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Night-World
Book by Bloch, Robert
160 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1972
1 person is currently reading
241 people want to read
About the author
Robert Bloch
1,091 books1,284 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 - 29 of 29 reviews
May 30, 2018
3.5
ลุ้นว่า 1ใน5 ของคนไข้ศูนย์บำบัดจิตใครเป็นคนฆ่ากันแน่ แต่เสียดายตอนจบ จบเร็วไป น่าจะเพิ่มเรื่องราวชีวิตของตัวฆาตกรให้เป็นภูมิความรู้ทางจิตวิทยาเพิ่มอีกนิด เหมือนช่วงที่ผ่านมาตลอดทั้งเรื่อง
ลุ้นว่า 1ใน5 ของคนไข้ศูนย์บำบัดจิตใครเป็นคนฆ่ากันแน่ แต่เสียดายตอนจบ จบเร็วไป น่าจะเพิ่มเรื่องราวชีวิตของตัวฆาตกรให้เป็นภูมิความรู้ทางจิตวิทยาเพิ่มอีกนิด เหมือนช่วงที่ผ่านมาตลอดทั้งเรื่อง
August 6, 2014
A bit of a humdrum entry in the slasher genre … that severely shows its age.
From horror maestro Robert Bloch, author of Psycho, Night-World is a bit of a disappointment. The book, which was originally published in 1972, certainly starts off on the right track. Five patients stage an escape from an exclusive (and secretive) private sanitarium by murdering the doctors and staff. Before they go, the inmates destroy the asylum’s records – in the 70s it was all on paper, folks! -- obscuring their identities and allowing the Manson-like clan to slip into city of Los Angeles, butchering anyone who might be able to reveal their identities.
So that’s the good part.
Unfortunately, from there, the book becomes rather paint-by-numbers as one-by-one the inmates knock off witnesses (and eventually each other) as their proto-Hannibal Lector-style leader begins to engineer his way into anonymity. The one lead the cops have is copy-writer Karen Raymond, the ex-wife of one of the escapees, who wants to believe that her husband is just caught up in the mess – and not a killer himself. The set-up is classic slasher sub-genre material, but (at least for the modern reader), neither the hunt nor the kills feel particularly chilling. There is a twist toward the end of the novel, but forty plus years of horror movies, telegraph the surprise, and I’d be shocked if the majority of readers don’t easily guess the revelation.
It may be that Night-World simply hasn’t held up that well over time, because Bloch’s pedigree and prose certainly prove he has the chops of a horror master. This one, though, simply doesn’t deliver the shudders.
August 4, 2025
Excellent and neat little thriller about paranoia, fear, and trust in early '70s LA from one of the masters of both the hard-boiled and particularly the horror genre. Bloch is an author who knows his murderers and this one is a great little character study with just the right amount of foil (in Karen, the wife) and in the several ill-fated fellow inmates of the asylum where the main event takes place--all the other events spiraling outward across the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area out from that misty, Gothic original setting. The real highlight here is the terse, pithy prose style, the puns and observations of contemporary culture and the coming "culture of fear" that would soon envelope our nation through its various news sources. It was amazing to me to read an author who began publishing in the 1930s and to find him so observant and hip to the cultural trends of the early 1970s--Bloch was indeed a man with his ear to the rails, so to speak. This was a great Saturday afternoon read.
May 17, 2018
Bloch boils giallo down to its simplest component parts. The result makes you feel like an emphysemic overcaffeinated flatfoot in Poughkeepsie reading a slightly musty-smelling ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS while waiting for the graveyard shift to end.
June 29, 2015
Robert Bloch's Night World is something I picked up used because I'm a fan of Bloch's Lovecraftian tales. Honestly, I had no clue what it was about when I nabbed it.
Anyway, it begins with a working woman finding that her husband is about to be released from an insane asylum. She hits the road to pick him up and instead walks into the scene of some gruesome murders and a small sanatorium completely devoid of patients.
The patients begin turning up in various areas, mostly dead. An unknown killer is still on the loose and no one is safe.
Being that this was based in the early 70's, the story was a bit more believable. The patient files were all burned so no one was aware of who all the patients actually were. Aside from that, the age of the story makes much of it unreasonable if not impossible with the advances we have had in technology and social reasoning.
All in all, it was a decent story. Nothing too unusual or tricky to throw the reader off. Again, some things have been imitated so much over the years that books that were original at their time appear unimaginative.
Anyway, it begins with a working woman finding that her husband is about to be released from an insane asylum. She hits the road to pick him up and instead walks into the scene of some gruesome murders and a small sanatorium completely devoid of patients.
The patients begin turning up in various areas, mostly dead. An unknown killer is still on the loose and no one is safe.
Being that this was based in the early 70's, the story was a bit more believable. The patient files were all burned so no one was aware of who all the patients actually were. Aside from that, the age of the story makes much of it unreasonable if not impossible with the advances we have had in technology and social reasoning.
All in all, it was a decent story. Nothing too unusual or tricky to throw the reader off. Again, some things have been imitated so much over the years that books that were original at their time appear unimaginative.
January 15, 2023
This vintage (1972) novel was a lot of fun in the retro areas. For example, the main character is living in an apartment in L.A. and the rent is $150 per month. Also, you don't hear conversations anymore like you might have 50 years ago, but I'm old enough to remember.
But the story was over-told. Too much detail and too many words.
But the story was over-told. Too much detail and too many words.
April 6, 2013
I expected more from the author of Psycho. This read more like a TV movie or episode of Columbo than a genuine novel. That being said, it was a quick entertaining read.
May 9, 2018
A fast-moving, entertaining book. The villain was interesting enough to warrant a lot more insight into him. But the book is short, easy to read in one sitting. It is quite outdated, even cliched, but I didn't mind too much.
April 16, 2019
Good little chiller. Very simply written with genuine tension. As always with Robert Bloch the story is a scary one because the bad guy is never what you suspect or one you can pigeon hole or easily reference.
October 10, 2017
Read in the 70s
July 3, 2018
Una pequeña novela de suspenso con una trama interesante. Recomendable para leer en la sala de espera del dentista en un viaje corto.
May 12, 2020
Fun and fast-paced, probably would make a decent B-movie. Good for a fast read.
April 20, 2021
Serviceable thriller.
May 13, 2024
Se me hizo muy corto, muy intrigante y el final como muy abrupto.
February 3, 2025
Pretty bad. Reads like a YA novel. The descriptions of the police work reveal that Bloch did little if any research into how the police actually operate.
December 14, 2023
From the JetBlackDragonfly book blog at www.edenthompson.ca/blog
Robert Bloch is the author of Psycho.
The Hitchcock film is a classic and the novel is just as potent, a terrific read. Night World was written by Bloch in 1972. Not on the same level, but a quick, entertaining read if you take it for what it is, a pulp thriller of its time.
Karen has been granted a visit to the private sanitarium where her husband Bruce has been recovering from Vietnam war trauma. Arriving on a dark fogbound night, she discovers the doors open, the staff murdered and five patients have vanished including Bruce. Is her husband the ruthless killer, or was he coerced by a deranged patient? The doctor's car is gone, and the police called in. The escapees with various degrees of psychosis are on the loose in San Francisco - but once they split up, each to their personal safe place or home, someone is hunting them down - one by one they meet with a grisly death over the next few days. Karen is teamed with a police bodyguard, following her in case Bruce tries to make contact.
This is 1972, when the police were the 'Fuzz' and 'The Man', and although it seems tame now, it might have been a tense read at the time. Surprisingly seedy, this is the time of the Son of Sam and the Tate/LaBianca murders - the city on edge hearing another psychopath is roaming the streets. Bloch is a great thriller writer, he revels in the maze of the unhinged mind and there are brilliant turns of phrase. Each patient has their own backstory - one dealing with psyching out on LSD and the hippie music scene.
This reads like going back in time to the 1970's. A speedy thriller that rips along at a fast pace. This is what you want when you pick up a book about a psychotic killer - nasty, grim and enjoyable.
Robert Bloch is the author of Psycho.
The Hitchcock film is a classic and the novel is just as potent, a terrific read. Night World was written by Bloch in 1972. Not on the same level, but a quick, entertaining read if you take it for what it is, a pulp thriller of its time.
Karen has been granted a visit to the private sanitarium where her husband Bruce has been recovering from Vietnam war trauma. Arriving on a dark fogbound night, she discovers the doors open, the staff murdered and five patients have vanished including Bruce. Is her husband the ruthless killer, or was he coerced by a deranged patient? The doctor's car is gone, and the police called in. The escapees with various degrees of psychosis are on the loose in San Francisco - but once they split up, each to their personal safe place or home, someone is hunting them down - one by one they meet with a grisly death over the next few days. Karen is teamed with a police bodyguard, following her in case Bruce tries to make contact.
This is 1972, when the police were the 'Fuzz' and 'The Man', and although it seems tame now, it might have been a tense read at the time. Surprisingly seedy, this is the time of the Son of Sam and the Tate/LaBianca murders - the city on edge hearing another psychopath is roaming the streets. Bloch is a great thriller writer, he revels in the maze of the unhinged mind and there are brilliant turns of phrase. Each patient has their own backstory - one dealing with psyching out on LSD and the hippie music scene.
This reads like going back in time to the 1970's. A speedy thriller that rips along at a fast pace. This is what you want when you pick up a book about a psychotic killer - nasty, grim and enjoyable.
May 26, 2022
Saw that ending coming and it made me angry when I finished it. Otherwise I did enjoy it.
October 23, 2015
"Night World" is a decent enough page turner. The story isn't anything too special--five patients break out of an expensive rehab retreat, one of them a psychopathic murderer going after the others one by one--but Robert Bloch has a fun, fast-paced style.
The heroine of the story isn't sure exactly what to believe about her husband. He went voluntarily to the clinic six months ago, and his wife is reluctant to say why. She won't tell the police she thinks her husband could be the killer among the five escapees, but doesn't quite believe him herself.
The heroine of the story isn't sure exactly what to believe about her husband. He went voluntarily to the clinic six months ago, and his wife is reluctant to say why. She won't tell the police she thinks her husband could be the killer among the five escapees, but doesn't quite believe him herself.
November 13, 2016
This was entertaining, classic book that I would recommend to anyone who likes crime/mystery. What I like about Robert's writing style is that it's very fast and easy to read. I respect his cleverness that he portrays through niche like lines. He doesn't waste too much time on backstory but enriches characters with plot points as he always keeps the story going forward. The murder scenes in this book are some of the best, especially for being done in roughly one paragraph each. Well done. Entertaining, fast, easy = happy reader!
June 26, 2016
3.5 Stars
This was a very fast read. It read surprisingly cinematically, which lent it to being a fast read. It was not quite what I expected from the writer of Psycho. I figured there would be more suspense and thrills along the way. There were some twists and turns, and the ending gets top marks, but this book is just an average mystery novel, not the horror/suspense thriller it was billed to be. Still, a good, fast summer read.
This was a very fast read. It read surprisingly cinematically, which lent it to being a fast read. It was not quite what I expected from the writer of Psycho. I figured there would be more suspense and thrills along the way. There were some twists and turns, and the ending gets top marks, but this book is just an average mystery novel, not the horror/suspense thriller it was billed to be. Still, a good, fast summer read.
June 19, 2016
I honestly forgot that I was about to read this, until yesterday. So I just read it through the night.
Nothing special, really. Perhaps it could go well as a movie, but as a book. It's a mediocre at best.
Nothing special, really. Perhaps it could go well as a movie, but as a book. It's a mediocre at best.
March 26, 2012
Neat little book. I'd recommend it.
December 25, 2013
As already said by other readers, it's a neat book.
short and quick to read.
To be honest this the first novel I read of this author.
liked it and triggered me to read others.
short and quick to read.
To be honest this the first novel I read of this author.
liked it and triggered me to read others.
July 19, 2022
Not a bad twist on the escape lunatic slasher.
April 14, 2008
Horror
January 14, 2012
Horror
August 14, 2016
excelente, entretenido e intrigante...
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews