Robert Albert Bloch

Robert Albert Bloch was born in Chicago, Illinois. Since childhood, he was a great admirer of the work of G. F. Lovecraft, with whom he even corresponded for some time. The influence of Howard Lovecraft on Bloch was expressed in the continuation of the last Lovecraft cycle “Myths of Cthulhu” in the novel “Strange Eons” (1978) and the collection “Mysteries of the Worm” (1981). The first story, Lilies, was published in the semi-professional magazine Marvel Tales in 1934. In 1935-1945 he published more

Robert Albert Bloch was born in Chicago, Illinois. Since childhood, he was a great admirer of the work of G. F. Lovecraft, with whom he even corresponded for some time. The influence of Howard Lovecraft on Bloch was expressed in the continuation of the last Lovecraft cycle “Myths of Cthulhu” in the novel “Strange Eons” (1978) and the collection “Mysteries of the Worm” (1981).
The first story, Lilies, was published in the semi-professional magazine Marvel Tales in 1934. In 1935-1945 he published more than a hundred horror and fantasy stories in various magazines (including co-authorship with Henry Kuttner), some under the pseudonym "Tarleton Fiske". He wrote stories in his spare time while working in an advertising agency. In 1945, as a screenwriter, he participated in the creation of the popular radio show “Stay Tuned for Terror”. The first book was the book Kiss of the Sea (Sea Kissed, 1945). In 1945, Arkham House published a large volume of Bloch’s short stories, The Opener of the Way.
In the 1950s, Bloch continued to publish short stories, one of which, Train to Hell (1958), won the Hugo Prize. His novel Psychosis (1959) became the basis for Alfred Hitchcock’s classic film of the same name. Fame finally comes to Robert Bloch. In the future, he continues to collaborate with Hollywood and as a screenwriter in the 60-70s takes part in the work on 15 films, including writing scripts for the series “Star Trek”. Since the late seventies actively writes horror novels.
Bloch’s steady interest in the legendary criminal of the past – Jack the Ripper – led to the emergence of “criminal fantasy” – the novel “Night of the Ripper” (“Night of the Ripper”, 1984) and stories – “Your sincere, Jack the Ripper” (1943) and “Toy for Juliet” (1967; co-author – Harlan Ellison). In co-authorship with Andre Norton wrote a "continuation" of the story of another famous criminal (this time purely "literary") - the novel "The Jekyll Legacy" (1990).
In 1975 he was awarded the "World Fantasy Award" for his contribution to fiction, in 1990 with the same wording he was awarded the Bram Stoker Prize (which he subsequently received three more times - for his autobiography, novella and collection of short stories). In 1984, Bloch was awarded a special Hugo Award in honor of half a century of activity in the field of fiction.
In August 1994, Robert Bloch published his own obituary. Locus calls it the joke of a man who has written all his life about death. But exactly one month later, Robert Bloch dies of cancer in Los Angeles.