Psycho

Book Details

Library

Author

Robert Bloch

Category

Horror

Publisher

Simon & Schuster

Printed By

ibooks Inc

Country

USA

Personal

Year Published

1959 / 2003

Date Read

21/10/2006

ISBN

0743459075

Personal Rating

4 / 10

Binding

Paperback

Pages

223

Overview

Everyone was scared to death when they saw the movie Psycho. But before that movie was even a glint in Alfred Hitchcock's eye, award-winning author Robert Block put real fear into the minds of readers with his unforgettable portrait of a very polite young man who proves that evil lurks just beneath a smile...

When the Bates Motel loomed up out of the storm, Mary Crane thought it was her salvation. The rooms were musty but clean, and the manager, Norman Bates, seemed like a nice enough fellow, if a little strange...

Then Mary met Norman's mother. And the butcher knife...

The nightmare had just begun...

Comment

Although I haven't seen the movie, I'd heard the name Norman Bates, and seen the infamous shower scene, so I had an idea of what to expect.

I was a little surprised that the shower scene happened so early in the story, but after that the entire story seemed rushed. If it had been stretched over another 50 or even a hundred pages, the sense of apprehension could have been explored in much greater detail. As it is, the only character that gets any kind of depth is Bates himself, so its hard to identify with any of the 'good guys'.

The epilogue was very vague, and I didn't get whatever sense of unease it was supposed to invoke.

The best (and most interesting) thing about this book is that, having read it, I'll get all the references and jokes.