dripped Blood and Asylum.
Bloch died, in Los Angeles, California September 23, 1994 at the age of 77 from cancer. His career, both extensive and long (lasting 60 years), was inspirational to many authors, including Stephen King.
Praise[]
- from Stephen King – "Perhaps the finest psychological horror writer."
- from Peter Straub – "Robert Bloch is one of the all-time masters."