tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post8693267749037759492..comments2024-03-27T22:39:08.396-04:00Comments on Sweet Freedom: FFB: Robert Bloch: DR. HOLMES' MURDER CASTLE (1983)Todd Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post-74803636450908793662012-01-25T20:33:14.425-05:002012-01-25T20:33:14.425-05:00And "A Most Unusual Murder" was indeed t...And "A Most Unusual Murder" was indeed the title...published in ELLERY QUEEN'S MYSTERY MAGAZINE and reprinted in the first volume of THE YEAR'S BEST HORROR STORIES, Gerald W. Page's V. 5, that I read.Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post-31059309164134421582012-01-25T20:12:00.990-05:002012-01-25T20:12:00.990-05:00As soon as he shrugged off the direct Lovecraft in...As soon as he shrugged off the direct Lovecraft influence and started writing with his own voice...even with some of the early transitional stories (Bloch was always wittier than HPL), they're worth the look.<br /><br />Harlan Ellison had encouraged Bloch to return to an immortal Jack with "A Toy for Juliette" for HE's DANGEROUS VISIONS anthology, before Bloch contributed the ST script (and having adapted his original WT story at least once for radio drama). "Wolf" also introduces the Chekhov character, fwiw (Walter Koenig isn't too upset).Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post-14231274365039203032012-01-25T19:48:09.194-05:002012-01-25T19:48:09.194-05:00As a kid I enjoyed the Jack the Ripper stories, fr...As a kid I enjoyed the Jack the Ripper stories, from "Yours Truly" to "A Most Unusual Murder" (I think it was called). One of his Star Trek scripts also featured Jack, "Wolf in the Fold," with John Fiedler. The man wrote so much though it would be great (aside from the early stuff which isn't very good) to read all his shorts.Casual Debrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08098608670682517783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post-72487833855215088352012-01-24T21:34:29.672-05:002012-01-24T21:34:29.672-05:00I used the article as the centerpiece of a display...I used the article as the centerpiece of a display in Bloch's honor at the bookstore I was working at then.<br /><br />I simply wish Subt. was still publishing them, in larger runs...Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post-1414510069423455322012-01-24T10:56:11.321-05:002012-01-24T10:56:11.321-05:00Subterranean Press is doing Good Work in reprintin...Subterranean Press is doing Good Work in reprinting Robert Bloch's work. Like Richard, I remember reading that OMNI column by Bloch. Hard to forget that doctor's line...Georgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04546161337366365635noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post-79860269732718018462012-01-23T12:10:35.359-05:002012-01-23T12:10:35.359-05:00And his fanzine columns in IMAGINATION, taking ove...And his fanzine columns in IMAGINATION, taking over for Mari Wolf...Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post-29376055350780699542012-01-23T12:09:57.218-05:002012-01-23T12:09:57.218-05:00I'm not sure, Richard, as to whether his own o...I'm not sure, Richard, as to whether his own obit has been reprinted (I would be surprised if it hasn't). I know Bloch hoped to be able to write another memoir, more focused on his fiction-writing rather than on his extra-fictioneering activities...including his career as a political consultant.<br /><br />Hell, now that I'm aware of them, I want to read his book review column in THE ARKHAM COLLECTOR.Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post-90707300964713052922012-01-22T16:30:57.677-05:002012-01-22T16:30:57.677-05:00Has Bloch's essay published in Omni on his ter...Has Bloch's essay published in Omni on his terminal illness ever been reprinted? It characteristically began with a bit of humor saying (IIRC) his doctor advised him that he could buy fireworks for the 4th of July but to not bother with Halloween candy.<br /><br />I also liked his autobiography which was candid about the details of his publishing and film career.Richard Moorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13770090814220403413noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post-79420733693774942062012-01-20T23:18:48.965-05:002012-01-20T23:18:48.965-05:00King still seems to me to have taken the wrong les...King still seems to me to have taken the wrong lessons from the guys taking the lessons...Matheson is more undisciplined than Bloch, and King than Matheson; Bradbury is less acute and imaginative but easier to "digest" than Sturgeon, but King is less and moreso than Bradbury. And you'll note that Matheson and Bradbury can only be said to have done better, financially and in recognition by the larger world, than Bloch and Sturgeon...<br /><br />Indeed, Jerry, Ellis probably doesn't know Bloch from wild honey, but it did seem otherwise (typically) inane for him that the emphasis was on the USianess of his psycho, unless there was a chance that he wanted to throw a little love toward both AMERICAN GOTHIC (obviously not a phrase originating with Bloch) and PSYCHO...the Mary Herron-script/adapted and -directed film of AP certainly improves on Ellis's prose, as Hitchcock occasionally did as well (though not in the case of PSYCHO).Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post-61672174195630862882012-01-20T20:26:48.383-05:002012-01-20T20:26:48.383-05:00I've always had the feeling that AMERICAN PSYC...I've always had the feeling that AMERICAN PSYCHO was in part more of an homage to Hitchcock's film than Bloch's book. (However, Bloch has always impressed me more than Hitchcock.)Jerry Househttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482856733981933159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8525415828746712027.post-90149990005612921212012-01-20T16:14:22.573-05:002012-01-20T16:14:22.573-05:00Bloch is generally always fun. Stevie should have ...Bloch is generally always fun. Stevie should have learned better from him.K. A. Laityhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05983280397279864583noreply@blogger.com