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Pulphouse Short Story Paperbacks #51
The Skull of the Marquis de Sade
TERRORA medianoche…cuando la calavera de un demente vuelve a una horrible vida.Al mediodía…cuando el fantasma de una asesina busca nuevas víctimas.A la luz de la luna…en una cita con un vampiro.TERROREn cada uno de estos cuentos sobrenaturales de ROBERT BLOCH… el maestro actual de lo monstruoso.
157 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1965
1 person is currently reading
156 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 - 10 of 10 reviews
January 19, 2009
A while back I decided that I would check out some pulp novels to vivisect the writing process, or maybe more pointedly, the writing process as a means of income.
The stories collected here aren't by any means great, nor are they staggeringly terrible. Surprisingly, the piece that shares the name of the collection isn't the best, although it apparently was adapted for a film called "The Skull". I haven't seen this film nor am I so compelled, but Bloch did a decent job here.
The piece "Lizzie Borden Took an Axe..." stands out, as does "The Man Who Knew Women". The former seems unnecessarily rushed, but Bloch's address of modern settings lacking the genetic make-up of horror kitsch is interesting and is presented to the reader in an almost visionary (for the time) manner, although it unfortunately relies on the same kitsch for closure. It's a short so I suppose it's to be expected.
"The Man Who Knew Women" seems almost out of place in the collection, but I'm afraid it fits due to Bloch's "O Henry" writing style. Given the subject matter of the story , an O Henry ending is fine, but is hard to not view as fucking cheap. Another such ending is employed with the book's final piece (I'm looking for the book now, I threw it after finishing) Ah...here it is. "The Bogeyman Will Get You"...yeah.
Unfortunately this short starts with an icky little charm and offers at one point some decent commentary on anthropolgy and literature for all of two seconds, unfortunately it's almost instantly shit on and washed down with that terrible finish.
What I learned from this book is simply that O Henry writing is fucking god awful. Bloch, according to the cover, wrote the story that turned into Hitchcock's Psycho. I'm inclined to say he's rather talented, but maybe some writers aren't cut out for short stories. If not for Jack Ketchum I might think short horror is altogether doomed, but I get the distinct feeling that the seperation here between Bloch and Ketchum is a testament to not what is written, but more what a piece is written for.
If the Two writers were sexual deviants, Bloch would be a frat boy telling his friends about putting a finger in a drunk girl's ass, while Ketchum is exiled in an arctic prison.
The stories collected here aren't by any means great, nor are they staggeringly terrible. Surprisingly, the piece that shares the name of the collection isn't the best, although it apparently was adapted for a film called "The Skull". I haven't seen this film nor am I so compelled, but Bloch did a decent job here.
The piece "Lizzie Borden Took an Axe..." stands out, as does "The Man Who Knew Women". The former seems unnecessarily rushed, but Bloch's address of modern settings lacking the genetic make-up of horror kitsch is interesting and is presented to the reader in an almost visionary (for the time) manner, although it unfortunately relies on the same kitsch for closure. It's a short so I suppose it's to be expected.
"The Man Who Knew Women" seems almost out of place in the collection, but I'm afraid it fits due to Bloch's "O Henry" writing style. Given the subject matter of the story , an O Henry ending is fine, but is hard to not view as fucking cheap. Another such ending is employed with the book's final piece (I'm looking for the book now, I threw it after finishing) Ah...here it is. "The Bogeyman Will Get You"...yeah.
Unfortunately this short starts with an icky little charm and offers at one point some decent commentary on anthropolgy and literature for all of two seconds, unfortunately it's almost instantly shit on and washed down with that terrible finish.
What I learned from this book is simply that O Henry writing is fucking god awful. Bloch, according to the cover, wrote the story that turned into Hitchcock's Psycho. I'm inclined to say he's rather talented, but maybe some writers aren't cut out for short stories. If not for Jack Ketchum I might think short horror is altogether doomed, but I get the distinct feeling that the seperation here between Bloch and Ketchum is a testament to not what is written, but more what a piece is written for.
If the Two writers were sexual deviants, Bloch would be a frat boy telling his friends about putting a finger in a drunk girl's ass, while Ketchum is exiled in an arctic prison.
May 18, 2014
This is my first time reading Bloch. As a fan of Amicus' horror films I've long been familiar with some of his stories. I really like how he changes the "voice" from story to story. I don't mean perspective. Even when he's writing in third person the style changes from horror to noir, adapting language appropriate to whatever genre he's tackling.
My favorites were the title story, The Weird Taylor (from the film Asylum), "Lizzie Borden Took an Axe" and The Devil's Ticket, which I think was the scariest.
The last story, The Bogey Man Will Get You, I remember from one of the anthology shows. Not a strong finish, but overall it's a really good book.
My favorites were the title story, The Weird Taylor (from the film Asylum), "Lizzie Borden Took an Axe" and The Devil's Ticket, which I think was the scariest.
The last story, The Bogey Man Will Get You, I remember from one of the anthology shows. Not a strong finish, but overall it's a really good book.
October 27, 2021
I picked this book up on a whim while vacationing in Portugal. I found a fun, old looking bookstore and they luckily had a small English section. It didn't take me long to browse through their entire stock, and this book stood out to me by cover alone.
I'm very happy that I picked it up. I hadn't touched a horror book in at least a decade and this collection of short stories by Robert Bloch had sparked a new interest for the genre in me.
My personal favourites from the book were "The Skull of Marquis De Sade" and "The Devil's Ticket".
I look forward to reading more stories by Bloch. I might pick up Pyscho sometime soon.
I would say this is a great book for a horror-newbie like myself.
I'm very happy that I picked it up. I hadn't touched a horror book in at least a decade and this collection of short stories by Robert Bloch had sparked a new interest for the genre in me.
My personal favourites from the book were "The Skull of Marquis De Sade" and "The Devil's Ticket".
I look forward to reading more stories by Bloch. I might pick up Pyscho sometime soon.
I would say this is a great book for a horror-newbie like myself.
May 28, 2022
My problem with this book, and it is a pretty major one, is that I thought it rubbish and wondered why I had wasted my time reading this collection of stories. I wasn't expecting to dislike it - to be honest I thought I was going to enjoy it - but I was staggeringly disappointed and wonder why there was all this fuss about Robert Bloch. I know he is of his time - but lots of things are of their time but we don't revisit them, nor hold them up for admiration. Lots of writers of fantasy/horror do seem to admire Bloch - well I don't and can't imagine anyone wasting time on this dross.
February 17, 2019
Bloch’s storytelling continues to get better with his later books. I’ve purchased and am planning to read all of his short story collections in order of publication.
Title story for this batch was the only reprint (from Bogey Men) in the collection. I enjoyed all of the stories, except for one slight clunker, in my opinion. I still consider him to be Stephen Kings mentor and/or muse.
Title story for this batch was the only reprint (from Bogey Men) in the collection. I enjoyed all of the stories, except for one slight clunker, in my opinion. I still consider him to be Stephen Kings mentor and/or muse.
June 5, 2024
Robert Bloch knew how to strip a story down to its bare essentials. These tales are lean and pack a wallop. A few are a bit predictable by today's standards, but every one of them is written with impactful prose. And there are the entries which aren't so predictable. Some nice, often mean-spirited twists. This slim volume of fiction is some of Bloch's best.
January 5, 2026
Overall: 3.0 Stars
2 Stars:
- The Skull of the Marquis de Sade
- The Weird Tailor
- The Bogey Man Will Get You
3 Stars:
- “Lizzie Borden Took an Axe…”
- The Devil’s Ticket
4 Stars:
- A Quiet Funeral
5 Stars:
- The Man Who Knew Women
2 Stars:
- The Skull of the Marquis de Sade
- The Weird Tailor
- The Bogey Man Will Get You
3 Stars:
- “Lizzie Borden Took an Axe…”
- The Devil’s Ticket
4 Stars:
- A Quiet Funeral
5 Stars:
- The Man Who Knew Women
March 23, 2023
I absolutely loved this book. It was a very good collection of short stories, and if you're a fan of horror anthology films or series, you will appreciate this book.
May 10, 2023
Classic stuff here
July 6, 2023
This is a random $1 Goodwill book that caught my eye, provably because of the “written by the author of Psycho” blurb on the cover.
It’s short stories published in magazines in the 40’s and 50’s gathered together in a collection published in the 60’s.I didn’t think any were particularly good or interesting, but reading pulp fiction from the “olden days” is interesting. (Well, interesting to me because I’m a nerd about such things.)
My God is this author fond of an “O Henry” twist he uses it roughly 75% of the time.
Apparently a movie starring Christopher Lee was made from “The Skull” story that I have no plans on watching any time soon.
It’s short stories published in magazines in the 40’s and 50’s gathered together in a collection published in the 60’s.I didn’t think any were particularly good or interesting, but reading pulp fiction from the “olden days” is interesting. (Well, interesting to me because I’m a nerd about such things.)
My God is this author fond of an “O Henry” twist he uses it roughly 75% of the time.
Apparently a movie starring Christopher Lee was made from “The Skull” story that I have no plans on watching any time soon.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews