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Cold Chills
Fourteen terror-filled tales by the author of PSYCHO. A clean, unmarked and unclipped copy in a Brodart jacket cover.
178 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1977
2 people are currently reading
77 people want to read
About the author
Robert Bloch
1,090 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 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 18, 2023
This is a collection of fourteen short stories by Bloch that were published from the late 1960s into the mid '70s. They're about evenly split between the sf/fantasy/horror and mystery/crime/suspense genres, and their original places of publication range from men's magazines (Playboy, Penthouse, Galley), mystery magazines (Ellery Queen's and Alfred Hitchcock's), science fiction and fantasy magazines (Galaxy, F & SF, Worlds of Fantasy), and three different Roger Elwood-edited original anthologies. Bloch provides an entertaining introduction and interesting comments concerning each story. There's no real traditional horror, but rather O. Henry-like twist endings and stories that would be at home on Night Gallery or The Twilight Zone, many set in the California-'60s mindset of the entertainment industry. Some of the presentations are no longer socially acceptable, but they're slick and cleverly constructed pieces, fun if not especially memorable.
July 29, 2022
An anthology collecting the author's short fiction from the late '60s through to the early '70s. As someone who knows the author best from his earlier, pulp era weird fiction, this was fairly different from what I know, although Bloch's predilection for the sting in the tale is still there. It's a mixed bag overall, shying away from horror in favour of more speculative fiction.
Collected here we find a darkly humorous story about a man whose penchant for mockery spells disaster in THE GODS ARE NOT MOCKED; the short joke and punchline-ending of IN THE CARDS; plus THE DOUBLE WHAMMY, a classic and old-fashioned fairground horror that harks back to the likes of FREAKS. Similarly, THE ANIMAL FAIR seems ordinary but has an electrifying back story that sets it firmly in the-then here and now. There are also two psychological thrillers. Of these, EGO TRIP is the best with the constant twists and turns, but SEE HOW THEY RUN a bit laboured and unpleasant.
There are homages to silent cinema in the romantic THE MOVIE PEOPLE and the glory days of theatre in THE PLAY'S THE THING; a handful of imaginative sci-fi efforts including HOW LIKE A GOD, quite pulpy in tone, SEE HOW THEY RUN, which takes cloning to an extreme, and SPACE-BORN, a good little twist on the usual alien invasion story; THE LEARNING MAZE, which I found too abstract, and at least one that's very different, THE ORACLE, a story of anarchy and chaos. The last story, THE MODEL, is almost unclassifiable, and a bit more explicit than we've come to expect from Bloch.
Collected here we find a darkly humorous story about a man whose penchant for mockery spells disaster in THE GODS ARE NOT MOCKED; the short joke and punchline-ending of IN THE CARDS; plus THE DOUBLE WHAMMY, a classic and old-fashioned fairground horror that harks back to the likes of FREAKS. Similarly, THE ANIMAL FAIR seems ordinary but has an electrifying back story that sets it firmly in the-then here and now. There are also two psychological thrillers. Of these, EGO TRIP is the best with the constant twists and turns, but SEE HOW THEY RUN a bit laboured and unpleasant.
There are homages to silent cinema in the romantic THE MOVIE PEOPLE and the glory days of theatre in THE PLAY'S THE THING; a handful of imaginative sci-fi efforts including HOW LIKE A GOD, quite pulpy in tone, SEE HOW THEY RUN, which takes cloning to an extreme, and SPACE-BORN, a good little twist on the usual alien invasion story; THE LEARNING MAZE, which I found too abstract, and at least one that's very different, THE ORACLE, a story of anarchy and chaos. The last story, THE MODEL, is almost unclassifiable, and a bit more explicit than we've come to expect from Bloch.
March 6, 2024
Robert Bloch’s stories range from sci-fi to psychological horror. The stories in this collection are easy to read and interesting, but by far the best part of the collection is Robert Bloch’s stories on writing each story. This behind the scenes insight was clever and informative, which led to the stories be more entertaining in my opinion. If you’re looking for some quick thrilling reads then check this out!
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March 31, 2025Read so far:
The gods are not mocked
*How like a god
*The movie people
*The double whammy
In the cards
*The animal fair
*The oracle
The play's the thing --3
Ego trip
*Forever and amen
See how they run --2
Space-born
*The learning maze
*The model
The gods are not mocked
*How like a god
*The movie people
*The double whammy
In the cards
*The animal fair
*The oracle
The play's the thing --3
Ego trip
*Forever and amen
See how they run --2
Space-born
*The learning maze
*The model
July 22, 2020
Read in 1979. A collection of science fiction, fantasy and suspense stories.
February 16, 2016
What fun this collection was! I dug it out of one of my many boxes of assorted books and decided to dig into it next. I know I have read some of these stories before in other long-ago science fiction or horror collections. I especially enjoyed "The Animal Fair" for its imaginative envisioning of revenge. There were some obvious Twilight Zone/Night Gallery themed tales (which is appropriate, since Robert Bloch wrote for Night Gallery and also Alfred Hitchcock Presents). The Serling is strong with this one. "The Double Whammy" and "The Gods are Not Mocked" are cases in point. Then there were stories that make you think, most notably "The Learning Maze," which avails itself of a deeper philosophical inquiry, along the lines of "this has no answer."
One thing I really liked about this collection were the afterwords for each story, wherein Bloch makes an attempt to recall the inspiration for or at least the thoughts arising around the individual story's theme. A particular tale that made for enjoyable explication was "The Play's the Thing," which ruined Hamlet for a well known director and also held a nice casual recollection of Bloch's relationship with a fellow science fiction writer, Fritz Leiber (Jr.), who had traveled in his father's Shakespearean troupe and who, incidentally, also penned a tale on the Shakespearean troupe theme entitled "Four Ghosts in Hamlet." Bloch's tale was hilariously gruesome and unforgettable. I was sorry to see the back of this volume. I've got to get digging in that box again...
One thing I really liked about this collection were the afterwords for each story, wherein Bloch makes an attempt to recall the inspiration for or at least the thoughts arising around the individual story's theme. A particular tale that made for enjoyable explication was "The Play's the Thing," which ruined Hamlet for a well known director and also held a nice casual recollection of Bloch's relationship with a fellow science fiction writer, Fritz Leiber (Jr.), who had traveled in his father's Shakespearean troupe and who, incidentally, also penned a tale on the Shakespearean troupe theme entitled "Four Ghosts in Hamlet." Bloch's tale was hilariously gruesome and unforgettable. I was sorry to see the back of this volume. I've got to get digging in that box again...
May 31, 2012
In the 70s, Bloch continued to be a prolific short fiction writer as well as being active in novels and screenplays. Yet his fiction started to hit a snag. Much of his later pieces are set up for the punch line. In short they are little jokes with no discernible plot development. A nannoying example is "The Gods are not Mocked" in which a sleazy entrepreneur mocks Smoky the Bear and is murdered with the only clue to the murderer being a torn Scout hat and pawprints. However there are enough stunners to make this collection worthwhile; notably "The Movie People" and "The Model". It's ironic how many of these stories parody Hollywood types and the movie industry since Bloch was making decent money as a screenwriter during this time.
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October 7, 2008WEIRD
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews