Line #60 Creator/RobertBloch


1	[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/robert_bloch_832.jpg]]
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3	->''"I have the heart of a young child. [[BaitAndSwitch I keep it in a jar on my desk]]."''
4	-->-- '''Robert Bloch'''
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6	Robert Albert Bloch (April 5, 1917 – September 23, 1994) was a prolific American writer of horror and crime fiction (with some forays into science fiction), writing hundreds of short stories and over 20 novels. He also adapted several of his works into teleplays for ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' (most famously the UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper episode "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E14WolfInTheFold Wolf In the Fold]]"), ''Series/AlfredHitchcockPresents,'' and ''[[Series/{{Thriller}} Boris Karloff's Thriller]]'' (he also wrote for ''Series/ISpy''), as well as screenplays, many for Creator/AmicusProductions. His most well-known work is ''Film/{{Psycho}}'' (which he did not personally adapt for Creator/AlfredHitchcock's famous screen version).
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8	Bloch was a big fan of [[MediaNotes/TheSilentAgeOfHollywood Silent Age]] actor Creator/LonChaney, and it shows (especially in the novel ''The Star Stalker''). There are also stories set during MediaNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood and the MediaNotes/FallOfTheStudioSystem, though often (especially in the latter era) they showed how disrespectfully the vintage stars were treated by the new blood.
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11	Bloch was one of the youngest members of the so-called "Lovecraft Circle," and Creator/HPLovecraft himself encouraged him to take up writing.
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14	!! Works by Robert Bloch with their own trope pages include:
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16	* ''Film/{{Asylum\|1972Horror}}''
17	* The ''Franchise/CthulhuMythos''
18	* ''Film/TheDeadlyBees''
19	* ''Film/TheHouseThatDrippedBlood''
20	* ''Film/{{Psycho}}''
21	* ''Literature/StrangeEons''
22	* ''Film/TortureGarden''
23	* [[Literature/DangerousVisions "A Toy for Juliette"]]
24	* "Literature/{{Enoch}}"
25	----
26
27	!! Tropes exhibited in the work of Robert Bloch:
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29	* AfterlifeExpress: "That Hell-Bound Train."
30	* AllJustADream: "Literature/TheStrangeFlightOfRichardClayton": Several times Clayton lands on {{UsefulNotes/Mars}}, only to die and realize that the ship hadn't landed yet. [[spoiler:Clayton didn't even leave Earth; the rocket's engines failed in a way that made it too dangerous to approach for a week and the constant shaking was driving Clayton insane.]]
31	* AllPsychologyIsFreudian: Jung is mentioned, but Bloch wrote more about Freudian psychology, probably for the wordplay potential (see below).
32	* AssholeVictim / KarmicDeath: He wrote his share.
33	* AuthorFilibuster: In short works it came off more as a TakeThat, but Bloch was very uncomfortable with some of the post-WWII youth subcultures, particularly the Beats and the hippies (the 1960 novel ''The Dead Beat'' being a particularly egregious example).
34	** AuthorTract: Bloch gets downright ''cranky'' about hippies in late '60s stories like "God is Not Mocked."
35	** There are some savage swipes at [[HorribleHollywood late '70s Hollywood]] in his novel ''Psycho 2,'' with nearly everyone there either a whore or a degenerate. He also takes a few shots at the slasher genre, which he despised.
36	%%* AxCrazy: Oh yeah.
37	* BeautyEqualsGoodness: Believed by the mentally disabled young protagonist of "The Sorcerer's Apprentice." He's so, so wrong. [[spoiler: She's a [[ManipulativeBastard Manipulative Bitch]] who talks him into killing her husband -- but she receives a totally deserved [[SawAWomanInHalf end.]]]]
38	%%* BlackComedy / GallowsHumor
39	%%Not a trope* Franchise/CthulhuMythos: As mentioned above, one of the youngest authors to have known Lovecraft personally, and several of his stories take place in that universe; they are usually an affectionate {{homage}} under the usual [[LovecraftianTropes trappings.]]
40	* DeadGuyPuppet: "The Final Performance" uses this as a twist ending.
41	* DeadMansChest: The short story "Frozen Fear" has a man kill his wife, dismember her, and store the parts in a freezer (he plans to dispose of them the following winter by burning them). [[OrganAutonomy Supernatural]] karmic revenge ensues. Notably adapted as a segment of the 1972 British horror anthology ''Asylum.''
42	* DealWithTheDevil: In "That Hell-Bound Train."
43	** "Picture."
44	* DeathByIrony / HoistByHisOwnPetard / KarmicDeath
45	* DeathTakesAHoliday: "The Pin."
46	* DemBones: "Skeleton in the Closet" features the protagonist's uncle as this trope [[spoiler: and eventually the protagonist and his accomplice in murder.]]
47	** "Pumpkin" features a [[HollywoodSatanism Hollywood Satanist]] EvilSorcerer who comes back as this trope.
48	* DisposableVagrant: [[SerialKiller "The Knife"]] in "Hobo" frequently targets the homeless.
49	* DivorceRequiresDeath: A plot point in quite a few stories, since American divorce laws were much stricter when many of the stories were written (such as "Frozen Fear").
50	* EldritchAbomination: Occasionally he wrote one that wasn't part of his Cthulhu Mythos stories.
51	* FreudianExcuse: ''Film/{{Psycho}}.''
52	* FreudianSlip: Inordinately fond of these just for the purpose of wordplay and punning.
53	* GhostPirate: "Terror in Cut-Throat Cove" [[spoiler: but the real danger is an EldritchAbomination.]]
54	* GollumMadeMeDoIt: See also SplitPersonalityTakeover below.
55	* GoMadFromTheRevelation
56	* GroinAttack:
57	** This lovely image from "The Night Before Christmas:"
58	--->[[spoiler: Santiago: ''"The young man was stripped and tied to a tree. His genitals were smeared with wild honey. You've heard of the fire ants, amigo? They swarmed in this area -- and they will devour anything which bears the scent of honey."'']]
59	** "The Model," which also has [[spoiler: OnlyYouCanRepopulateMyRace ''and'' VaginaDentata. Aiee!]]
60	* HistoricalDomainCharacter:
61	** The Creator/MarquisDeSade in "The Skull of the Marquis de Sade."
62	** Creator/AmbroseBierce in "I Like Blondes."
63	** Nearly everyone in "The Night of the Ripper."
64	* HollywoodSatanism: The standard explanation for any EvilSorcerer.
65	** A literal Hollywood Satanist shows up in the story "Return to the Sabbath" -- later made into an episode of ''Series/AlfredHitchcockPresents'' with Creator/ChristopherLee.
66	%%* HumanResources
67	* InsaneEqualsViolent: "The Screaming People," among others.
68	* ItsTheJourneyThatCounts: In "That Hell-Bound Train," protagonist Martin makes a Deal with the Devil that the Devil can have his soul if he, Martin, has the power to stop time when he reaches the moment of perfect happiness. Because Martin is always convinced that he could be happier, he never uses that power during his lifetime. [[spoiler: After his death, he acknowledges this trope and uses his power to stop time aboard the hell-bound train so he can enjoy an endless journey with "all the jolly crew" of the damned.]]
69	* UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper: A favorite Bloch subject. Along with "Wolf in the Fold," there's his famous short story "Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper" and "A Most Unusual Murder," as well as "A Toy for Juliette" in ''Literature/DangerousVisions'' (which in turn inspired Creator/HarlanEllison's "The Prowler in the City at the Edge of the World") and his lesser known novels "The Night of the Ripper" (a semi-historical speculation on the theme) and "The Will to Kill" (a story set in then-modern times about a man who may or may not be repeating the crimes of the original Ripper). He also wrote the forward to the Franchise/{{Batman}} vs the Ripper {{Elseworld}} ''Gotham by Gaslight,'' written as though by Jack himself.
70	* LiteralGenie: The devil in "Picture".
71	%%* NarratorAllAlong
72	%%* NeverOneMurder
73	* OurVampiresAreDifferent:
74	** "Tooth and Consequences."
75	** "The Bat is My Brother."
76	* PungeonMaster: ''Creator/FredricBrown'' once told him that he was the best (or worst) punster he had ever known.
77	** ArtisticLicenseLinguistics: "The Head Man" has a plot point hinge on the homonym "sow" (the verb) and "sew" -- but the story's set in UsefulNotes/NaziGermany, and no such homonym exists in German...
78	* PyroManiac: The short story "Servant of the Flames" and the novel "Firebug" feature several.
79	* RoboticReveal: The twist of "Iron Mask" is that [[spoiler: the man in the iron mask is actually a Nazi operated robot!]]
80	** Oh, it's even better than that. [[spoiler: The robot was built by Roger Bacon in the 13th century, absorbed Bacon's anti-France views (the French had imprisoned Bacon for heresy, or so the story says) and is working with the Nazis to destroy France once and for all. [[Creator/AnnaRussell I'm not making this up, you know.]]]]
81	* SandNecktie: In "The Hound of Pedro," a bunch of Indians who try to rebel against their cruel Spanish overlord get this done to them -- and then their heads are used for bowling pins. [[spoiler: Ends with KarmicDeath with a really [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent odd twist.]]]]
82	* SeeThruSpecs: "The Cheaters" features glasses that let you read people's minds.
83	* SelfInsertFic: "The Closer of the Way," which takes the personal fallacy to new levels.
84	* SplitPersonality: Most prominent in ''Film/{{Psycho}},'' but it pops up in some of his other stories.
85	* SplitPersonalityTakeover: We see a classic example in ''Film/{{Psycho}},'' but Bloch had an unusual variant in a couple of stories. In these the bad personality was treated as if it were an EnemyWithout (though it never manifests physically) and at the end of the story the two personalities decide to team up.
86	* TalkingToThemself: See above.
87	* TotallyRadical: Attempts to send up Beat and hippie slang ''always'' came out this way. His tries at FutureSlang (usually in a HoldYourHippogriffs form) were usually not much better.
88	* {{Tuckerization}}: Bloch wrote an affectionate TakeThat story about Creator/HPLovecraft, and his short story "ETFF" (about an alien going to a science fiction convention) reads like a Who's Who of popular sf authors (and fans) of the 1970's.
89	%%* TwistEnding
90	%%* UnreliableNarrator
91	* UrbanFantasy: "The Bat is My Brother" and others.
92	* WordAssociationTest: Like with {{Freudian Slip}}s, Bloch used these for wordplay -- but seldom as literal psychological tests; they were more likely to show up as a running chain of words and phrases in a character's thoughts.

Context Creator / RobertBloch