Biography
American Writer-Fantasy Robert Bloch is a little known to the reader. Only one of his book "Psycho" was widely famous in the 1960s, and then thanks to the elaboration of Alfred Hitchcock. He began his 60-year-old career as a portion of Howard Lovekraft, and finished the author more than 30 unique novels and hundreds of stories, a multiple laureate of prestigious literary awards.Childhood and youth
Robert Albert Bloch was born on April 5, 1917 in Chicago, Illinois, in the Union of German Jews of Rafael and Stella (in the Maidesty of Laeb), people of unsubstituted and poorly. When he turned 5 years old, the family moved to Maywood, a suburb of Chicago. Here the boy studied at Emerson Grammar School.
In the modern world, the label "Babyan-Indigo" would be hung on flea: his knowledge of 8 years was enough to go right away in the 4th grade. As a promotion to study, teachers presented a flea to the "adult" department of the Maevuda library, where he gladly read even the most difficult and awake books.
The craving for wonderful fleas was shown in childhood. He began, however, with pictorial art - painted with pencils and watercolor, but vision problems did not allow to develop talent. Then Bloch focused on a cinema. He liked most of the paintings, but Horror "Ghost Opera" (1925) became a real test.
"The scene, when Lon Cheney takes off the mask, frightened me to death. I ran all the way home to see the first of two years of repeating nightmares, "Robert Bloch was remembered about that evening in his diaries.By the way, then together with fear, he experienced interest in Horrors.
In 1929, the family moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In Lincoln High School, one of two schools, where Blokhu was able to learn in a new place, he met a friend for all his life by Harold Gauer. He was to be the editor of the literary magazine The Quill, where Bloch and his debut with the "horror" called the Thing. The young men completed education in 1934, in the period of the Great Depression.
Personal life
The first wife of Robert Bloch was Marion Ruth Holomb. Their wedding, according to some data, fictitious so that the writer is not taken into the army, took place on October 2, 1940. For a long time, a woman suffered from bone tuberculosis, which seriously influenced her opportunity to walk, but in the end she managed to cure. In 1943, the spouses were born daughter Sally. 20 years after the divorce of the parents, she wished to stay with Robert Bloch.On January 18, 1964, the author met Eleonora Alexander (in the Maulisian Valisian) - Fashion Model and Widow. The wedding did not postpone the wedding, playing it on October 16 of the same year. Their personal life was happy and lasted until the last days of Bloch. Children did not have.
Books
In 1927, the 10-year-old Robert Bloch first met the WEIRD TALES magazine. One of his "regulars" was Howard Lovecraft. The creativity of the science fiction so infected the young reader that he wrote him a letter - asked to send more stories. The master of the pen not only responded, but also gave bluff several advice on writing horror. He also kindly suggested to evaluate the work of the young man, if any. The boy sent a pair of stories, and the correspondence began.
In 1934, the name of Robert Bloch appeared on the Weird Tales pages. Most of his early works, undoubtedly, the style is similar to Howard Lovekraft, the young man was not even afraid to include in his narration "myths of Ktulhu." Master Horror was not inferior to his student: Bloch became the only man to whom Lovecraft ever devoted the work. We are talking about the story of "Ghost Darkness" (1936). The death of Lovecraft in 1937 deeply shocked 20-year-old flea. In the diary he wrote:
"The message about the death collapsed on me a crushing blow. Essently, that the world ignored this news! It seems that only parents and several friends share my shock, the feeling that part of me also died. "Bloch continued to write for Weird Tales and soon became one of the most popular authors of the magazine. He expanded the theme of the stories of the religion of Voodoo, black magic, obsession by demons, etc.
For many years, Bloch was interrupted by a short syllable, modernized the style of Lovekraft in his own. The first truly author's stories came out in 1943, for example, "Your Friend Jack Ripper".
Jack-Ripper was called an unidentified serial killer who was racing in London in 1888. Bloch did not limit himself to the legend created around this maniac, but included the facts from the real criminal case in the narration. Similarly, the science of man's stories in the iron mask (Iron Mask, 1944), Marquis de Garda (Skull Marquis de Garda, 1945) and Lizzy Borden ("Lizzy Borden took an ax", 1946).
By 1945, the works of Robert Bloch were so popular that they received Prime Time on the radio. For the sake of this science, the fiction was recorded by 15-minute audiences 39 of the best stories. None of the records reached the present day.
By the end of the 1940s, flea finally departed from the usual short syllable and created a novel "Scarf" (1947) about the writer Daniele Morley, who uses real women for inspiration. As soon as the story ends, the hero is forced to kill his muses - souls them with a scarf.
After 10 years of novels in Bliography, four already four - plus a "web", "kidnapper" and "will to murder", all released in 1954. The main triumph was not long.
In 1959, Robert Bloch honored the Hugo Prize for the best story "Train to hell" (1958). At the same time, the premiere of the novel "Psycho", which was destined to become a bestseller.
"Psycho" is one of the examples of Bloch's prose, in which the author is not based on fiction, but on a reality that can chop blood no less than supernatural phenomena. The story came out so terrible that Hollywood appealed to the author with a request to take the film.
Alfred Hichkok, who was shielded "psycho" in 1960, only indirectly rely on the novel. All the proposals that fleas tried to enter, rejected. NOT accepted Hollywood and the scenario to continue the film "Psycho-2" (1983). The author who had to become the main character of this project remained in the background.
Bloch did not call the show business, did not apply to the court, but took up the creation of a movie. He started with scenarios for mystical television series, then moved to feature films. So, on the ideas of Blok, the trillers "Psychopath" (1966), "Garden of Torture" (1967), "House where blood flows" (1970), "Psychorybole" (1972).
The world of the movie has never absorbed Blokh, he remained faithful to literature, invariably glad the fans with barking stories. Even in the trial of life, he did not reassure his feather. The author was important to complete the story. Therefore, the novels "Psycho-2" (1982) and the "House of Psychopath" (1990) appeared. The latter completed not only the trilogy, but also a series of "big" works of flea, and at the same time his bright literary career.
Death
Biography of Robert Bloch ended on September 23, 1994. The author met his 77th birthday. By that time, he struggled with oncology for many years, which was the cause of death.The body of Robert Bloch was cremated, and the dust buried at the Vsytudsky cemetery in Los Angeles, California, under the stove, like a book. Judging by the photos, I found the last shelter and Eleanor Alexander. She died on March 7, 2007, surviving a spouse for 13 years.
Bibliography
- 1936 - "Cemetery Horror"
- 1943 - "Your friend Jack Ripper"
- 1947 - "Scarf"
- 1951 - "Hungry House"
- 1956 - "Nightmare in the night"
- 1958 - "Train to hell"
- 1959 - "Psycho"
- 1962 - "Couch"
- 1967 - "Live Dead"
- 1972 - "The Kingdom of Night"
- 1974 - "American Gothic"
- 1982 - "Psycho-2"
- 1990 - "House of Psychopath"