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Tales in a Jugular Vein
Cuentos de humor negro, es una colección, publicada originalmente en el año 1965, que reúne diez excelentes relatos en los que Bloch hace gala del estilo imaginativo, espontáneo, fluído y de gran calidad literaria con el que supo conseguir un lugar de privilegio en las letras norteamericanas. El libro está formado por los siguientes relatos:
Chica Pin-Up
Descanso sabatino
El arte mortífero
El maestro del pasado
Escuela nocturna
Los padres de la patria
Los versos nunca pagan
Terror en Hollywood
Traición
Un hogar lejos de casa
Chica Pin-Up
Descanso sabatino
El arte mortífero
El maestro del pasado
Escuela nocturna
Los padres de la patria
Los versos nunca pagan
Terror en Hollywood
Traición
Un hogar lejos de casa
144 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1965
1 person is currently reading
132 people want to read
About the author
Robert Bloch
425 books1,288 followersRobert Albert Bloch was a prolific American writer. He was the son of Raphael "Ray" Bloch (1884, Chicago-1952, Chicago), a bank cashier, and his wife Stella Loeb (1880, Attica, Indiana-1944, Milwaukee, WI), a social worker, both of German-Jewish descent.
Bloch wrote hundreds of short stories and over twenty novels, usually crime fiction, science fiction, and, perhaps most influentially, horror fiction (Psycho). He was one of the youngest members of the Lovecraft Circle; Lovecraft was Bloch's mentor and one of the first to seriously encourage his talent.
He was a contributor to pulp magazines such as Weird Tales in his early career, and was also a prolific screenwriter. He was the recipient of the Hugo Award (for his story "That Hell-Bound Train"), the Bram Stoker Award, and the World Fantasy Award. He served a term as president of the Mystery Writers of America.
Robert Bloch was also a major contributor to science fiction fanzines and fandom in general. In the 1940s, he created the humorous character Lefty Feep in a story for Fantastic Adventures. He also worked for a time in local vaudeville, and tried to break into writing for nationally-known performers. He was a good friend of the science fiction writer Stanley G. Weinbaum. In the 1960's, he wrote 3 stories for Star Trek.
Bloch wrote hundreds of short stories and over twenty novels, usually crime fiction, science fiction, and, perhaps most influentially, horror fiction (Psycho). He was one of the youngest members of the Lovecraft Circle; Lovecraft was Bloch's mentor and one of the first to seriously encourage his talent.
He was a contributor to pulp magazines such as Weird Tales in his early career, and was also a prolific screenwriter. He was the recipient of the Hugo Award (for his story "That Hell-Bound Train"), the Bram Stoker Award, and the World Fantasy Award. He served a term as president of the Mystery Writers of America.
Robert Bloch was also a major contributor to science fiction fanzines and fandom in general. In the 1940s, he created the humorous character Lefty Feep in a story for Fantastic Adventures. He also worked for a time in local vaudeville, and tried to break into writing for nationally-known performers. He was a good friend of the science fiction writer Stanley G. Weinbaum. In the 1960's, he wrote 3 stories for Star Trek.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
February 1, 2017
Robert bloch nunca decepciona
June 29, 2019
Disappointing. Too jokey by half.
August 13, 2013
Empecé a leerlo hace tiempo, y recién concluí todos los relato que incluye. Aunque la traducción nombra a este libro "Cuentos de humor negro", no es precisamente humor lo que maneja en sus historias. No obstante, disfruté la gran mayoría de estos cuentos.
September 25, 2012
más que humor negro es más bien macabro...
October 5, 2020
This was a very fun collection of short stories, but not at all what I expected from the author of Psycho. Whereas I expected more horror and shock, most of these, while dark, were surprisingly light-hearted (much like a story from EC comics). I was even further surprised that three of the ten stories involved time travel. Oh, and a lot of stories about show business.
3.5 stars
A quick rundown:
Sabbatical - time traveller meets a modern Hollywood exec who thinks the time traveller is a movie extra pitching him a story.
Double Cross - a noir tale of a Hollywood exec who has problems with a TV star and accidentally kills him. Instead of coming clean, he comes up with a better idea.
The Past Master - Another time travel story. This one involves a man from the future trying to gather up all the great works of art that he can before the US and USSR have a nuclear exchange. Humanity obviously survives, but the artwork doesn't. Story is told through multiple characters who meet the time traveller during his quest.
Terror Over Hollywood - another tale of Tinseltown, this one involving an exec and an up and coming starlet. She realizes he and some others look young for their age and she wants in on the secret.
A Home Away from Home - this is what I expected more of the stories to be like - classic Hitchockian storytelling. A woman arrives at a remote station in England waiting for her uncle to pick her up. She's lost her parents and she's come to see her only other living relative, a psychiatrist working at an asylum.
Rhyme Never Pays - a silly, but fun story of an author who writes murder mysteries by actually performing the murders.
Night School - a student finds a mentor in the art of murder.
Pin Up Girl - okay story about an extremely attractive woman who could marry a wealthy oil baron, but she realizes she wants fame as much or more than fortune.
Founding Fathers - the silliest of the collection and another time travel story. This one involves a group of hoods who make a bad bet. When the mob tries to collect, they call in their markers, the biggest belonging to a professor who doesn't have the money he owes, but he build a time machine. They return to the past, specifically 1776, disguise themselves as some of the founding fathers so they can rip off the first treasury. It doesn't go as planned.
The Deadliest Art - three short vignettes round out the book. These almost felt like story ideas he never bothered to flesh out, though one is the same story as Roald Dahl's "Lamb to the Slaughter."
Of these, my favorites were "Double Cross" and "A Home Away from Home" but I enjoyed them all overall.
3.5 stars
A quick rundown:
Sabbatical - time traveller meets a modern Hollywood exec who thinks the time traveller is a movie extra pitching him a story.
Double Cross - a noir tale of a Hollywood exec who has problems with a TV star and accidentally kills him. Instead of coming clean, he comes up with a better idea.
The Past Master - Another time travel story. This one involves a man from the future trying to gather up all the great works of art that he can before the US and USSR have a nuclear exchange. Humanity obviously survives, but the artwork doesn't. Story is told through multiple characters who meet the time traveller during his quest.
Terror Over Hollywood - another tale of Tinseltown, this one involving an exec and an up and coming starlet. She realizes he and some others look young for their age and she wants in on the secret.
A Home Away from Home - this is what I expected more of the stories to be like - classic Hitchockian storytelling. A woman arrives at a remote station in England waiting for her uncle to pick her up. She's lost her parents and she's come to see her only other living relative, a psychiatrist working at an asylum.
Rhyme Never Pays - a silly, but fun story of an author who writes murder mysteries by actually performing the murders.
Night School - a student finds a mentor in the art of murder.
Pin Up Girl - okay story about an extremely attractive woman who could marry a wealthy oil baron, but she realizes she wants fame as much or more than fortune.
Founding Fathers - the silliest of the collection and another time travel story. This one involves a group of hoods who make a bad bet. When the mob tries to collect, they call in their markers, the biggest belonging to a professor who doesn't have the money he owes, but he build a time machine. They return to the past, specifically 1776, disguise themselves as some of the founding fathers so they can rip off the first treasury. It doesn't go as planned.
The Deadliest Art - three short vignettes round out the book. These almost felt like story ideas he never bothered to flesh out, though one is the same story as Roald Dahl's "Lamb to the Slaughter."
Of these, my favorites were "Double Cross" and "A Home Away from Home" but I enjoyed them all overall.
December 31, 2023
I searched for this book after reading Psycho & am so glad I was able to find a copy!
Stories about time travel, murder, crime, history, used book stores, art heists & horror- what more can you ask for!
Robert Bloch may be one of my new favorites!
Stories about time travel, murder, crime, history, used book stores, art heists & horror- what more can you ask for!
Robert Bloch may be one of my new favorites!
January 2, 2019
Had some good time travel stories which I enjoyed. At less than 150 pages a quick escapist read. Overall okay.
January 8, 2019
es una buena opción para leer cuando no tienes mucho tiempo, sin embargo no tiene nada que logro atraparme
December 15, 2019
Fun short "horror" story's from back when.
March 26, 2022
Exelente libro, cada historia es fantástica, estoy sin palabras, necesito más historias así. Aquí nada es lo que parece. 💕🥴😉
June 22, 2022
Lo mejor que he leído. 💕😍
September 1, 2016
Lo salvan tres o cuatro relatos buenos, como el que abre la antología o 'El maestro del pasado'. En el resto hay de todo, algunos bastante simpáticos y otros que no han envejecido demasiado bien.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews