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Fear and Trembling
Contents:
The Yougoslaves
A Most Unusual Murder
The Brood of Bubastis
Groovyland
The Chaney Legacy
Floral Tribute
Reaper
The Shrink and the Mink [“The Shrink and the Nympho”]
A Killing in the Market
The New Season
ETFF
Freak Show
Horror Scope
The Yougoslaves
A Most Unusual Murder
The Brood of Bubastis
Groovyland
The Chaney Legacy
Floral Tribute
Reaper
The Shrink and the Mink [“The Shrink and the Nympho”]
A Killing in the Market
The New Season
ETFF
Freak Show
Horror Scope
309 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1989
3 people are currently reading
136 people want to read
About the author
Robert Bloch
1,092 books1,287 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 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 23, 2022
DNF.
The voice was very serious, but it was written like a comedy. I was frustrated with it because it would have a mature setup that could have potential, and then squander it with poor writing and story structure. The first short story wasn't bad, but in the climax, it felt very amateur. I got about 50% of the way through the book before deciding it wasn't worth my time to struggle through the rest. If it had simply sold itself as horror comedy, that'd be one thing, but this, I can't help but shake my head at it.
The voice was very serious, but it was written like a comedy. I was frustrated with it because it would have a mature setup that could have potential, and then squander it with poor writing and story structure. The first short story wasn't bad, but in the climax, it felt very amateur. I got about 50% of the way through the book before deciding it wasn't worth my time to struggle through the rest. If it had simply sold itself as horror comedy, that'd be one thing, but this, I can't help but shake my head at it.
December 19, 2014
Bloch was awesome back in the Weird Tales days. This anthology
has one really good story from that time, The Brood of Bubastis.
There are a couple of other decent stories... Floral Tribute,
The Chaney Legacy...
Sadly, in his later years, Bloch's output just wasn't that great,
and most of the stories in this volume are from the 80s when he
had pretty much lost the earlier greatness.
has one really good story from that time, The Brood of Bubastis.
There are a couple of other decent stories... Floral Tribute,
The Chaney Legacy...
Sadly, in his later years, Bloch's output just wasn't that great,
and most of the stories in this volume are from the 80s when he
had pretty much lost the earlier greatness.
September 5, 2017
Loved the first story, The Yougoslaves, but couldn't get into the rest of them as much.
August 5, 2019
"The Yougoslaves"
What an ending!
What an ending!
January 27, 2016
Robert Bloch is well-known for his fascinating stories and writing ability. His writing really does deserve this reputation, too, as reading his stuff is addicting. He has a natural way with his wording that instantly sucks a reader in and never lets go until the pages are finished. It is this that makes the book so great - an unusual ensemble of genre stories which offers everything from chuckles and giggles to squeamishness and eye-rolls.
Not every story is a winner, of course, and there are some lackluster ones which made me wonder where Bloch was going. In fact, despite the horrorish cover and the horror name, this book primarily focuses on Bloch's short, bizarre comedy pieces.
The first tale is pure horror that sells itself a bit short with a cheesy ending in The Yougoslaves. It appears to me that Bloch was freewriting this one and didn't have it pre-planned, packing on an ending which made sense to him once he got to it. A Most Unusual Murder didn't do too well with holding my interest, and The Brood of Bubastis never wooed me with it's attempted comedy.
Groovyland is the first of two alien comedy pieces, both quite similar to each other but with different outcomes and settings. In both tales an alien has come to Earth and humor is to had. In Groovyland the ending is an ironic laugh, and the alien is named, of all things, "Drool." In the second alien tale (toward the end of the book), it excelled more on being naturally funny and not as forced. In that one the alien makes a bundle of himself at a sci-fi convention but never to his awareness.
Floral Tribute was a bit predictable but interesting. I wish it were longer. Bloch really does SHORT short stories. Reaper was creative and a unique twist on a reaper tale. I'd love to have seen this as a full fledged novel, there was much that could have been done with it. The Shrink and the Minx was pure comedy and funny, tongue-in-cheek enjoyment. Both great stories. Bloch writes horror and novelty humor well.
A killing market held a clever twist. Again not horror, more of a suspense noirish type. Again Bloch's writing style fits perfectly with pretty much anything he's trying to write. The writing tone made me fall into the story completely, but I was left confused at the end. Was his bizarre theory right, or is he dead in some other dimension and doesn't know it? I will never know...
Overall it's an enjoyable tale and the stories are not in any way connected. For sure a collection from a master - displaying in each originality and imagination. Sure, not every one is an award-winning, but still they are all written with a talented hand that clearly enjoys what it does.
Not every story is a winner, of course, and there are some lackluster ones which made me wonder where Bloch was going. In fact, despite the horrorish cover and the horror name, this book primarily focuses on Bloch's short, bizarre comedy pieces.
The first tale is pure horror that sells itself a bit short with a cheesy ending in The Yougoslaves. It appears to me that Bloch was freewriting this one and didn't have it pre-planned, packing on an ending which made sense to him once he got to it. A Most Unusual Murder didn't do too well with holding my interest, and The Brood of Bubastis never wooed me with it's attempted comedy.
Groovyland is the first of two alien comedy pieces, both quite similar to each other but with different outcomes and settings. In both tales an alien has come to Earth and humor is to had. In Groovyland the ending is an ironic laugh, and the alien is named, of all things, "Drool." In the second alien tale (toward the end of the book), it excelled more on being naturally funny and not as forced. In that one the alien makes a bundle of himself at a sci-fi convention but never to his awareness.
Floral Tribute was a bit predictable but interesting. I wish it were longer. Bloch really does SHORT short stories. Reaper was creative and a unique twist on a reaper tale. I'd love to have seen this as a full fledged novel, there was much that could have been done with it. The Shrink and the Minx was pure comedy and funny, tongue-in-cheek enjoyment. Both great stories. Bloch writes horror and novelty humor well.
A killing market held a clever twist. Again not horror, more of a suspense noirish type. Again Bloch's writing style fits perfectly with pretty much anything he's trying to write. The writing tone made me fall into the story completely, but I was left confused at the end. Was his bizarre theory right, or is he dead in some other dimension and doesn't know it? I will never know...
Overall it's an enjoyable tale and the stories are not in any way connected. For sure a collection from a master - displaying in each originality and imagination. Sure, not every one is an award-winning, but still they are all written with a talented hand that clearly enjoys what it does.
June 2, 2014
Too many puns and inside jokes.
August 22, 2014
Not completely horror, but a great set of short stories by Mr. Bloch.
The one at the sci-fi convention hit a little close to home, though.
The one at the sci-fi convention hit a little close to home, though.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews