Psycho: Amazon.ca: Robert Bloch: Books

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Review

"Icily terrifying!" --The New York Times

"Psycho all came from Robert Bloch's book." --Alfred Hitchcock

"A terribly chilling tale." --Bestsellers

"Robert Bloch is one of the all-time masters." --Peter Straub

Product Description

It was a dark and stormy night when Mary Crane glimpsed the unlit neon sign announcing the vacancy at the Bates Motel. Exhausted, lost, and at the end of her rope, she was eager for a hot shower and a bed for the night.

Her room was musty buy clean and the plumbing worked. Norman Bates, the manager, seemed nice, if a little odd....

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Inside This Book (Learn More)

First Sentence
NORMAN BATES heard the noise and a shock went through him. Read the first page

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Concordance

Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover

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Customer Reviews

36 Reviews

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

4.4 out of 5 stars (36 customer reviews)

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Most helpful customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Bates is open for buissness, May 26 2004

By

Vagabond77 (Tennessee, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Psycho (Mass Market Paperback)

This was an interesting piece of late 50s pulp fiction that is not bad, and ordinarily would not have been really remarkable, except it was the basis for one of the greatest horror movies of all time. I know what you are thinking; but this is Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho"! Well, no it isn't. It is Robert Bloch's novel. The plot is the same as the movie; Marian Crane steals money from her boss, and runs away to be with her boyfriend. She ends up in a small rundown motel run by shy but odd Norman Bates (who is described as fat with glasses here). Well, the rest is history. The book is a little different in the level of violence that was in the book that was missing in the movie, and I thought that was pretty cool. The problem is that almost everyone in the world has seen the movie, so the end is kind of ruined. But it dose offer a little more insight into Norman; he likes books on voodo and hypnotism, as well as adult magazeens. He is a lot less sympathetic here than he was in the movie, but that is ok. It is a fast read, and it offers a little more insight into the movie.

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3.0 out of 5 stars a curious piece of 1950s pulp fiction.., Oct 4 2003

By

lazza (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Psycho (Mass Market Paperback)

'Psycho' by Robert Bloch would most certainly be long forgotten and probably out of print if it weren't for its brilliant film adaptation. Actually it is one of those unusual cases where the film is actually better than the book; the film's screenwriter (Joseph Stephano) did a great job. So what does the book offer?

While all the major elements found in the film 'Psycho' are also in Robert Bloch's original novel I found the book to be relatively poorly written. Great premise with a not-so-good execution. For much better psychological/criminal character studies I recommend 'The Killer Inside Me' by Jim Thompson, or one of the many early works of Patricia Highsmith. Robert Bloch simply doesn't have the same literary strength, and the characterizations are fairly thin.

However it is very interesting to note key differences between the film and the book, and so I believe fans of Hitchcock's film will enjoy reading Robert Bloch's novel. At least it's a short read, the perfect sort of book to carry on business trip.

Bottom line: the book that spawned Norman Bates. Somewhat disappointing but most will find some reading enjoyment from it.

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3.0 out of 5 stars Average rating, but it's still good., Nov 5 2002

By

DJ Heinlein (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Psycho (Mass Market Paperback)

I've always wanted to read this book ever since I saw Hitchcock's famous thriller movie that created the slasher film genre (true fact!). Hitchcock was faithful to the story, but made a couple of changes here and there with the characters (such as the description of the infamous Norman Bates). I highly recommend this book to those who have enjoyed Hitchcock's movies and to those readers who love classic thriller novels. I'm not a fast reader, but this book was so good and interesting that I finished reading it rather quickly. Part of the contribution to the fast reading may have been that the book is only 223 pages and looks like a book you would read in elementary.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Awsome book!!!!
This is a really cool book about a crazy gut who thinks he is his dead mother some times. It's a cool book. Shower seanne is awsome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Published on April 30 2004 by Lauren B. Floss

2.0 out of 5 stars I saw the movie first read the book second
Like my title says and I thought the movie was better,mostly because I expected what Norman Bates looked like on screen and in the book,he's totally different. Read more

Published on Sep 22 2002 by S. Schofield