Lost Bloch Crimes (Crimes and Punishments) [Hardcover]

Robert Bloch (Author)

Editorial Reviews

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.

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

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Subterranean Company (October 31, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1931081166
• ISBN-13: 978-1931081160
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,254,562 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Semi-clueless BOOKLIST reviewer..., January 20, 2012

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This review is from: Lost Bloch Crimes (Crimes and Punishments) (Hardcover)

...someone who has the wit to appreciate Bloch, and enough knowledge to know Bloch knew what he was doing, but not enough wit or knowledge to realize that DIME MYSTERY was one of the more innovative and sophisticated of crime-fiction magazines (after its first issues, which were devoted to what has been referred to since as "shudder pulp"--essentially, perverse pseudo-horror stories), one of the magazines that picked up the gauntlet from BLACK MASK in the 1930s (if not quite as impressively as its stablemate DIME DETECTIVE did).

Meanwhile, this book, gathering material from places as diverse as a READER'S DIGEST volume (published by their "condensed books" arm, but not an example of that approach, but an amusingly odd anthology of true-crime and supposedly-true paranormal accounts by writers better known for their good to excellent fiction-writing) and the pulps in question, is eminently worth having even without the supplementary materials by "Elly" Bloch and Douglas Winter, and it's a pity it was offered in such a limited edition.