Robert Bloch - Blood Runs Cold

[sean]

First published 1963

Corgi edition from 1964:


BLURB (outside and in):

13 is, for some, an unlucky number. Others will take the risk of reading the thirteen ironic, macabre, psychopathic, supernatural - and just plain murderous stories in this book (Robert Bloch wrotee PSYCHO - as if you could ever forget!)

BLOOD RUNS COLD (Or if it doesn't, you can't blame Mr Bloch. - Sunday Times)
__________

Thirteen short, sharp stories - murder, mystery and SF - by the author of PSYCHO. Bloch says he has the heart of a small boy, and keeps it on his desk in a bottle. Which tells you what to expect.
- Daily Herald

Witches' brew of horror tales.
- Time and Tide

As nice a melange of murder, irony, outright humour and surprise as you are ever likely to find between the covers of one book... packed with suspense and imaginative power. How does he ever sleep at nights?
- Australian Post


Contains:

The Show Must Go On

Daybroke

The Masterpiece

I Like Blondes

Where the Buffalo Roam

Is Betsy Blake Still Alive?

Word of Honour

Final Performance

The Gloating Place

The Pin

I Do Not Love Thee, Dr Fell

The Big Kick

Sock Finish
__________

Seems like this one leans towards crime / non-supernatural tales - looking forward to getting my teeth into it!

[dem bones]

Belated birthday greetings, Sean!

Thanks ever so for posting this - haven't seen that creepy cover before, but I've read a number of the stories in other Bloch collections: from what I remember, you're in for lashings and lashings of murders with, possibly, a smidgen of Sci-Fi!

[sean]

Yeah, this is a good collection. Its always nice to encounter some new (well, new to me) Bloch stories.

The Show Must Go On
A flash-fiction piece, almost. Unfortunately, it is impossible to say anything about it without dropping a bloody great spoiler.

Daybroke
The aftermath of nuclear war, Bloch-style. A rich man has wisely built a shelter, and wanders through the devastation in a radiation-proof suit. The sights he sees take up most of the tale, which ends in a depressing and infuriating conversation with an American general.

Splendid stuff.

The Masterpiece
A painter plots revenge on the artist's model who leaves him for another. Contains spiders.

I Like Blondes
An old man picks up a blonde girl at a dance hall and manages to get her to accompany him home.
Starts like a serial killer story but swerves into SF for the final twist.

Where the Buffalo Roam
Post-apocalypse time again, in an America which has returned to something like its pre-colonisation state, inhabited by small groups living in the manner of the earlier native americans. Unfortunately, a rocket full of the descendants of survivors on the moon return, with plans to return the earth to its old technological state...

Is Betsy Blake Still Alive?
Over to Hollywood for this one, the story of a press campaign for a presuambly dead actress's last film. Much to the irritation of the press man, she turns up alive and well at just the wrong time...

Word of Honour
A dentist flies over a city, dispersing a truth-gas - with varied results. Pretty funny, this one.

Final Performance
A writer ends up in an out of the way motel, ran by an aging former vaudeville performer and a young woman, who asks him to rescue her. Their escape does not go to plan.
This story has the best ventriloquists dummy ever - a recently killed human with a big hole cut in the back for the operators arm.

The Gloating Place
A teenage girl cries wolf about an attacker, then gets caught up in the web caused by her own lies, and falls foul of a copycat criminal.

The Pin
Death is found in an attic rented out to a young artist. He selects his victims by sticking a pin into phone books and census lists and the like.

This one is a gem. Almost a companion piece to Ray Bradbury's 'The Scythe'.

I Do Not Love Thee, Dr Fell
A man finds himself in the odd position of believing he is his own psychiatrist in this strange split personality story.

The Big Kick
Blimey, Bloch didn't like the Beats much, did he? Ah well, he manages to get revenge on two of them in this piece. Like his novel, 'The Dead Beat', this one has loads of cats and squares and hep dialogue.

Sock Finish
A silent-film comedian is brought back for a role in a new film. Unfortunately, his scenes are cut to pieces, so, whilst filming his final appearance, he also has his revenge.

[dem bones]

I don't have a copy of Blood Runs Cold but eight of the stories were recycled over two Del Rey collections, Such Stuff As Screams Are Made Of (1979) and the author's own selection, The Best Of Robert Bloch (1977)

Robert Bloch - The Best Of Robert Bloch, (Del Rey, 1977)

Paul Alexander

Introduction: Robert Bloch - The Man Who Wrote Psycho - Lester Del Rey

Yours Truly, Jack The Ripper
Enoch
Catnip
The Hungry House
The Man Who Collected Poe
Mr. Steinway
The Past Master
I Like Blondes
All On A Golden Afternoon
Broomstick Ride
Daybroke
Sleeping Beauty
Word Of Honor
The World-Timer
That Hellbound Train
The Funnel Of God
Beelzebub
The Plot Is The Thing
How Like A God
The Movie People
The Oracle
The Learning Maze

Author's Afterword: "Will The Real Robert Bloch Please Stand Up?"

Quite a bizarre mix of horror, SF and fantasy, but this includes the killer piano storyMr. Steinway, Enoch and The Man Who Collected Poe that form the basis of the Amicus movie Torture Garden.

[dem bones]

Robert Bloch - Blood Runs Cold (Popular Library, 1962)

The Show Must Go On
The Cure
Daybroke
Show Biz
The Masterpiece
I Like Blondes
Dig That Crazy Grave!
Where The Buffaloes Roam
Is Betsy Blake Still Alive?
Word of Honor
Final Performance
All On A Golden Afternoon
The Gloating Place
The Pin
I Do Not Love Thee, Dr. Fell
The Big Kick
Sock Finish

Blurb:
DANGER!
Let the weak of heart beware. Contained herein is a witch's brew of terror and depravity fiendishly designed to make your blood run cold
PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK!
Robert Bloch, prizewinning author of PSYCHO plumbs depths of horror never before reached by the rational mind.
BEWARE!
The lush dancehall blonde waiting for a pickup, the eager-beaver Bright Young Man looking for his break, the beatchick hustling for a new kick, the washed-up vaudevillian sitting in a lonely motel -
These people aren't what they seem. They are fiends, and their victims, waiting for the monstrous game to begin ....
DO NOT READ AT NIGHT!
'Same kind of Grand Guignol shudders as in PSYCHO' - New York Times

Dig That Crazy Grave!: (Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, June 1957 ). Professor Talmage, writing a book on the Jazz Cult ("an interesting sociological development"), takes girlfriend Dorothy Daniels to see JoJo Jones' band play the Mirror club. Dorothy is mightily taken by the music, less so by JoJo himself.

"This cat loves his pad. I don't howl and prowl until the cool of the evening."
Dorothy leaned forward. "I don't mean to be rude, " she said. "But why do all you musicians talk that way?"
"Stock arrangement. Like the cheaters and the hairdo. Give the square his share. " JoJo's eyes met hers. "You dig me?"
"I dig you," Dorothy said. "The most."
"Like for real?"
"I dig you," Dorothy said, "enough to know that it's all a silly, stupid act. You're a grown man and a great musician. You don't need to wear a loud jacket and crop your hair and hide your eyes behind horn rims. You don't have to hide your thoughts behind this Juvenile Jive Jargon either. Why do you do it?"
"For a kick, chick, Strictly for kicks."

Getting their kicks is the raison d'être of JoJo and his dreadfully pale, suspiciously youthful looking band, who must certainly are not only in it for the money. Sucked in by the beat, Dorothy is easy prey for the combo. who effortlessly lures her into their world of wild music, drug abuse and .... vampirism.

The Masterpiece: (Rogue, June 1960). An impoverished French immigrant peddling paper flowers and shoelaces to the Buenos Aires in-crowd reveals the dark secret behind his finest moment, Girl With Flowers, as displayed in the Louvre.

Show Biz: (Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, May 1959). Instead on wasting millions on grooming the next Presidential candidate, why not hire a professional actor instead? Bloch a few decades ahead of his time on this occasion.

[andydecker]

It is sad that there never was a complete Bloch collection. Like the two book collection of J.G.Ballard's sf stories. It would have been fun.

There are a few collections of course, but they are either unobtainable or a bit narrow in their focus. For instance there was a three volume edition by Underwood Miller in 1990 which omitted most of his early Weird Tales contributions.

[Jojo Lapin X]

Dec 30, 2019 19:06:22 GMT andydecker said:

It is sad that there never was a complete Bloch collection.

I believe I have somewhere something claiming to be the first volume of the complete short stories of Robert Bloch. I always assumed there actually were further volumes, just that I was unable to find them.

Edit: Some further investigation reveals that there are in fact two more volumes in the series, but even so it is far from being the complete Bloch.

[cromagnonman]

Jojo is referring to the Citadel Twilight paperback editions of the Underwood-Miller SELECTED STORIES volumes that Andy mentioned. According to Bloch's intro to THE EARLY FEARS these were retitled 'COMPLETE' without his knowledge or consent. This may have some bearing on why the second and third paperback issues are extremely difficult to obtain.

Speaking personally, I'm kind of glad there never has been a collected short stories volume. Its been an ongoing source of fun for me scoring through story titles listed in the Flanagan bio-bibliography as and when I stumble across them. Even with half a shelf full of Bloch story collections and original anthologies there remain loads of unaccounted for stories. And even if I was lucky enough to have things like the Subterranean volumes SKELETON IN THE CLOSET and THE FEAR PLANET plus the three volume LOST BLOCH set it still wouldn't impact the omissions greatly. Collecting Bloch's short stories is a hobby that has happily immersed me for years. But I'm still no closer to finding that copy of Mammoth Westerns with "Chinaman's Chance" in it.   

[cauldronbrewer]

Dec 31, 2019 21:28:29 GMT cromagnonman said:

Jojo is referring to the Citadel Twilight paperback editions of the Underwood-Miller SELECTED STORIES volumes that Andy mentioned. According to Bloch's intro to THE EARLY FEARS these were retitled 'COMPLETE' without his knowledge or consent. This may have some bearing on why the second and third paperback issues are extremely difficult to obtain.

Speaking personally, I'm kind of glad there never has been a collected short stories volume. Its been an ongoing source of fun for me scoring through story titles listed in the Flanagan bio-bibliography as and when I stumble across them. Even with half a shelf full of Bloch story collections and original anthologies there remain loads of unaccounted for stories. And even if I was lucky enough to have things like the Subterranean volumes SKELETON IN THE CLOSET and THE FEAR PLANET plus the three volume LOST BLOCH set it still wouldn't impact the omissions greatly. Collecting Bloch's short stories is a hobby that has happily immersed me for years. But I'm still no closer to finding that copy of Mammoth Westerns with "Chinaman's Chance" in it.   

A while back I made an effort at assembling a complete collection of Bloch's short stories (insert "The Man Who Collected Bloch" joke here). I even found copies of Skeleton in the Closet and Volume 2 of the Lost Bloch series, along with Volumes 1 and 2 of the "complete" paperbacks, but I never got around to adding The Fear Planet, the other two Lost Bloch books, or Volume 3 of the Citadel Twilight series.

[dem bones]

The Show Must Go On: (Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine, Jan. 1960). A bed-hopping actor has far more immediate matters to attend than sticking around to be shot by Livvie's outraged father.

The Cure: (Playboy, Oct. 1957). Jeff, Mike and Marie, a knock-out nightclub singer, holed up in the Brazilian jungle after pulling off an audacious heist. The mosquitoes are driving them bats, Marie murderously so. Jeff comes to regret informing a young native that the gal needs to visit a head-shrinker.

I Like Blondes: (Playboy, Jan. 1956). Mr Beers is a hobbyist from outer space with an appetite for a certain type of gal. This is bad news for Shirley Collins, a dancer at the Dreamwing pick-up joint.

Word of Honor: (Playboy, Aug. 1958). Mad Dentist Dr. Lowenquist hires a plane and dusts the city in concentrated truth gas - with the result that those exposed to the spray are no longer capable of lying. Will nobody stop the irresponsible fool before he brings about the collapse of the entire social structure?

[dem bones]

By my reckoning, this pair are best-of-book contenders.

Daybroke: (Star Science Fiction, Jan. 1958). He's among the survivors of a nuclear strike. Wandering the streets in a radiation suit (he had long planned for this inevitability), he takes in the sites of a devastated city. Braving looters, he eventually arrives at a Government building where things are already recovered to a business-as-usual level. Bloch tone alternates between curiosity, exasperation, misanthropy, and sorrow, though he doesn't seem especially angry (visualising a pile of dead teen hoodlums and bobbysoxers probably cheered him up). The punchline is one of his grimmest - and best.

Plenty of pop culture references among the sick jokes. The survivor chances upon the corpses of a fat man who died ogling a Marilyn Monroe calendar (his wife lies naked in the bath still clutching a copy of a movie magazine with Rock Hudson on the cover). The streets are littered with 'Presley records,' padded bra's, book-of-the- month bonus selections, a lone Ivy league cap and, lying in the gutter, "a big cardboard cut-out of Harry Belafonte obscured by a spilled can of hot fudge."

The Gloating Place: (Rogue, June 1959). Desperate to steal Tom Reynolds from his steady date Marjorie before Prom Night, Susan Harper, fat, spotty attention seeker, fabricates an attempted rape by a masked man in canvas gloves. Marjorie revels in the attention - until a local tragedy relegates her story to a tiny column in the press. Maybe if her imaginary assailant were to molest Marjorie ....

Hadn't realised until now that the British editions (Robert Hale, Corgi) lack The Cure, Dig That Crazy Grave!, Show Biz and All on a Golden Afternoon.

[andydecker]

Another one to put on the list.

As always a great and helpful summary, Dem!

[dem bones]

Thanks, Andreas.

Sock Finish: (Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Nov. 1957). Artie Ames was a slapstick star of the 'twenties whose career flat-lined with the arrival of the talkies. Three decades on, he's invited to reprise his trademark custard-pie-throwing routine in nostalgia movie, The Good Old Days. The publicity team contrive a romance between himself and female lead Miss Swivel-hips, except Artie isn't in on the gag. When he proposes marriage, she of the 39-inch bust laughs in his face, whereupon Artie resolves to end both their careers with a bang.

Bloch pining for the 'twenties as usual. Unlike Presley, Beatniks, Hell's Angels, press agents, big-titted "actresses" and trendy post-war folk in general, the Jazz musicians, comedians, vaudevillians of his youth were genuinely talented. And don't get him started on those there new-fangled "psychiatrist" fellers! "It were better in my day," "We had nothing, but we were happy," "You never heard us bemoaning our lot." Grumble, seethe, gripe, complain, etc.

I Do Not Love Thee, Dr. Fell: (Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, March 1955). "You're the first of the new maniacs!" Clyde Bromely, publicity officer, is so used to fabricating stories on behalf of his clients that he no longer has a handle on reality. His personality crumbling, Clyde consults a psychiatrist - or does he?

Is Betsy Blake Still Alive?: (Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Apr. 1958). The death of enigmatic screen star Betsy 'Miss Mystery' Blake is manna from Heaven to avaricious publicity ghoul Jimmy Powers, who intends to ruthlessly exploit his beloved client for every last cent. He's have gotten away with it too, if some drunken old bag hadn't shown up to ruin everything!

[Swampirella]

I became a Bloch fan last month after enjoying most of these stories you summarize so well in "Final Reconings" & "Bitter Ends" from the Arch*ve last  month. Thanks for bringing back "old" memories! If anyone's interested, "The Complete Stories of Robert Bloch Vol. 2" is the same as Bitter Ends, but without the wait-list. They also have several of his other works such as "Night of the Ripper" & "Three Complete Novels".

[dem bones]

All on a Golden Afternoon: (MF&SF, June 1956). Bloch does Lewis Carroll, with Eve Eden, troubled Hollywood star, following Alice down the rabbit hole. Eve has come into contact with Professor Laroc, professional dream-pedlar ("I sell experiences. And the experiences are every bit as real as anything you know"). Eve so loves her adventures in Wonderland that she agrees to pay Laroc $500,000 to quit the movie industry and live there permanently. Eve has long been a patient of Dr. Prager, psychiatrist to the stars, who, furious at the prospect of losing his meal ticket, angrily denounces Laroc as a phoney. There's only one way to find out ...

Where the Buffalo Roam: (Other Worlds, July 1955). Shortly before the outbreak of atomic war, man colonised the moon. Now a rocket ship lands in the American wasteland. Captain Buckton and his crew bring joyous tidings to those few survivors of the nuclear winter who have since settled into a life of abject uneducated bliss. Man is returning home to deliver them from the "barbarism" of peaceful co-existence - and this time, he'll get it right! "We won't repeat our mistakes. We've learned the errors of democracy. Men have become civilised at last!" Another good 'un, share's the pessimistic outlook of Daybroke though this time Bloch tacks on a happy, hippie ending. "No races. No creeds. No money. No taxes, No war, No economic problems. No greed, no intolerance, no worship of dollars or machines. Just freedom and plenty for all. That's barbarism. Also happiness."