The Complete Stories, Vol. 2: Bitter Ends

by Robert Bloch

Contents:
Water’s Edge
The Real Bad Friend
Man With a Hobby
Welcome Stranger
Terror Over Hollywood
Luck Is No Lady
Crime in Rhyme
The Cure
Sock Finish
Broomstick Ride
Daybroke
Betsy Blake Will Live Forever
Terror in Cut-Throat Cove
Word of Honor
That Old Black Magic
The Deadliest Art
The Screaming People
The Hungry Eye
Show Biz
The Gloating Place
The Man Who Knew Women
The Big Kick
Night School
Sabbastical
The Funnel of God
‘Til Death Do Us Part
The Show Must Go On
A Matter of Life
Pin-Up Girl
The Baldheaded Mirage
The Masterpiece

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Science Fiction, Anthologies, Fiction, Fantasy

386 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Robert 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.

Reviews

[Andy Weston · Rating 4 out of 5]

My introduction to Bloch, and my own collection of his stories, rather than the ones actually in this book. Solely so I can record which of his stories I have read.

I’d highly recommend The Strange Island of Doctor Nork. Darkly humorous, and quite memorable.

The Suicide in the Study 2/5
The Mandarin’s Canaries 5/5
Death of an Elephant 5/5
The Ghost Writer 3/5
The Fiddler’s Fee 4/5
Hell on Earth 2/5
The Strange Island of Doctor Nork 5/5
Lucy Comes To Stay 3 / 5
Shambler from the Stars 3 / 5
Black Bargain
Notebook Found in a Deserted House
Enoch
The Shadow From The Steeple
The Grinning Ghoul

These are all in the public domain, and available as podcasts / audiobooks in a number of places; HorrorBabble, Classic Ghost Stories, and more..

[Sam Ahmed · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection that includes later stories to those in the first volume.
I've particualry impressed with Water's Edge, Luck Is No Lady, Besty Blake Will Live Forever, Terror In Cut-Throat Cove, The Man Who Knew Women and Til Death Do Us Part.

[Elford Alley · Rating 5 out of 5]

These focus more on his crime and human-centered horrors. Almost no cosmic or paranormal weirdness to be had. And the thing about a complete collection compared to a selected one… they ain’t all gonna be winners. Fun read, but if you want to check out Robert Bloch, I’d go with the Valancourt Books releases.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

As always, Bloch is a skilled writer. However, too many stories in this anthology hit too similar a note... setup and then a twist! Haha! The technique gets old by the end of the book, and thus this collection is best read one story at a time, over time, as opposed to all in one sitting. Doled out in smaller portions, like vitamins, the stories are a lot more enjoyable.

A lot of the plots will seem a little too "familiar" and predictable to horror fans, but to give Bloch credit where it's due, they were a lot more original at the time he wrote them.

As Bloch was a member of the Miskatonic Round Table, as it were, any collection of his writing must contain at least two stories of a Lovecraftian bent for fans of that genre. This collection is no exception, but the inclusions are more in flavor than in a dictionary of the Cthulhu mythos, and in face are subtle enough to name no names other than an offhand reference to R'lyeh.

Favorites of mine:

* Betsy Blake Will Live Forever: I really liked this one's ending. You could see the plot twist coming a mile away, but the last few lines really made the story work for me.

* The Baldheaded Mirage: A simple science-fiction horror story, but the stark images it evokes stayed with me long past the end.

* A Matter of Life: If this wasn't a Twilight Zone episode, it really should have been.

[Kurt Reichenbaugh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Again, hardly "complete" as the title misleads. A complete collection of Bloch's stories would be way more than 3 volumes. Anyway, most of these cuts are from the late 1950's, magazines like Ellery Queen, Alfred Hitchcock and Fantastic. All of them entertain, and are good examples of the art of the short story.

[Jeff McIntosh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally published by Underwood-Miller in slipcase (I purchased mine for I think $50 when first published.... and later sold, as a moron). Citadel Twilight published the set as inexpensive paperbacks in 1990. Volume 1 was "Final Reckonings", Volume 2 was "Bitter Ends", and Volume 3 "Last Rites".

What can I say about Robert Bloch that hasn't been said better by other critics or authors? Probably not much.

Several of the stories in this collection deal with movies and the movie business (Betsy Blake will Live Forever, Terror Over Hollywood), others are concerned with murderers and sadists.....although I have several of his novels, I believe Bloch's forte is with the short story.

However, as I have said in the past, several of his short stories I find to be being moralistic, or providing a comment on American society in the 20th century (Funnel of God, Word of Honor). All of these stories were written in the late 1950s.....

Not a bad collection....worth reading if you can find a copy reasonably priced...I think I paid $15 for mine, but have seen listings on ebay for $100.

Jeff mcIntosh

[Forked Radish]

Read:
Sabbatical ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (ex Waterspider)

[Hyde · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2

[TrumanCoyote · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of stuff about Hollywood. And agents and things...and didn't I recognize about a half-dozen plots for Alfred Hitchcock, Outer Limits, etc? A tendency toward annoying cant about the deficiencies of the Modern Age; and not a lot of real nice guys in his brood. Still, how can you dislike a guy with a story called "Terror At Cut-Throat Cove"?

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed these flavors more than vol. 1; absolutely incredible.

[Christopher Sutch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Again, quite good genre fiction.