Book Review: Psycho by Robert Bloch

 

Quite possibly one of the most famous films of all-time. The shower scene has been imitated and duplicated so many times over the years that young children who have never even been exposed to the Hitchcock classic know its origin. But before Hitchcock made showers terrifying forever, the guise of Norman Bates came in the form of a short pudgy man on the written page.

In 1959, Robert Bloch wrote a novel. He based his main character loosely on the crimes of Ed Gein. The character he created was named Norman Bates, and horror history was made.

Now, many people know of Norman Bates being the tall, handsome but odd gentleman that Anthony Perkins famously brought to life in 1960. But Bates began as a pudgy middle aged loner who lives with his mother in the famous house above the Bates Motel.

Now, to go over the story would be ludicrous, as anyone bothering to visit this blog should know it, and if not, shame on you, go watch the film. The real question for most people is about the differences between the novel and the film. Well, there are few. The Hitch remained faithful for the most part, with only a few slight changes from the novel.

The two biggest changes were of course in the physical description of Norman himself, and in the shower scene. In the film, Norman is personified perfectly by Anthony Perkins, but in the book, as mentioned previously, he is a middle-aged, overweight secret alcoholic. Other than that, his character is essentially the same as in the film.

Now, for the shower scene. When Mother visits Mary (the name was changed to Marion in the film because of an actual Mary Crane living in Phoenix at the time) she does not do a repeated stabbing as in the film. Instead, she uses the knife to cut her head off completely. I cannot lie, knowing of this change it still came as a shock due to the fantastic way that Bloch writes.

As for the written word itself, the book is a swift read. It clocks in at about 176 pages, and it moves quickly. The shower scene hits about 50 pages into the book. The book wastes no time sucking you into the story, and other than the sometimes quick way it jumps focus from character to character, I find no fault in the writing style.

Overall the book is a must read for any fan of the film, and of the horror genre in general. I highly recommend it.

 

Psycho, by Robert Bloch
4/5

Random Thoughts for Sept. 22

 

Time for some random musings.

- Picked up the book Psycho by Robert Bloch yesterday. Yes, it is the book upon which the classic Hitchcock film is based. And it is an incredible read. Wastes no time getting into things, and is very hard to put down. I highly recommend that anyone who can get a hold of it, most certainly does. I will have more on the book once it is finished and I do a review for the site.

- I am strongly considering sitting down this weekend and having a Romero “Dead”-a-thon. Just pound through all 6 movies. My fear is that so much Romero would make me wanna watch his other great non-“Dead” films like Creepshow and Martin.

- Speaking of Martin, is there a more criminally underseen and underrated horror film? I love this movie with all my heart, and think it is truly sad that many people are not even aware of its existence.

- It is television premieres week. The only shows I can really bring myself to care about this year are Dexter and the Walking Dead. I am also interested in the new season of Supernatural, but worried about the quality of the show as creator Eric Kripke has taken a backseat and won’t be running the show anymore. This coupled with the fact that he originally intended for the 5th season to be the last makes me weary of the quality. But here’s hoping for a pleasant surprise.

- That’s all for now fiends, stay tuned for some new stuff coming up soon.

Music: Horror Song Of The Week

 

This is a new feature which will happen at least once a week, sometimes more depending on the week.

As many of you may, or may not know, I am a huge fan of music. I am especially enamoured with songs and bands steeped in the horror genre. Whether it be songs about horror movies, characters, or just themes that go with the horror genre, I consistently have a soft spot in my heart for these bands and songs. Now, if you are also of the same ilk, I highly recommend checking out the weekly podcast, Rue Morgue Radio. It has certainly introduced me to quite a few bands and songs that I now love. But anyways, time to move onto the topic at hand.

This week’s selection comes from one of my new favourite bands, Blitzkid. The song is a catchy ditty entitled “Pretty In A Casket”. Find below the video, followed by the lyrics. You may also notice the name of the album, which is where I got the name of this blog. Enjoy!

Poor little Charlotte’s not so pretty anymore,
Her beauty has corroded into a corpse,
The cops don’t wanna know but maybe if they ask it,
I’ll tell em’ you looked so-

Pretty in a casket
Pretty in a casket
Baby you look so-
Pretty in a casket
Pretty in a casket

And as you walk where dead angels lie,
I hope you remember the cutting of my knife,
Nothin’ but a cheap little has been,
But baby you look so-

And so the time has come to pay my respects,
I guess it’s true this time you give what you get,
You gave me nothin’ save for a lotta grief,
Baby it’s a shame , but you mad your own life brief…Bitch!

Get To Know Me

 

If people are gonna read this here blog, I figure people might want to know a bit about the maestro behind the curtain pulling the strings….so, here goes.

 

Name: Kyle
Aliases: Kyle Voorhees, K. Frankenstein, Hey You – Awesome Dude
Age: 24, turning 25 on Halloween. Yes, my birthday is on Halloween.
Favourite Horror Film: Dawn Of The Dead (1978)
Favourite Classic Horror Film: Bride Of Frankenstein (1935)
Favourite Non-Horror Film: Scarface (1982)
Favourite Band(s): Avenged Sevenfold, Wednesday 13, Calabrese
Favourite Video Game(s): Final Fantasy VIII, Gears Of War 2, Gears of War

A Little More: My name is Kyle. I am 24. I have a beautiful fiancee named Jill, and we have the most awesome son in the universe, Dexter. He is my everything, and he is the coolest 1 year old ever. I have been a horror fan for many years, and my DVD collection consists of over 500 DVDs currently, the majority of which are horror.

I am a big fan of the George A. Romero Dead movies, as well as the Friday The 13th series. I also thoroughly enjoy the classic Universal Monster films, especially the Boris Karloff Frankenstein films.

I want this blog to be a great place for horror fans to come read an opinion, and feel open to agree or disagree, which is why comments will always be open to the public, read and generally responded to. I hope to get to know my readers as they get to know me, and we can enjoy this crazy ride.

MSN: Dr.Frankenstein@hotmail.ca
Twitter: @K_Frankenstein

- K. Frankenstein

Random Thoughts

Until I can really get the ball rolling on this blog, I will be putting down some random thoughts.

First of all, I am falling in love with Twitter. The ability to converse with people who I would never have a chance to, and people I admire is an incredible thing to me, regardless of whether I have to do it in 140 characters or less.

For example, over the past few days I have been able to exchange messages with B-Sol of the incredible horror blog The Vault Of Horror, which is probably the premiere horror blog on the entire internet.

Then tonight, I was able to watch Frozen with Jilly Bones, and afterwards I was able to send a message along to the director, Adam Green, which to my incredible surprise, yet delight, he responded to. Incredible to me, although some may say I am just being a geek.

Back to Frozen. What an absolute amazing film. I spent most of the running time figuring I knew how it was going to end, but damn, the suspense at times was damn near unbearable. That, my fiends, is a sign of an incredible filmmaker knowing what he is doing. While I thoroughly enjoyed Mr. Green’s previous film, Hatchet, it was at times flawed, and was more a serious love letter to our favourite horror sub-genre, the 80s slasher. But Frozen shows that Green is a talented man with an eye for suspense, with a great future. I know that his next film is Hatchet II, which I unabashedly am looking forward to, but whatever film he attaches himself to after, it is a must see for this horror fan.

And that is all for now….keep your eyes peeled fiends, or else I may have to rip them out of your sockets and keep them peeled here myself.

- K. Frankenstein