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The Lost Bloch #2
The Lost Bloch Vol. 2: Hell On Earth
The Lost Bloch explores the "missing" novels of Robert Bloch -- written for the pulps in the 1940s and '50s, seldom reprinted, overlooked because they were rarely collected or offered in book form. Each volume contains one or more such "lost" works in addition to several novella-length stories of equivalent vintage. ItemIntroduction by Douglas E. Winter ItemAfterword by David J. Schow Item"Hell on Earth" Item"Once a Sucker" Item"The Miracle of Ronald Weems" Item"It's a Small World" The Limited edition is signed by David J. Schow & Douglas E. Winter.
300 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2000
About the author
Robert Bloch
1,108 books1,328 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 - 5 of 5 reviews
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February 10, 2018This hardcover is copy 1208 of 1250 printed.
February 28, 2024
"Would you go to hell for $100,000?" asked Professor Keith. "Brother," replied horror writer Guy Roberts, "just show me the money and tell me when the next rain leaves." This is the story of three people who raise the Devil...and their own Hell on Earth."
Is the pitch. A group of charecters (professor, the fantasy writer, and the love interest) attempt to summon satan, do so, and the inevitable disasters occur. Then they have to figure out enough magic to send satan home.
Other than Satan Morphing to the eye of those who witness him? I'd skip it. It was published in Weird Tales, March 1942, this was one of Robert Bloch's less published tales some claimed was forgotten. Likely for a reason.
2/5 No atmosphere, forced characters, tries to be both horror, adventure and pulp while achieving none of the above.
Is the pitch. A group of charecters (professor, the fantasy writer, and the love interest) attempt to summon satan, do so, and the inevitable disasters occur. Then they have to figure out enough magic to send satan home.
Other than Satan Morphing to the eye of those who witness him? I'd skip it. It was published in Weird Tales, March 1942, this was one of Robert Bloch's less published tales some claimed was forgotten. Likely for a reason.
2/5 No atmosphere, forced characters, tries to be both horror, adventure and pulp while achieving none of the above.
August 20, 2012
Subterranean Press’ 2nd offering in “The Lost Bloch” series, this volume has contents that are bound to gratify admirers of Bloch’s unique style of writing, but, consider it as a strictly personal opinion, I found them not entirely “enjoyable”. The contents are:
• ‘From Here, I Can See Four Blochs’: a solid introduction from David J. Schow full of interesting bibliographic informations & trivia.
• ‘Lost and Found’: introduction to the works included in this volume, by Douglas E. Winter.
1. Hell on Earth: an entertaining novella about the attempts made by scientists to, literally raise hell, and its consequences.
2. The Miracle of Ronald Weems: this novella begins in its typically ‘Bloch’-ian way, where mundane & absurd mixes with utter irreverence and complete relevance, but the laughs were enforced, and the ‘adventure’ experienced by the protagonist closer to nightmare than a dream.
3. It’s a Small World: a very dark tale of wizardry and events that might entwine ordinary men, women and children.
4. Once a Sucker: this novella was the precursor of Bloch’s later novel ‘Spiderweb’, and, despite its incorporation of the more traditionally supernatural elements (which had been replaced by hard-boiled stuff in the later work) once again I was struck by the utter cynicism & darkness that pervades this work, which truly aspires to become the exploration of a tortured mind, but completely lacks the finesse that characterise jewels like “Psycho”.
• ‘Twice a Sucker’: David J. Schow recounts the path traversed by ‘Once a Sucker’ to become ‘Spiderweb’.
• Slightly More than Another Hour with Robert Bloch: transcript of another witty, informative, and evocative session conducted by Joe Straczynski & Larry DiTillio.
Overall, I found the works contained in this volume to be darker and less funnier than that encountered in the 1st volume. As I have stated earlier, I have a rather strong preference for Bloch’s pun-ridden works, rather than the darker & grittier stuff. Hence, no recommendation on my part, but that shouldn’t stop you from reading the works.
• ‘From Here, I Can See Four Blochs’: a solid introduction from David J. Schow full of interesting bibliographic informations & trivia.
• ‘Lost and Found’: introduction to the works included in this volume, by Douglas E. Winter.
1. Hell on Earth: an entertaining novella about the attempts made by scientists to, literally raise hell, and its consequences.
2. The Miracle of Ronald Weems: this novella begins in its typically ‘Bloch’-ian way, where mundane & absurd mixes with utter irreverence and complete relevance, but the laughs were enforced, and the ‘adventure’ experienced by the protagonist closer to nightmare than a dream.
3. It’s a Small World: a very dark tale of wizardry and events that might entwine ordinary men, women and children.
4. Once a Sucker: this novella was the precursor of Bloch’s later novel ‘Spiderweb’, and, despite its incorporation of the more traditionally supernatural elements (which had been replaced by hard-boiled stuff in the later work) once again I was struck by the utter cynicism & darkness that pervades this work, which truly aspires to become the exploration of a tortured mind, but completely lacks the finesse that characterise jewels like “Psycho”.
• ‘Twice a Sucker’: David J. Schow recounts the path traversed by ‘Once a Sucker’ to become ‘Spiderweb’.
• Slightly More than Another Hour with Robert Bloch: transcript of another witty, informative, and evocative session conducted by Joe Straczynski & Larry DiTillio.
Overall, I found the works contained in this volume to be darker and less funnier than that encountered in the 1st volume. As I have stated earlier, I have a rather strong preference for Bloch’s pun-ridden works, rather than the darker & grittier stuff. Hence, no recommendation on my part, but that shouldn’t stop you from reading the works.
June 8, 2007
A little too cheesy. Four novellas, all high spirited, but only the first one where the Devil comes down to earth held me. My favorite Bloch writing is in the short story form and a couple of his suspense novels like The Scarf and The Couch. And then of course there's.........Psycho.
August 12, 2013
Interesting writer. Interesting stories although somewhat wierd.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews