The Lost Bloch (Crimes and Punishments) - Hardcover

Bloch, Robert

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1931081166 ISBN 13: 9781931081160

Publisher: Subterranean, 2002

Synopsis

Book by Bloch, Robert

About this title

From Booklist:

*Starred Review* The last book in editor Schow's three-volume roundup of previously uncollected work by the clown prince of horror fictionists is one of the best Robert Bloch books ever. It re-presents four 1940s pulp stories (well, one is from 1951), two true-crime pieces, and the complete transcript of a 1984 interview with horror historian Douglas E. Winter. Reading the stories first leaves one wishing that Winter had asked Bloch to what extent "The Noose Hangs High"--the best thing in the book--is a deliberate parody of roman (and film) noir. Bloch was an ace literary burlesquer, so it is hard to believe that this gem about a bus driver framed for murder wasn't premeditated; still, the yarn was published by something called Dime Mystery, and Bloch may just have been writing for his market, tongue only half in cheek. The other stories, especially another from Dime Mystery ("The Finger Necklace"--i.e., a stranglehold), are jolly grim fun, too. The true-crime pieces, bravura examples of low-rent nonfiction, are serial-killer profiles, the shorter one of the inspiration for Norman Bates in Psycho (1959), the longer of the model for the protagonist of Bloch's American Gothic (1974). Topping off these riches, Bloch's fellow funny horror writer (and cartoonist) Gahan Wilson and Bloch's widow, Eleanor, both testify as to what a genuine sweetheart this creator of nightmares was. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

From Publishers Weekly:

Fans of the late Robert Bloch won't want to miss Crimes and Punishments: The Lost Bloch, Volume III, edited by David J. Schow. In addition to four obscure pulp stories, this volume features a couple of nonfiction pieces ("The Shambles of Ed Gein" and "Dr. Holmes' Murder Castle"), an introduction by Gahan Wilson, an interview conducted by Douglas E. Winter and a tribute, "My Husband, Robert Bloch," by Eleanor Bloch.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Subterranean
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 1931081166
• ISBN 13: 9781931081160
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 283
• Editor: Schow David J.