History YMMV / RobertBloch

* CompleteMonster:
** ''American Gothic'': [[SerialKiller G. Gordon Gregg]] is a serial black widower who frequently [[TheBluebeard murders his wives for money]], opening the novel by killing his current one. A killer who runs a "[[HellHotel murder hotel]]", Gregg traps his victims there to utterly vanish them, bleeding and dissecting them. Murdering two other would-be brides, Gregg seduces a journalist named Crystal while planning to dispose of her as well, having killed dozens of innocents within his walls.
** "Literature/HeadMan": [[AxCrazy Otto Krantz]] is the sadistic headman of [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany Berlin]] who [[OffWithHisHead decapitates]] thousands with a delight to be seen performing his "act". After killing countless, Otto wants to practice on even less deserving victims and illegally bribes the local authorities to allow him access to a woman and her father to decapitate them for sport.
** "The Yougoslaves": [[BigBad Le Boss]] is a grotesque gang leader who [[HumanTraffickers traffics]] in [[WouldHurtAChild children]], having boys kidnapped and addicted to drugs to slowly strip them of humanity until they are nothing but murderers. The girls are trafficked for [[SexSlave sex]] or to be provided to his soldiers to be gang raped as entertainment and reward. Running a thieving and murder ring, Le Boss shows his lack of regard for the children when he murders one simply for bringing him bad news and [[WouldHarmASenior tries to kill a seemingly helpless old man]] for seeking a stolen item back.
** "[[https://www.unz.com/print/WeirdTales-1943jul-00083 Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper]]": Psychiatrist John Carmody and Englishman Sir Guy Hollis are on the trail of the elusive UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper. It is revealed Jack has claimed [[SerialKiller dozens of victims]] over the years, mutilating them horribly as he did the women in London. It is further seen that Jack is not a mortal killer: instead, his murders are done to appease dark gods to grant him immortality and power, and there is no sign he will stop anytime soon. Hollis reveals that he and his father had tracked the Ripper together, but the Ripper [[YouKilledMyFather had gotten to Hollis's father first and murdered him]]. Upon realizing the depth of Hollis's conviction, Carmody reveals his true identity as the Ripper and ends the story about to murder Hollis.

* OnceAcceptableTargets: Gays, who were almost always depicted as the campiest of {{Camp Gay}}s for cheap laughs. The best example might be the over the top celebrity impersonators in Bloch's ''Psycho II'' (nothing to do with the movie), who are shrieking, giggling, catty queens -- even the ones who do Creator/JohnWayne and Creator/ClintEastwood.

* NarrowedItDownToTheGuyIRecognize: Bloch's novel "The Night of the Ripper" presents a fairly interesting play on this trope. It contains a veritable gallery of Victorian historical personages, including the victims, the investigators, the witnesses and common suspects in the Jack the Ripper case, in a manner similar to that of far more known ''ComicBook/FromHell''. [[spoiler: Yet one of the actual killers is entirely fictional and the other also may or may not have been.]]

* NarrowedItDownToTheGuyIRecognize: Bloch's novel "The Night of the Ripper" presents a fairly interesting play on this trope. It contains a veritable gallery of Victorian historical personages, including the victims, the investigators, the witnesses and common suspects in the Jack the Ripper case, in a manner similar to that of far more known Literature/FromHell. [[spoiler: Yet one of the actual killers is entirely fictional and the other also may or may not have been.]]

* NarrowedItDownToTheGuyIRecognize: Bloch's novel "The Night of the Ripper" presents a fairly interesting play on this trope. It contains a veritable gallery of Victorian historical personages, including the victims, the investigators, the witnesses and common suspects in the Jack the Ripper case, in a manner similar to that of far more known Literature/FromHell. [[spoiler: Yet one of the actual killers ins entirely fictional and the other also may or may not have been.]]

* HilariousInHindsight: His short story ''Witch War'' is about a future in which the deadliest military unit available is [[VideoGame/{{Touhou}} a squad of adorable young witches who fly out and blast the enemy to smithereens.]]

* OnceAcceptableTargets: Gays, who were almost always depicted as the campiest of {{Camp Gay}}s for cheap laughs. The best example might be the over-the-top celebrity impersonators in Bloch's ''Psycho II'' (nothing to do with the movie), who are shrieking, giggling, catty queens-- even the ones who do Creator/JohnWayne and Creator/ClintEastwood.
* HarsherInHindsight: In his 1947 novel ''The Scarf'' the protagonist fantasizes about going up onto a rooftop with a high-powered rifle and shooting at anyone and everyone he can. Editors originally removed this as too nasty and outrageous, but it was put back in the 1966 and subsequent reissues after [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Whitman Charles Whitman's]] shooting spree.

* OnceAcceptableTargets: Gays, who were almost always depicted as the campiest of {{Camp Gay}}s for cheap laughs. The best example might be the over-the-top celebrity impersonators in Bloch's ''Psycho II'' (nothing to do with the movie), who are shrieking, giggling catty queens-- even the ones who do Creator/JohnWayne and Creator/ClintEastwood.