Robert Bloch (1917–1994)

Looking through other reviews, it sounds as if the contents of this book may have differed in the US edition compared to the UK one I read, which was based on a 1974 British hardback edition, so the contents of the one I read was as follows:
The Opener of the Way
The Cloak
Beetles
The Fiddler's Fee
The Mannikin
The Strange Flight of Richard Clayton
Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper
The Seal of the Satyr
The Dark Demon
The Faceless God

For stories written in the 1930s, the tales are not so disconcerting to modern sensibilities as some of the 1950s collections I've read this year. That's not to say there are no racist stereotypes cropping up occasionally, as in one story where a very minor character is described in terms that would not be acceptable these days. Bloch avoids the endemic tendency in old pulp fiction to describe women as feeble minded and trivial, mainly by not having women at all in many of his stories, but in the 'The Cloak', where a woman does feature as an alluring and outspoken character with whom the hero is hopelessly infatuated, this turns out to have a supernatural explanation.

A couple of tales veer into HP Lovecraft territory, 'The Dark Demon' actually name-checking Lovecraft, and having a hero somewhat based upon him. If I remember rightly, as a writer in his teens, Bloch did exchange letters with Lovecraft who was a prolific correspondent, and received encouragement. His take on Lovecraft themes is more original than a lot of later derivative fiction, as he brings in new elements such as the Egyptian setting in 'The Faceless God'.

Others show originality, such as 'The Mannikin'. The same basic idea was used many years later as the basis for a very striking X-Files episode, but Bloch did it first. Another, 'The Strange Flight of Richard Clayton' is straight science fiction, but with a strong psychological component. 'The Fiddler's Fee' is a traditional folktale of dealings with the devil and foregrounds the real historical character of Paganini, or at least the character as portrayed in popular culture. 'Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper' is an intriguing tale where I did guess the twist quite early on, but I imagine people of the time would have been less likely to do so having not seen the same idea re-used in later TV shows etc. Despite that, I enjoyed the story until the aforementioned racist stereotype applied to someone in a bar caused me to stumble.

All in all, quite an interesting collection of tales of the supernatural and strange, with a science fiction story added to the mix.… (mer)

“Only the dead knew what death is like.”

Three short stories begin this book, all entertaining, all Jack the Ripper themed.

"The Night of the Ripper” is novella length, and is the author’s take on the Jack the Ripper case. Beginning with chapter 4, and continuing through chapter 43, a short historical story of horrific death(s) tops the start of the text. They’re all pretty awful! The story is a decent read, with historic figures popping in and out of the narrative.

The Star Trek script was not for me at all. But the essay at the end was interesting! All-in-all, a good read, especially if you are interested in Saucy Jack!… (mer)

Robert Bloch wrote voluminously across a variety of fiction genres during his life. To many, he may be best known for writing Psycho as well as episodes of The Twilight Zone and Star Trek The Original Series. The latest version of this collection contains all (or at least the bulk) of his 'weird fiction' work, including the stories set in turn of the century Egypt discussed by H.P. Lovecraft and his lovecraftian mythos stories as well.
This was a second time around on some of these stories for me, and others it had been so long since I had read them it might as well have been the first time. First of all, I should say that if you are a fan of Bloch's script, film, and television work these stories may not be for you. The pacing is much different, and while some scene are described with rich language, none of this is what I would call cinematic. While technically their inclusion in this collection means all of these short stories share some element of the Cthulhu/Lovecraft mythos, in my opinion only a few really merit that label. Most share a minor element common to the Lovecraft circle of contemporaries. Like Robert Howard, Bloch borrowed either names of entities (i.e. Nyarlahothep), forbidden tomes (the Necronomicon), and/or used analogs to them or story telling devices meant to serve the same purpose (De Vermis Mysteriis). Only a few rise to level of something that feels like part of the mythos, though Lovecraft completionists will undoubtedly want to read the entire collection.
As a fan of mythos fiction in general, and the actual Lovecraft circle of contemporaries in particular, I not only expected to enjoy the mythos stories in this collection more, but even vaguely recall enjoying them (especially the more tongue in cheek, semi-meta stories) a lot more than I did with this reading. Its difficult to say whether that's a result of changing tastes (I first read those stories in my early to mid-teens), or if because they don't hold up well next to truly exceptional Egypt centered horror fiction here. These stories are similar in feel to some of Rudyard Kipling's India horror, and with the tone of the turn of the 20th century stories (and later films) about the ancient mysteries and curses surrounding the archeological discoveries of the mysterious Egyptian desert. I found myself rushing through mythos fiction that felt ho-hum in an effort to get more of stories like 'The Secret of Sebek', 'The Fane of the Black Pharaoh', or 'The Eyes of the Mummy.' These more thoroughly satisfied both my inner child fascinated with archeology and the black & white Universal Mummy as well as the adult in my that could appreciate the craft that went into the lush descriptions that really brought the mystery and menace of the desert to life.
All in all, a good collection by Chaosium, especially as to the best of my knowledge there isn't an adequate Complete Works of Bloch's material (which would likely be sizable anyway).… (mer)