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The Best of Robert Bloch
Contents:
xi · Robert Bloch: The Man Who Wrote Psycho · Lester del Rey · in
1 · Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper · ss Weird Tales Jul ’43
21 · Enoch · ss Weird Tales Sep ’46
39 · Catnip · ss Weird Tales Mar ’48
55 · The Hungry House · ss Imagination Apr ’51
79 · The Man Who Collected Poe · ss Famous Fantastic Mysteries Oct ’51
97 · Mr. Steinway · ss Fantastic Apr ’54
113 · The Past Master · nv Bluebook Jan ’55
141 · I Like Blondes · ss Playboy Jan ’56
153 · All on a Golden Afternoon · nv F&SF Jun ’56
185 · Broomstick Ride · ss Super Science Fiction Dec ’57
197 · Daybroke · ss Star Science Fiction Magazine Jan ’58
209 · Sleeping Beauty [“The Sleeping Redheads”] · ss Swank Mar ’58
225 · Word of Honor · ss Playboy Aug ’58
237 · The World-Timer · nv Fantastic Aug ’60
271 · That Hell-Bound Train · ss F&SF Sep ’58
289 · The Funnel of God · nv Fantastic Jan ’60
319 · Beelzebub · ss Playboy Dec ’63
329 · The Plot Is the Thing · ss F&SF Jul ’66
337 · How Like a God · ss Galaxy Apr ’69
355 · The Movie People · ss F&SF Oct ’69
269 · The Oracle · ss Penthouse May ’71
377 · The Learning Maze · ss The Learning Maze, ed. Roger Elwood, Messner, 1974
393 · Author’s Afterword: “Will the Real Robert Bloch Please Stand Up?” · aw
xi · Robert Bloch: The Man Who Wrote Psycho · Lester del Rey · in
1 · Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper · ss Weird Tales Jul ’43
21 · Enoch · ss Weird Tales Sep ’46
39 · Catnip · ss Weird Tales Mar ’48
55 · The Hungry House · ss Imagination Apr ’51
79 · The Man Who Collected Poe · ss Famous Fantastic Mysteries Oct ’51
97 · Mr. Steinway · ss Fantastic Apr ’54
113 · The Past Master · nv Bluebook Jan ’55
141 · I Like Blondes · ss Playboy Jan ’56
153 · All on a Golden Afternoon · nv F&SF Jun ’56
185 · Broomstick Ride · ss Super Science Fiction Dec ’57
197 · Daybroke · ss Star Science Fiction Magazine Jan ’58
209 · Sleeping Beauty [“The Sleeping Redheads”] · ss Swank Mar ’58
225 · Word of Honor · ss Playboy Aug ’58
237 · The World-Timer · nv Fantastic Aug ’60
271 · That Hell-Bound Train · ss F&SF Sep ’58
289 · The Funnel of God · nv Fantastic Jan ’60
319 · Beelzebub · ss Playboy Dec ’63
329 · The Plot Is the Thing · ss F&SF Jul ’66
337 · How Like a God · ss Galaxy Apr ’69
355 · The Movie People · ss F&SF Oct ’69
269 · The Oracle · ss Penthouse May ’71
377 · The Learning Maze · ss The Learning Maze, ed. Roger Elwood, Messner, 1974
393 · Author’s Afterword: “Will the Real Robert Bloch Please Stand Up?” · aw
397 pages, Paperback
First published October 23, 1977
16 people are currently reading
750 people want to read
About the author
Robert Bloch
1,088 books1,272 followersRobert Albert Bloch 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, Milwaukee, WI), a social worker, both of German-Jewish descent.
Bloch wrote hundreds of short stories and over twenty novels, usually crime fiction, science fiction, and, perhaps most influentially, horror fiction (Psycho). 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 Weird Tales in his early career, and was also a prolific screenwriter. He was the recipient of the Hugo Award (for his story "That Hell-Bound Train"), the Bram Stoker Award, and the World Fantasy Award. He served a term as president of the Mystery Writers of America.
Robert Bloch was also a major contributor to science fiction fanzines and fandom in general. In the 1940s, he created the humorous character Lefty Feep in a story for Fantastic Adventures. 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. In the 1960's, he wrote 3 stories for Star Trek.
Bloch wrote hundreds of short stories and over twenty novels, usually crime fiction, science fiction, and, perhaps most influentially, horror fiction (Psycho). 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 Weird Tales in his early career, and was also a prolific screenwriter. He was the recipient of the Hugo Award (for his story "That Hell-Bound Train"), the Bram Stoker Award, and the World Fantasy Award. He served a term as president of the Mystery Writers of America.
Robert Bloch was also a major contributor to science fiction fanzines and fandom in general. In the 1940s, he created the humorous character Lefty Feep in a story for Fantastic Adventures. 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. In the 1960's, he wrote 3 stories for Star Trek.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
December 8, 2023
This is a very good collection of short stories by Bloch, though I don't agree that it contains his "best." It's limited to stories with an element of supernatural fantasy or science fiction, and he was best known for his psychological horror and, earlier, for his humorous works, none of which are included. Lester del Rey is listed as the editor, but in both his introduction and in Bloch's afterword it's stated that Bloch himself selected all of the contents. There are three excellent stories from 1940s Weird Tales (Enoch, Catnip, and Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper), a handful from men's magazines like Penthouse, Playboy, and Swank, and most of the rest from the genre magazines of the 1950s and '60s. My other favorites in the book include Broomstick Ride, The Hungry House, and That Hell-Bound Train, which I believe was the first straight fantasy story to win a Hugo Award as best science fiction of the year and is the subject of the striking Paul Alexander painting on this book's cover.
June 21, 2019
Excellent read! I highly recommend!
“Enoch” and “Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper” are often mentioned as favorites of fans of Bloch. I can see why. They were both creepy tales. However, I also found “Catnip” and “The Hungry House” to be exceptionally scary as well. I take that to be quite a feat with the latter story because I find most haunted house stories to be not all that scary. “The Hungry House” was definitely creepy. It ranks up there with Shirley Jackson’s novella The Haunting of Hill House.
I had never read “Catnip” before. But while reading it I remembered that I had seen a televised episode of this story. I couldn’t remember where at first. It took me awhile to track down on the internet but I finally figured out that it had been an episode of Darkroom, an 1981-82 Twilight Zone-like show where James Coburn played the Rod Serling-like narrator and host. (Funny enough, Marlon Brando’s sister played the old lady in “Catnip”.)
Overall I found The Best of Robert Bloch to be very similar to old Twilight Zone stories, also very reminiscent of Ray Bradbury classic tales. Most of these stories were published in the 50s and 60s and there’s very much a Cold War-ish fear or mood in several of the stories.
Nevertheless, I highly recommend this book. I can see why Bloch was so popular in his day. He had a good (and creepy) imagination.
“Enoch” and “Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper” are often mentioned as favorites of fans of Bloch. I can see why. They were both creepy tales. However, I also found “Catnip” and “The Hungry House” to be exceptionally scary as well. I take that to be quite a feat with the latter story because I find most haunted house stories to be not all that scary. “The Hungry House” was definitely creepy. It ranks up there with Shirley Jackson’s novella The Haunting of Hill House.
I had never read “Catnip” before. But while reading it I remembered that I had seen a televised episode of this story. I couldn’t remember where at first. It took me awhile to track down on the internet but I finally figured out that it had been an episode of Darkroom, an 1981-82 Twilight Zone-like show where James Coburn played the Rod Serling-like narrator and host. (Funny enough, Marlon Brando’s sister played the old lady in “Catnip”.)
Overall I found The Best of Robert Bloch to be very similar to old Twilight Zone stories, also very reminiscent of Ray Bradbury classic tales. Most of these stories were published in the 50s and 60s and there’s very much a Cold War-ish fear or mood in several of the stories.
Nevertheless, I highly recommend this book. I can see why Bloch was so popular in his day. He had a good (and creepy) imagination.
February 23, 2021
This has been sitting on my shelf forever, so I'm happy to have finally gotten to it. A wonderful collection of science fiction, spec fic, horror, comedic horror, and fantasy, all under one roof. Many of these stories would've made excellent Twilight Zone episodes; indeed, they are of the essence of the Twilight Zone, made of the same stuff.
Some of the stories are slightly dated in technological descriptions, and in terms of masculine/feminine characterizations. Even so, the stories here run the gamut, are highly entertaining, and in some cases, whimsically humorous, too. They are often told with the same "moral of the story" twist as some of the best TWZ episodes, avoiding the "too on the nose" flaws of the worst TWZ episodes.
Some of the stories are slightly dated in technological descriptions, and in terms of masculine/feminine characterizations. Even so, the stories here run the gamut, are highly entertaining, and in some cases, whimsically humorous, too. They are often told with the same "moral of the story" twist as some of the best TWZ episodes, avoiding the "too on the nose" flaws of the worst TWZ episodes.
April 3, 2008
It amazes me that so many fans of horror and short stories have never encountered Bloch.
March 6, 2020
A fairly good collection of stories, the ‘short with a twist’ kind that got me into reading when I was in my early teens. None were earth-shattering, none were particularly memorable, but each one was a welcome diversion at coffee break time.
August 10, 2023
Robert Bloch is an author whose literary output as well as quality of that writing stuns people. Yet, most of his works are out of print. Even worse, despite penning so many memorable stories, he is remembered as the author of 'Psycho'.
This collection, if one can get hold of it, is bound to shock and awe a new reader with its diversity and quality.
Unfortunately, this book doesn’t represent the full spectrum of Bloch. Several later and hard-to-find (later resurrected by 'Lost Bloch' and 'Reader's Bloch' volumes by Subterranean Press) stories are missing. Also, Bloch's less-discussed crime stories are missing, including the unforgettable 'Water's Edge'. Perhaps the "Robert Bloch: Appreciations of the Master" can be considered as a more comprehensive collection.
But this one is an essential read for any lover of speculative fiction.
Highly recommended.
This collection, if one can get hold of it, is bound to shock and awe a new reader with its diversity and quality.
Unfortunately, this book doesn’t represent the full spectrum of Bloch. Several later and hard-to-find (later resurrected by 'Lost Bloch' and 'Reader's Bloch' volumes by Subterranean Press) stories are missing. Also, Bloch's less-discussed crime stories are missing, including the unforgettable 'Water's Edge'. Perhaps the "Robert Bloch: Appreciations of the Master" can be considered as a more comprehensive collection.
But this one is an essential read for any lover of speculative fiction.
Highly recommended.
July 4, 2023
Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper - 4/5 - Pretty good little horror story. It did feel a bit predictable but that is probably because the conceit has been used quite a bit since this was written in the 40s
Enoch - 3.5/5 - Solid supernatural horror. Some small town backwoods witchcraft/demonology
Catnip - 4.5/5 - A horror story that was clearly inspired by Edgar Allen Poe and that clearly inspired Stephen King. Great stuff
The Hungry House - 3.5/5 - Some genuinely creepy and affective moments. Only suffers a bit with how the ideas he used here feel like they have been used time and again by many other forms of media that use supernatural hauntings
I Like Blondes - 4/5 - A story with serial killer vibes that leads to a science fiction twist. Better than the title would make you think
All on a Golden Afternoon - 2.5/5 - Couldn't get into it. It's dated and while I'm fairly certain he was making fun of some of the dated stuff about psychology I still just couldn't bring myself to care
The Man Who Collected Poe - 4/5 - Expected it to be somewhat corny but it was both a solid ode to Poe's work and style. I read a bunch of his stories last year and it definitely helped to have them fresh in my mind to enjoy this more
Mr. Steinway - 3/5 - The most interesting concept ends up half baked in lieu of a trite horror trope. I would have preferred if it were a bit longer and went more in-depth with the deeper stuff
The Past Master - 4/5 - Nice little butterfly effect time travel story
Broomstick Ride - 4/5 - If I gave the barest description of the plot it would sound quite cheesy and dumb. The story elevates itself quite nicely though and by the end I wish there was a whole novel in this world
Daybroke - 3/5 - Every SF writer in this era had to write their atomic bomb story and this is Bloch's. It's fine but I'm very much over the subject matter and it needs to be a really special story to grip me
Sleeping Beauty - 3/5 - A drunken night in New Orleans gets weird as fuck
Word of Honor - 3.5/5 - A doctor creates a truth serum that can be seeded in the air by a plane. Even though the "unable to lie" trope has been done a few times since this is a pretty good take on it
The World-Timer - 2.5/5 - Story involving alternate timelines that would have been pretty good except it tries to be funny in a few mediocre ways (i.e. a psychiatrist named Dr. Placebo) and the overall tone feels pretty dated. Not dated in an offensive way, just stylistically
The Hell-Bound Train - 4/5 - A nice take on the selling your soul to the devil troupe. It moralizes as you'd expect from a story like this but also has a somewhat lighthearted ending
The Funnel of God - 3.5/5 - A story I wasn't digging much as it's about a young man who is left a lot of money and uses it to search for meaning in life. It wasn’t terrible so much as somewhat annoying. Then the ending was pretty great so it was elevated to the overall rating of "good"
Beelzebub - 4/5 - A fly that no one else can see drives a man insane. Fun and Twilight Zone-y
The Plot is the Thing - 3/5 - An agoraphobic lady addicted to horror movies is given a lobotomy and suddenly finds herself within the horror stories. Too short and superficial to be anything more than decent
How Like a God - 4.5/5 - An immortal being is stranded on a planet against its will that is inhabited by cavemen adjacent beings. It teaches them basic things to advance their culture but due to the ugly form that was placed upon it the people are mostly frightened and keep their distance. Really great stuff and is far and away my favorite of his stories
The Movie People - 3/5 - Decent if mostly unspectacular story about an elderly background actor who is seeing his past love in the backgrounds of old silent movies that she hadn't been in. The idea was better than the finished product
The Oracle - 4/5 - A story about a domestic terrorism event with an unreliable narrator. It's quite short and certainly interesting but the unreliable narrator bit does seem like a bit of a gimmick and mostly lacks purpose
The Leaning Maze - 4/5 - Dystopian story about humans going through their life within a huge structure that is overseen by robots. The robots allow them to experience what they would have experienced within their lives in the real world in contrived and simulated ways. At first, feels like an unsubtle commentary on the human condition, but as I thought more about it I found it left some interesting unanswered questions that I enjoyed ruminating on
Enoch - 3.5/5 - Solid supernatural horror. Some small town backwoods witchcraft/demonology
Catnip - 4.5/5 - A horror story that was clearly inspired by Edgar Allen Poe and that clearly inspired Stephen King. Great stuff
The Hungry House - 3.5/5 - Some genuinely creepy and affective moments. Only suffers a bit with how the ideas he used here feel like they have been used time and again by many other forms of media that use supernatural hauntings
I Like Blondes - 4/5 - A story with serial killer vibes that leads to a science fiction twist. Better than the title would make you think
All on a Golden Afternoon - 2.5/5 - Couldn't get into it. It's dated and while I'm fairly certain he was making fun of some of the dated stuff about psychology I still just couldn't bring myself to care
The Man Who Collected Poe - 4/5 - Expected it to be somewhat corny but it was both a solid ode to Poe's work and style. I read a bunch of his stories last year and it definitely helped to have them fresh in my mind to enjoy this more
Mr. Steinway - 3/5 - The most interesting concept ends up half baked in lieu of a trite horror trope. I would have preferred if it were a bit longer and went more in-depth with the deeper stuff
The Past Master - 4/5 - Nice little butterfly effect time travel story
Broomstick Ride - 4/5 - If I gave the barest description of the plot it would sound quite cheesy and dumb. The story elevates itself quite nicely though and by the end I wish there was a whole novel in this world
Daybroke - 3/5 - Every SF writer in this era had to write their atomic bomb story and this is Bloch's. It's fine but I'm very much over the subject matter and it needs to be a really special story to grip me
Sleeping Beauty - 3/5 - A drunken night in New Orleans gets weird as fuck
Word of Honor - 3.5/5 - A doctor creates a truth serum that can be seeded in the air by a plane. Even though the "unable to lie" trope has been done a few times since this is a pretty good take on it
The World-Timer - 2.5/5 - Story involving alternate timelines that would have been pretty good except it tries to be funny in a few mediocre ways (i.e. a psychiatrist named Dr. Placebo) and the overall tone feels pretty dated. Not dated in an offensive way, just stylistically
The Hell-Bound Train - 4/5 - A nice take on the selling your soul to the devil troupe. It moralizes as you'd expect from a story like this but also has a somewhat lighthearted ending
The Funnel of God - 3.5/5 - A story I wasn't digging much as it's about a young man who is left a lot of money and uses it to search for meaning in life. It wasn’t terrible so much as somewhat annoying. Then the ending was pretty great so it was elevated to the overall rating of "good"
Beelzebub - 4/5 - A fly that no one else can see drives a man insane. Fun and Twilight Zone-y
The Plot is the Thing - 3/5 - An agoraphobic lady addicted to horror movies is given a lobotomy and suddenly finds herself within the horror stories. Too short and superficial to be anything more than decent
How Like a God - 4.5/5 - An immortal being is stranded on a planet against its will that is inhabited by cavemen adjacent beings. It teaches them basic things to advance their culture but due to the ugly form that was placed upon it the people are mostly frightened and keep their distance. Really great stuff and is far and away my favorite of his stories
The Movie People - 3/5 - Decent if mostly unspectacular story about an elderly background actor who is seeing his past love in the backgrounds of old silent movies that she hadn't been in. The idea was better than the finished product
The Oracle - 4/5 - A story about a domestic terrorism event with an unreliable narrator. It's quite short and certainly interesting but the unreliable narrator bit does seem like a bit of a gimmick and mostly lacks purpose
The Leaning Maze - 4/5 - Dystopian story about humans going through their life within a huge structure that is overseen by robots. The robots allow them to experience what they would have experienced within their lives in the real world in contrived and simulated ways. At first, feels like an unsubtle commentary on the human condition, but as I thought more about it I found it left some interesting unanswered questions that I enjoyed ruminating on
January 7, 2014
The Best of Robert Bloch is the old Del Rey edition "Best of" edition of SF master's short stories. If you were an active reader in the Seventies you will probably recognize the cover style. This collection is fairly lightweight, 22 short stories that range from a few pages to several pages. Bloch had a considerable range as a writer but perhaps is best when communicating sardonic tales featuring the best and worst of human nature. My personal favorites were Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper, The Learning Maze and especially The Hell-Bound Train, which features a Faustian bargain between a Hobo and Old Scratch himself.
Summary: A fast read from the author of Psycho, nothing very earth-shaking but with quite a few standout pulp-era short stories.
Summary: A fast read from the author of Psycho, nothing very earth-shaking but with quite a few standout pulp-era short stories.
October 25, 2016
Like any other genre, horror and science fiction can get predictable, repetitive and dull. So imagine my surprise when I picked up 'The Best of Robert Bloch' with stories ranging from the early 40s to 70's and with but a few exceptions was enamored with originality of each of the stories in this collection. The references within the stories may be dated, but the tales themselves aren't. One tale, The World Timer, includes String Theory (before there was String Theory) and we developed socially. I will definitely invest more time reading Mr. Bloch's other short story collections.
September 22, 2011
I read these stories all the time. Robert Bloch is the master.
November 3, 2023
I've been reading Robert Bloch for years....in fact, I encountered this paperback all the way back in 1977 (I happened to be stationed at Ft. Lewis WA in those days).....
Bloch got his start in writing for "Weird Tales", and started a correspondence with H.P. Lovecraft until his demise in 1937...much of Bloch's early writings were within the Lovecraft mythos - eldritch monsters and the like....until he expanded his work to include mysteries and criminal psychology....
I've read many of Bloch's short stories (even the Lefty Feep stories), and, although he's written in a number of genres, I vastly prefer the stories with what R.L. Stein would call the twist....(where John Carmmody turns out to be the murderer in "Yours truly Jack the Ripper" for example. His SF stories, for me, at least...have always seemed to be a little preachy....
But read "Hell bound Train" - an economical piece of fiction if there was one.
Highly recommended.
Bloch got his start in writing for "Weird Tales", and started a correspondence with H.P. Lovecraft until his demise in 1937...much of Bloch's early writings were within the Lovecraft mythos - eldritch monsters and the like....until he expanded his work to include mysteries and criminal psychology....
I've read many of Bloch's short stories (even the Lefty Feep stories), and, although he's written in a number of genres, I vastly prefer the stories with what R.L. Stein would call the twist....(where John Carmmody turns out to be the murderer in "Yours truly Jack the Ripper" for example. His SF stories, for me, at least...have always seemed to be a little preachy....
But read "Hell bound Train" - an economical piece of fiction if there was one.
Highly recommended.
Read
January 25, 2025I'm not going to give this a rating on Goodreads because I read 1 short story that is only in collections of Robert Bloch. Not separately.
I read the Funnel of God, and it was pretty strange at times. It seemed to meander a bit for half the story, but then took a cosmic shift that really ended with a bang.
If I see any more Bloch in the wild, I might pick it up.
4*
I read the Funnel of God, and it was pretty strange at times. It seemed to meander a bit for half the story, but then took a cosmic shift that really ended with a bang.
If I see any more Bloch in the wild, I might pick it up.
4*
November 15, 2020
Robert Bloch's short stories were very good reading! He was a master of the short story in my opinion...and I know that is a very difficult genre to write well in. Loved "Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper," and "Catnip."
February 23, 2023
Collection of horror and science fictions stories, although they were written few decades ago they are still actual. Mostly the ones from which you can feel constant fear of atomic armageddon. Very well written with good twist, able to deliver chilling feeling on your neck, regardless if they are dealing with ghosts or apocalypse. Modern authors can learn from Bloch how to write swift and entertaining story.
May 11, 2012
Ah yes I remember. I used to be such a happy girl because I had this book and it was a fave... And then I moved and some jerk from the moving service figure it was a great book too and it never made it to my home. Curse him.
Yes there is great inventive to this stories, I used to read them all the time and marvel at the genious, it has something to do with the voice, with the tone you try reading this out loud and you might convince yourself they're all so plausible like a tale that happen to a friend of a friend. They're friendly to the reader like that, they process logically in the brain and perhaps that is why they are so engaging, thrilling and a tad frightening. The man's a real master.
Yes there is great inventive to this stories, I used to read them all the time and marvel at the genious, it has something to do with the voice, with the tone you try reading this out loud and you might convince yourself they're all so plausible like a tale that happen to a friend of a friend. They're friendly to the reader like that, they process logically in the brain and perhaps that is why they are so engaging, thrilling and a tad frightening. The man's a real master.
September 15, 2020
A very good selection of short stories from a master of his art. There are some fine stories here from several genres, ranging from Poe-esque horror through to a sweet supernatural love story. I'd be very tempted to give this five stars if it wasn't for the false advertising! The book is part of the "Classic Science Fiction" series, and advertised as such on the cover - I would say only about half the stories are science fictional, however. Be warned if, like me, you were expecting only sf!
November 8, 2013
What an amazing author. This is one of the best short story collections I've ever read. Bloch just knows his craft. This collection is over 35 years old with some of the stories over 65 years old. Whatever. This guy could write circles around Steven King. Too bad he's no longer with us. Highly recommended book if you like getting goose bumps.
April 12, 2013
Wished I discovered Robert Bloch sooner! SCI FI, Fantasy, Horror he writes it all and it's all good!
September 6, 2013
A good, but uneven collection of quiet horror and "weird" fiction stories. Sometimes the weird fiction seems a bit repetitive.
November 12, 2021
Who is Robert Bloch? Many people know his work without knowing who he is. Most of his work is seen on screen, with scripts for The Twilight Zone, the Outer Limits, Tales From the Dark Side, and other TV shows. He's also written hundreds of short stories for magazines and collections. He's also written several novels (including a little gem called Psycho). If you ask the casual reader, they can name many of Bloch's works, but likely are not able to call up his name.
What also makes things interesting is that Robert Bloch is hard to categorize as an author. He has written horror, fantasy, science fiction, dramas, and comedies - all with the same eye for detail, and the same cinematic writing style. Only Ray Bradbury comes to mind for comparison's sake when it comes to the breadth of topics Bloch has written about.
This collection of "science fiction" stories hand-picked by Robert Bloch himself provides a great starting point for those unfamiliar with his works. This collection showcases some of his finest stories, including the Hugo Award-winning Hellbound Train, the disturbing look at insanity that is Enoch, and the twist-filled crime tale Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper. It also includes one of my personal favorites, I Like Blonds, which starts off with the reader believing that the story is a bad taste sexist yarn until you get to the end...
And the end is what makes Bloch great. Bloch is a master of the twist ending, and his writing style is so clean, so precise, that you feel like you are in the action in the same way you are when you watch a show on television or at the movies.
A true master of his craft, I encourage anyone who has yet to experience the fiction of Robert Bloch to check this book (or any collection of his stories) out. You won't be sorry you did.
What also makes things interesting is that Robert Bloch is hard to categorize as an author. He has written horror, fantasy, science fiction, dramas, and comedies - all with the same eye for detail, and the same cinematic writing style. Only Ray Bradbury comes to mind for comparison's sake when it comes to the breadth of topics Bloch has written about.
This collection of "science fiction" stories hand-picked by Robert Bloch himself provides a great starting point for those unfamiliar with his works. This collection showcases some of his finest stories, including the Hugo Award-winning Hellbound Train, the disturbing look at insanity that is Enoch, and the twist-filled crime tale Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper. It also includes one of my personal favorites, I Like Blonds, which starts off with the reader believing that the story is a bad taste sexist yarn until you get to the end...
And the end is what makes Bloch great. Bloch is a master of the twist ending, and his writing style is so clean, so precise, that you feel like you are in the action in the same way you are when you watch a show on television or at the movies.
A true master of his craft, I encourage anyone who has yet to experience the fiction of Robert Bloch to check this book (or any collection of his stories) out. You won't be sorry you did.
May 19, 2022
As a fan of Hitchcock's Psycho I've been aware of Bloch for years but never read any of his stuff until I recently got around to reading the Psycho novels. I enjoyed them a lot (the first more than the other two but they were entertaining) and decided to give some of his short stories a shot. Even though I wasn't really sure what I was going to get as so far I just knew him writing about Norman Bates. I was glad it wasn't just a bunch of stories about serial killers/crime (though it did start with an excellent one about Jack The Ripper) and that many of the stories were weird and out of left field. Mostly horror stories and some sci-fi of the variety a young Stephen King was probably devouring: monsters, aliens, killer pianos, etc. And the stories all hold up today, I'd often forget the story was written in the 40s or 50s and had been picturing a contemporary setting until a minor detail reminded me otherwise. Some of them are a little old-fashioned but in a good way. I don't know if this is really the best of his stuff but it's a nice varied collection of Twilight Zone-esque fun.
January 5, 2020
Robert Bloch deserves to be much better known for his print work than he is. this collection is a good demonstration of why. We have a whimsical (and very funny) Lewis Carroll tribute, a pastiche of Poe, the terrorist thriller "The Oracle" (damn, I think the scheme could work), assorted horror stories, the post-apocalyptic "Daybroke" (pure indulgence in scene-setting, but he sets the scene very well) and the Hugo-winning "Hellbound Train." There's even a utopian story, which is not at all what I think of with Bloch.
A couple of the stories fell flat: "The Learning Maze" is a heavy-handed allegory for instance. Despite that, the overall quality gets a five anyway.
A couple of the stories fell flat: "The Learning Maze" is a heavy-handed allegory for instance. Despite that, the overall quality gets a five anyway.
July 11, 2018
Besides Psycho Bloch wrote hundreds of short stories in the mystery/crime, horror and s.f. genres. This is ostensibly a collection of his s.f., but most of his best work was in other genres and this collects a lot of that good work: "Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper"; "Enoch"; "That Hell-Bound Train"; "The Hungry House" (Jeff and Ann Vandermeer's selection for The Weird). If you haven't read Bloch and you can get your hands on this, it's a good introduction to one of the premier horror story writers of the early 20th century.
May 12, 2019
Robert Bloch byl dobrý spisovatel, psát uměl, o tom není pochyb, ale pokud od knihy „Vlak do pekla a jiné povídky“ čekáte, že zjistíte, jak byl autor skvělým hororovým spisovatelem, tak docela ostrouháte. Je zde pár hororových povídek, ale třeba ta s Jackem rozparovačem je dost obyčejná a nijak Blochovo mistrovství neukazuje. Jeho schopnosti spíše ukazují jiné povídky, ty z ranku sci-fi a ty přemýšlivé. Právě to, jak dokázal o některých aspektech přemýšlet, to z něj dělá zajímavého autora. Z hlediska hororu bohužel – alespoň tento výběr – tak zajímavý není.
October 31, 2023
This collection is about 1/3 great stories, 1/3 that were above average, and 1/3 that were mediocre. The best stories here are the ones that lean more into sci-fi and experiences that are otherwise normal with a slight twist. At his best, Bloch is a fantastic writer; however, some of his stories fall a bit flat in their delivery and half-baked ideas.
Best: "Enoch", "I Like Blondes", "The Past Master", "The Hell-Bound Train", "How Like a God", "Beelzebub"
Worst: "All on a Golden Afternoon", "Daybroke", "The Funnel of God", "The Movie People"
Best: "Enoch", "I Like Blondes", "The Past Master", "The Hell-Bound Train", "How Like a God", "Beelzebub"
Worst: "All on a Golden Afternoon", "Daybroke", "The Funnel of God", "The Movie People"
October 30, 2017
Some gems in here, and some decent ones. Better than the average horror/SF collection for sure. The stories are brief with O.Henry twists a plenty, and a definite mid-century short story vibe. I happen to like that in my horror tales so it works well for me. There is a sad element of sexism which creeps in here or there, but generally better than others in the period. I particularly liked the Poe story.
October 27, 2025
There is a wide range of stories in this collection from Robert Bloch. Most of the stories were very good and were a combination of horror, science fiction and fantasy. Bloch was good at plot twists and those were some of my favorites as well. A few of these stories are very dated for a variety of reasons.
My favorites were:
• The Funnel of God
• The Past Master
• The Learning Maze
• Enoch
• That Hell-Bound Train
• Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper
• Mr. Steinway
• Broomstick Ride
My favorites were:
• The Funnel of God
• The Past Master
• The Learning Maze
• Enoch
• That Hell-Bound Train
• Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper
• Mr. Steinway
• Broomstick Ride
May 6, 2019
S úctou Jack Rozparovač 3/5; Enoch 4/5; Hladový dům 4/5; Muž, který sbíral Poea 5/5; Pan Steinway 4/5; Staří mistři 4/5; Mám rád blondýnky 3/5; Sabat 4/5; Nový den 5/5; Šípková Růženka 3/5; Čestné slovo 3/5; Vlak do pekla 4/5; Belzebub 3/5; Hlavní je příběh 3/5; Jak podoben bohu 3/5; Němý film 4/5; Věštec 3/5; Výukový labyrint 4/5.
May 17, 2021
The best of the BEST EVER. When it comes to short stories, Bloch has no equal. He's the king of the twist, way before M Night Shyamalan came along. Can't recommend this author more. My favorites of this batch were ENOCH, THAT HELL BOUND TRAIN, THE MAN WHO COLLECTED POE, THE PAST MASTER, and DAYBROKE. But really, there was not one bad story here. Go read the master!
March 8, 2025
A collection of Robert Bloch short stories with science fiction, supernatural themes. Bloch's writing is great but the sci-fi stories here didn't appeal to me the same as his horror.
Some that I enjoyed..
Enoch
Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper
The Hungry House
The Man Who Collected Poe
The Past Master
That Hell Bound Train
The Movie People
Some that I enjoyed..
Enoch
Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper
The Hungry House
The Man Who Collected Poe
The Past Master
That Hell Bound Train
The Movie People
Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews