Psycho

Robert Bloch's Psycho captivated a nation when it appeared in 1959. The story was all too real-indeed this classic was inspired by the real-life story of Ed Gein, a psychotic murderer who led a dual life. Alfred Hitchcock too was captivated, and turned the book into one of the most-loved classic films of all time the year after it was released.

Norman Bates loves his Mother. She has been dead for the past twenty years, or so people think. Norman knows better though. He has lived with Mother ever since leaving the hospital in the old house up on the hill above the Bates motel. One night Norman spies on a beautiful woman that checks into the hotel as she undresses. Norman can't help but spy on her. Mother is there though. She is there to protect Norman from his filthy thoughts. She is there to protect him with her butcher knife.

Robert Bloch(1917-1994) is the author of the classic horror novel, Psycho, which served as the basis for Alfred Hitchcock's thrilling film of the same name. At the urging of H. P. Lovecraft, Bloch began writing short fiction in the 1930s; his first short novel, The Scarf, was published in 1947. In 1959, the year Psycho was published, Bloch won the Hugo Award for a short story and began to write for television and film, starting with "Alfred Hitchcock Presents"-a job he earned before the film version of Psycho had completed shooting!