Robert Bloch

"All Else Is Dust" (as E. K. Jarvis) © Amazing Stories, Mar 1950 --/ cool sf story --/ rare find "All on a Golden Afternoon" © F&SF, Jun 1956 Blood Runs Cold, 1961 --/ cool f novella "Almost Human" (as by Tarleton Fiske) © Fantastic Adventures, Jul 1943 --/ cool sf story "The Animal Fair" © Playboy, May 1971 Cold Chills, 1977 --/ fourth place dark f story --/ shock value "Atoms And Evil" (coll) © 1962, Fawcett Gold Medal --/ cool sf collection --/ idea award --/ rare find "The Beautiful People" (also as "Skin Deep") © Bestseller Mystery Magazine, Jul 1960 Sci Fiction, Nov 2005 Out of the Mouths of Graves, 1979 --/ cool dark f story --/ shock value "Beelzebub" © Playboy, Dec 1963 Chamber of Horrors, 1963 --/ style award "The Big Kick" © Rogue, Jul 1959 Blood Runs Cold, 1961 "Black Lotus" © Unusual Stories, Win 1935 --/ fourth place f story --/ adventure award --/ wonder award --/ style award --/ rare find ---------------------------------------------- "Block That Metaphor" © Galaxy, Oct 1958 Atoms And Evil, 1962 ---------------------------------------------- "The Brood Of Bubastis" © Weird Tales, Feb 1937 Fear & Trembling, 1989 --/ fourth place dark f story --/ wonder award --/ adventure award: caves --/ shock value --/ rare find "Broomstick Ride" © Super Science Fiction, Dec 1957 Bogey Men, 1963 --/ cool space / dark f story --/ wonder award --/ idea: exile witches in space ---------------------------------------------- "A Case Of The Stubborns" © F&SF, Oct 1976 Such Stuff As Screams Are Made Of, 1979 --/ cool f story --/ humour award "Cantankerous grandpa won't believe he is dead, but gets up the following morning, as if it never happened - causing consternation (to say the least!) for the family. He keeps coming to meals and demands service. Even the Reverend can't convince him and finally his family resorts to voodoo." Fun and whimsical story, it was made into a TV Episode in "Tales from the Dark Side". review: 26-Oct-06 (read in 2001) ---------------------------------------------- "Catnip" © Weird Tales, Mar 1948 Pleasant Dreams, 1960 --/ fourth place f story --/ style award: school bully --/ shock value --/ rare find "The Chaney Legacy" © Night Cry, Fall 1986 Fear & Trembling, 1989 --/ cool f story; movie trivia "Change Of Heart" © Arkham Sampler, Fall 1948 Atoms and Evil, 1962 --/ cool f story --/ wonder award --/ shock value --/ rare find "Comfort Me, My Robot" © Imagination, Jan 1955 Atoms And Evil, 1962 --/ fourth place sf story --/ wonder award --/ idea award --/ rare find "Constant Reader" © Universe SF Stories, Jun 1953 Atoms And Evil, 1962 --/ fourth place f story --/ wonder award --/ idea award --/ style award --/ rare find "Crime Machine" © Galaxy, Apr 1962 Fear Today, Gone Tomorrow, 1971 --/ cool sf story --/ idea: subjectivity machine "The Cure" © Playboy, Oct 1957 Blood Runs Cold, 1961 "Daybroke" © Star Science Fiction Magazine, Jan 1958 Blood Runs Cold, 1961 --/ third place apocalyptic sf story --/ idea award --/ style award --/ emotion award --/ shock value "Dead-End Doctor" © Galaxy, Feb 1958 Atoms and Evil, 1962 "Edifice Complex" © Escapade, Feb 1958 Atoms and Evil, 1962 --/ cool sf story "Egghead" © Fantastic Universe, Jul 1958 Atoms and Evil, 1962 "The Egghead Plays It Straight" (also as "The Professor Plays It Square") © Argosy, Sep 1957 Atoms And Evil, 1962 "End of Your Rope" © Fantastic Adventures, Jul 1950 --/ cool sf story --/ humour award --/ rare find ---------------------------------------------- "Enoch" © Weird Tales, Sep 1946 Pleasant Dreams, 1960 --/ cool f story ---------------------------------------------- "ETFF" © Odyssey, Spring 1977 Fear & Trembling, 1989 "Fear And Trembling" (coll) © Tor Books, 1989 --/ cool dark f collection "The Final Performance" © Shock, Sep 1960 Blood Runs Cold, 1961 --/ cool dark f story --/ shock value: ventriloquist "Floral Tribute" © Weird Tales, Sep 1949 Fear & Trembling, 1989 --/ cool dark f story --/ style award "Freak Show" © F&SF, May 1979 Fear & Trembling, 1989 "The Funnel of God" © Fantastic, Jan 1960 Fear Today, Gone Tomorrow, 1971 "Funny Farm" © Dark Things, ed. A. Derleth, 1971 --/ fourth place sf story --/ wonder award --/ idea: comic paper monsters --/ style award: comic fandom --/ shock value --/ rare find "Genie with the Light Brown Hair" (Lefty Feep series) © Fantastic Adventures, May 1943 --/ cool genie f story --/ humour award --/ rare find "The Girl from Mars" © Fantastic Adventures, Mar 1950 The Living Deamons, 1967 --/ fourth place sf story --/ wonder award --/ shock value --/ rare find "The Golden Opportunity of Lefty Feep" (Lefty Feep series) © Fantastic Adventures, Nov 1942 Lost in Time and Space with Lefty Feep, 1987 --/ fourth place f story --/ wonder award --/ style award --/ humour award --/ rare find "Groovyland" © IF, May 1969 Fear & Trembling, 1989 --/ humour award: 60ties music scene "The Head" © The Ides Of Tomorrow, ed. T. Carr, 1976 Such Stuff As Screams Are Made Of, 1979 --/ cool f story "The Head Hunter" (also as "Head Man") © 15 Mystery Stories, Jun 1950 Chamber of Horrors, 1966 --/ cool dark f story "Head Man" (also as "The Head Hunter") © 15 Mystery Stories, Jun 1950 Chamber of Horrors, 1966 --/ cool dark f story "Hell Is My Legacy" (also as "The Tunnel of Love") © New Detective Magazine, Jul 1948 Such Stuff As Screams Are Made Of, 1979 --/ fourth place dark f story --/ style award: luna park --/ rare find "Horror Scope" © Fear & Trembling, 1989 Fear & Trembling, 1989 "How Like a God" © Galaxy, Apr 1969 Cold Chills, 1977 "The Hungry House" © Imagination, Apr 1951 Pleasant Dreams, 1960 --/ third place dark f story --/ wonder award --/ idea award: house entity --/ style award --/ shock value --/ rare find "I Do Not Love Thee, Doctor Fell" © F&SF, Mar 1955 Blood Runs Cold, 1961 --/ fourth place f story --/ style: psychological --/ idea: lost identity "I Like Blondes" © Playboy, Jan 1956 Blood Runs Cold, 1961 --/ fourth place sf story --/ wonder award --/ style award --/ shock value "The Learning Maze" © The Learning Maze and Other Stories, ed. by R. Elwood, 1974 Cold Chills, 1977 --/ cool f story "Let's Do It for Love" © Fantastic, Nov 1953 Fantastic, Aug 1969 --/ cool sf story --/ humour award ---------------------------------------------- "Life in Our Time" © Ellery Quinn Mystery, Oct 1966 The Living Demons, 1967 --/ cool sf story: time capsule Some scary implications of time capsules, but nothing to get excited about. The idea could have a real frightening potential, unrealized. ---------------------------------------------- "The Living Dead" (also as "Underground") © Ellery Quinn Mystery, Apr 1967 The Living Demons, 1967 --/ cool f story "Luck Is No Lady" © Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery, Aug 1957 Terror in the Night, 1958 "Lucy Comes to Stay" © Weird Tales, Jan 1952 The Living Demons, 1967 --/ fourth place f story --/ style: psychological "The Man Who Collected Poe" © Famous Fantastic Mysteries, 1949 --/ cool f story "The Mandarin's Canaries" © Weird Tales, Sep 1938 The Opener of the Way, 1945 --/ cool f story --/ wonder award "The Masterpiece" © Rogue, Jun 1960 Blood Runs Cold, 1961 "The Metal Monster" (nv) (as E. K. Jarvis) © 1940, Amazing Stories --/ rare find "A Most Unusual Murder" © Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Mar 1976 Fear & Trembling, 1989 "The Movie People" © F&SF, Oct 1969 New Worlds of Fantasy # 2, 1970 --/ cool sf story --/ idea award "Mr. Steinway" © Fantastic, Apr 1954 Pleasant Dreams, 1960 --/ cool f story "The New Season" © Masques II, ed. J. N. Williamson, 1987 Fear & Trembling, 1989 "Nightmare Number Four" © 1959, Science Fiction Showcase russ. Vokrug Sveta, 1970 --/ cool f story --/ idea award --/ rare find "Nina" © F&SF, Jun 1977 Such Stuff As Screams Are Made Of, 1979 --/ fourth place dark f story --/ shock value: weird girl "The Opener of the Way" © Weird Tales, Oct 1936 The Opener of the Way, 1945 --/ fourth place f story --/ wonder award "The Oracle" © Penthouse, May 1971 Cold Chills, 1977 --/ cool apocalyptic sf story "The Past Master" © Bluebook, Jan 1955 Tales in a Jugular Vein, 1965 "Picture" © Shadows, ed. C. Grant, 1978 --/ cool f story --/ wonder award --/ humour award --/ rare find ---------------------------------------------- "The Pin" © Amazing Stories, Dec 1953 Blood Runs Cold, 1961 Fantastic, May 1967 --/ cool sf story --/ humour award ---------------------------------------------- "The Plot Is the Thing" © F&SF, Jul 1966 The Living Demons, 1967 --short story: 1966 Nebula Robert Bloch already wrote about psychedelic music-business scene (see "Groovyland"), and now he tackles the Hollywood scene. That's gotta be one ripe ground for "celluloid people" nightmare. The story, however, failed to give me the lasting impression. review: 10-Jul-06 (read in 2006) ---------------------------------------------- "The Professor Plays It Square" (also as "The Egghead Plays It Straight") © Argosy, Sep 1957 Atoms And Evil, 1962 "Reaper" © Cutting Edge, ed. D. Etchison, 1986 Fear & Trembling, 1989 --/ cool dark f story "Return To The Sabbath" © Weird Tales, Jul 1938 The Opener of the Way, 1945 --/ cool f story --/ wonder award "The Skeleton in the Closet" (as by Tarleton Fiske) © Fantastic Adventures, May 1943 "The Scent Of Vinegar" © Dark Destiny, ed. E. Kramer, 1994 --novellette: 1995 Bram Stoker W --/ fourth place dark f novella --/ adventure award --/ style award "The Screaming People" © Fantastic, Jan 1959 Chamber of Horrors, 1966 --/ cool sf novella: psychological --/ idea: return to womb "The Secret of Sebek" © Weird Tales, Nov 1937 The Opener of the Way, 1945 --/ cool f story --/ wonder award ---------------------------------------------- "The Shambler from the Stars" (Cthulhu Mythos) © Weird Tales, Sep 1935 The Opener of the Way, 1945 --/ fourth place f story --/ wonder award --/ style award The Thirties gave history many monsters, some very real (like Stalin, Hitler, etc), but most imaginary - in the pulps. No other decade produced such a fertile crop of aliens and mad-scientist pets, and most of them were indeed pretty ugly. Witness this "star vampire" creature (part of the Cthulhu Mythos zoo of beings)... Quote from the story: "It was red and dripping; an immensity of pulsing, moving jelly; a scarlet blob with myriad tentacular trunks that waved and waved. There were suckers on the tips of the appendages, and these were opening and closing with a ghoulish lust.... The thing was bloated and obscene; a headless, faceless, eyeless bulk with the ravenous maw and titanic talons of a star-born monster"."The star vampire dwells in outer space and is characterized by its ravenous appetite for blood. The creature uses its enormous talons to capture its prey, grappling and crushing the unfortunate and then draining the victim's blood through its tubular suckers. It is normally invisible, but following a sanguine repast, the star vampire becomes temporarily visible from the undigested blood it has absorbed." (Wikipedia) The story itself is an assault on the senses in the best "weird wonder" pulp tradition. Bloch apparently had a blast writing it, even killing off his fellow writer H. P. Lovecraft at the end of the story, in his unbridled enthusiasm. Lovecraft returned the favour, killing off a Bloch character in his "Haunter of the Dark". All in good fun, fellows. review: 30-Sep-06 (read in 1999) ---------------------------------------------- "The Shrink And The Mink" © Hustler, 1983 Fear & Trembling, 1989 --/ humour award "Skin Deep" (also as "The Beautiful People") © Bestseller Mystery Magazine, Jul 1960 Sci Fiction, Nov 2005 Out of the Mouths of Graves, 1979 --/ cool dark f story --/ shock value "Sleeping Beauty" (also as "The Sleeping Redheads") © Swank, Mar 1958 Pleasant Dreams, 1960 --/ cool f story: New Orleans "The Sleeping Redheads" (also as "Sleeping Beauty") © Swank, Mar 1958 Pleasant Dreams, 1960 --/ cool f story: New Orleans "The Spoiled Wife" © Chrysalis # 3, ed. R. Torgeson, 1978 --/ fourth place sf story --/ wonder award --/ idea award --/ humour award --/ rare find "The Strange Flight of Richard Clayton" © Amazing Stories, Mar 1939 The Opener of the Way, 1945 --/ cool f story --/ wonder award "The Strange Island of Dr. Nork" © Weird Tales, March 1949 --/ cool f story --/ wonder award --/ adventure award "Such Stuff As Screams Are Made Of" (coll) © Ballantine Books, 1979 --/ cool f collection --/ shock value "Sweets to the Sweet" © Weird Tales, Mar 1947 Pleasant Dreams, 1960 --/ fourth place f story --/ style award --/ shock value --/ rare find "Talent" © IF, Jul 1960 Atoms And Evil, 1962 "Tell Your Fortune" © Weird Tales, May 1950 --/ fourth place f story --/ wonder award --/ style award "That Hell-Bound Train" © F&SF, Sep 1958 More Nightmares, 1962 --short story : 1959 Hugo W --short story : 1999 Locus All-Time Poll /20 --/ third place f story --/ wonder award --/ idea award --/ style award "The Tin You Love to Touch" © Other Worlds, Jun 1951 --/ cool sf story --/ wonder award "Tooth or Consequences" © Amazing Stories, May 1950 Fantastic Stories, Nov 1965 "A Toy for Juliette" (with Harlan Ellison) © Dangerous Visions, 1967 Partners in Wonder, H. Ellison, 1974 Fear Today, Gone Tomorrow, 1971 --/ cool sf story "Try This For Psis" © F&SF, Oct 1956 Atoms And Evil, 1962 --/ cool sf story "The Tunnel of Love" (also as "Hell Is My Legacy") © New Detective Magazine, Jul 1948 Such Stuff As Screams Are Made Of, 1979 --/ fourth place dark f story --/ style award: luna park --/ rare find "Underground" (also as "The Living Dead") © Ellery Quinn Mystery, Apr 1967 The Living Demons, 1967 --/ cool f story "The Unspeakable Betrothal" © Avon Fantasy Reader # 9, 1949 The Living Deamons, 1967 --/ cool f story: Alice --/ rare find "Vengeance of the Golden God" (nv) (as E. K. Jarvis) © Amazing Stories, Dec 1950 --/ cool time f novella --/ wonder award --/ adventure award --/ rare find "A Way of Life" © Fantastic Universe, Oct 1956 "The Weird Tailor" © Weird Tales, Jul 1950 The Skull of the Marquis de Sade, 1965 --/ third place dark f story --/ wonder award --/ idea: black magic suit --/ style award --/ shock value --/ rare find "What You See Is What You Get" © F&SF, Oct 1977 Such Stuff As Screams Are Made Of, 1979 --/ cool f story: camera photo "Wheel And Deal" © Atoms And Evil, 1962 --/ fourth place sf story --/ wonder award --/ idea award --/ shock value --/ style award --/ rare find "Word of Honor" © Playboy, Aug 1958 Blood Runs Cold, 1961 --/ cool sf story --/ idea: honesty epidemic "The World-Timer" © Fantastic, Aug 1960 Fear Today, Gone Tomorrow, 1971 --/ cool sf novella --/ idea: time pills --/ humour pills "You Could Be Wrong" © Amazing Stories, Mar 1955 Atoms and Evil, 1962 Fantastic, Aug 1968 --/ cool f story "You Got to Have Brains" © Fantastic Universe, Jan 1956 Atoms and Evil, 1962 --/ cool sf story --/ wonder award --/ style award --/ rare find "Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper" © Weird Tales, Jul 1943 The Opener of the Way, 1945 --/ cool f story "The Yugoslaves" © Night Cry, Winter 1985 Fear & Trembling, 1989 --/ fourth place dark f story --/ wonder award --/ shock value --/ style award -------------------------------------------------------------------

Click to go to "Dark Roasted Blend" site