Robert Bloch

Also known as Tarleton Fiske, Will Folke, Nathan Hindin, E. K. Jarvis, Floyd Scriltch, Wilson Kane, John Sheldon, Collier Young

American fiction writer (1917–1994)

Person · Open Library

Born: 5 April 1917
Died: 23 September 1994
Works: 308

Top works

Bloch and Bradbury
The best horror stories
Die besten SF- Stories von Robert Bloch
Lost in Time and Space With Lefty Feep
The Best of Frederic Brown

via Open Library + Wikidata

Film & TV

Chicago, Illinois, USA

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Robert Albert Bloch (April 5, 1917 – September 23, 1994) was a prolific American writer, primarily of crime, horror and science fiction. He is best known as the writer of Psycho, the basis for the film of the same name by Alfred Hitchcock. He was also known as an excellent standup speaker with a wry sense of humour. He many times remarked that he had "the…

Known for

Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story — Self (archive)2007
Battle-Axe: the Making of 'Strait-Jacket' — Self2002
Fear in the Dark — Self1991
Stephen King's World of Horror — Self1989
Hollywood Ghost Stories — Himself (uncredited)1986
The Horror of It All — Self1983
How to Plan a Movie Murder — Self1964

via TMDB

Key facts

Born: Robert Albert Bloch , ( 1917-04-05 ) April 5, 1917, Chicago, Illinois , U.S.
Died: September 23, 1994 (1994-09-23) (aged 77), Los Angeles, California , U.S.
Pen name: Tarleton Fiske, Will Folke, Nathan Hindin, E. K. Jarvis, Floyd Scriltch, Wilson Kane, John Sheldon, Collier Young
Occupation: Novelist, short-story writer
Nationality: American
Period: 1934–1994
Genre: Crime , Fantasy , Horror , Science fiction
Notable works: Psycho , Psycho II , Psycho House , American Gothic , Firebug
Spouse: Marion Ruth Holcombe ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1940 ; divorced</span>"}]]}'>div. 1963 ) Eleanor Zalisko Alexander ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1964 )

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of: human
Given name: Albert
Family name: Bloch
Gender: male
Citizenship: United States
Place of birth: Chicago
Place of death: Los Angeles
Languages spoken: English language
Notable work: Psycho
Field of work: science fiction literature
Genre: noir novel
Image: Robert Bloch with His Hall of Fame Award, 5 December 1976 (cropped).jpg

Show 10 more facts

place of burial: Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
Commons category: Robert Bloch
date of birth: 1917-04-05
date of death: 1994-09-23
topic's main category: Category:Robert Bloch
cause of death: cancer
manner of death: natural causes
writing language: English language
start of work period: 1934-00-00
Commons Creator page: Robert Bloch

Sources (5)

via Wikidata · CC0

Works in European collections

1 object attributed to Robert Bloch, held across European museums, libraries & archives · via Europeana

Untitled

~40 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Robert Albert Bloch (/blɒk/; April 5, 1917 – September 23, 1994) was an American fiction writer, primarily of crime, psychological horror, and fantasy, much of which has been dramatized for radio, cinema and television. He also wrote a relatively small amount of science fiction. His writing career lasted 60 years, including more than 30 years in television and film. He began his professional writing career immediately after graduation from high school, aged 17. He is best known as the writer of the novel Psycho (1959), the basis for the 1960 film Psycho directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Bloch wrote hundreds of short stories and over 30 novels. He was a protégé of H. P. Lovecraft, who was the first to seriously encourage his talent. However, while he started emulating Lovecraft and his brand of cosmic horror, he later specialized in crime and horror stories, often emphasizing psychological aspects of the characters within.

Bloch was a contributor to pulp magazines such as Weird Tales in his early career, and was also a prolific screenwriter and a major contributor to science fiction fanzines and fandom in general.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Robert Bloch” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.