Robert Bloch's Story

augusta · Post by **augusta** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 9:31 pm

I read a while back that Robert ("Psycho" author) Bloch wrote a short story about Lizzie. I am trying to find the story to read. Anyone have any clews?

Harry · Post by **Harry** » Sat Oct 13, 2007 12:40 am

His short story originally appeared in The Skull of the Marquis de Sade. New York: Pyramid Books, 1965.

It was reprinted in the "Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine", September, Year?

The January 1994 issue of the LBQ printed it in its entirety.

augusta · Post by **augusta** » Sat Oct 13, 2007 1:27 pm

Wow, you're a regular whiz kid, Harry! "Lizzie Borden took an Axe". Okay. Has anyone read it? What's it like?

diana · Post by **diana** » Sat Oct 13, 2007 3:49 pm

It was also reprinted in the LBQ -- Vol. II No. l Jan. 1994 pp 8-12.

So dig out your old LBQ pile and you can read it there, Augusta!

augusta · Post by **augusta** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 9:41 am

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Diana! I will do just that.

augusta · Post by **augusta** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 6:04 pm

Well, I guess I won't. Can't find it anywhere. My husband moved my office upstairs a couple years ago, and he just took things and threw them in boxes. I looked thru them all. Geez, it's really a big mess. I would have taken more care if I were moving someone's papers.

Bob Gutowski · Post by **Bob Gutowski** » Tue Oct 16, 2007 3:29 pm

I have it in one of those $3.99 big thick collections of horror stories you find at Barnes & Noble. It's okay, but no PSYCHO.

augusta · Post by **augusta** » Tue Oct 16, 2007 4:07 pm

I wonder if "Psycho" was his very best work. His sequel to 'Psycho' - the novel, which was called something else, stunk. They didn't use it for the Psycho II movie.

I'm glad to hear you have the book containing the story, Bob. I bought a book of Robert Bloch's Short Stories - Part II. (I didn't know he wrote so many short stories.) I thought it'd have that Lizzie story in it, but it didn't. It must be in Part I, which I never found.

I recently bought one of his novels on Abe Books that sounds real good. It's called "American Gothic" and is about the 1893 Chicago world's fair. I believe it's a fictional story about H.H. Holmes, the serial killer who was in the area at the time.

Bob Gutowski · Post by **Bob Gutowski** » Tue Oct 16, 2007 4:34 pm

I think you're right, it is his fictional;ization of the H. H. Holmes case.

And I agree, the PSYCHO book sequel was not too good! He had a terrific career, though. He used to say, "I have the heart of a small boy - I keep it in a jar on my desk."

augusta · Post by **augusta** » Sat Oct 20, 2007 9:58 am

You speak as if Robert Bloch died. Did he???

twinsrwe · Post by **twinsrwe** » Sat Oct 20, 2007 10:25 am

augusta @ Sat Oct 20, 2007 7:58 am wrote: You speak as if Robert Bloch died. Did he???

Yes, Robert Bloch died of cancer, September, 23, 1994, in Los Angeles, California.

Here are a couple of links:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0088645/bio
http://www.filmreference.com/film/15/Robert-Bloch.html

augusta · Post by **augusta** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 7:49 am

Thank you for the links, Twinrwe. I looked at both of them. Unfortunately he did die in 1994 (cancer). I didn't know he wrote "Strait-Jacket". That's one of my favorite movies. I'll have to try to get hold of some of the books they mentioned he had written.

It said he knew he was terminal, and he wrote an article for OMNI magazine on his thoughts on dying. That would be interesting to read.

twinsrwe · Post by **twinsrwe** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 3:24 pm

You're welcome, Augusta.