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Post by sean on Jul 30, 2008 10:56:44 GMT
(Many thanks to Dem for a copy of this!) Could have sworn I've seen a thread about this, but I must of dreamed it... American GothicFirst published 1974 (Tor 1987)  BLURB:
'Only the author of Psycho could outdo in creepy horror the gothics of past and present. The reader will be gripped by the terror the Castle generates.'
- Publishers Weekly
The Castle.
It looms darkly over the streets of modern Chicago. Its stone walls conceal a maze of secret passageways and hidden rooms, private laboratries and concealed trap-doors.
The Castle is home to G. Gordon Gregg, physician - murderer. His victims are young, beautiful, wealthy women. His methods are swift, scientific, and painless, his crimes perfect.
Until a newspaper reporter becomes suspicious. Investigating Dr Gregg, Crystal finds herself falling in love with the charismatic surgeon, despite the danger.
It is that love that seals her doom. For what G. Gordon Gregg loves, he kills.
Well, this was a pleasant enough way to spend a few hours, although I have to say that it isn't one of Bloch's best novels. His thrillers tend to take two directions: in one kind you are made aware who the killer is from pretty much the start, and the fun is in watching the net close in, in the other everybody is a suspect, and the plot only untangles in the last chapter or so. This (like The Dead Beat for instance) is one of the former. Apparently American Gothic is loosely based on (perhaps better to say 'inspired by') the case of a chap called Herman W. Mudgett, who went by the name H. H. Holmes. There's an interesting wiki article about him here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Webster_MudgettThe book starts with Gregg disposing of his wife, by chloroforming her and setting it up so it looks like a drunken accident in which the body is burnt by an upturned lantern. Then he's off, picking up an insurance cheque from Jim Frazer, fiance of Crystal, the reporter who knows something, somewhere is amiss. A victim or so later, and Crystal has managed to lose Jim his job with her suspicions when she discovers that the woman Gregg supposedly wishes to marry (conveniently 'absent') is to receive a cheque from the estate of a dead relative. And where is his previous secretary? Crystal decides to pose as a neice of Gregg's dear departed wife, and (with the wavering support of her newspaper boss) is soon ensconsed in the weird castle, checking round for secret passages and the like as the mystery unravells... |
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Post by dem bones on Jul 30, 2008 11:08:48 GMT
Here's a cover scan and blurb from a UK edition. Robert Bloch - American Gothic (Star, 1975) A terrifying New novel by the author of PSYCHOBlurb: The time is 1893, the scene the Chicago World's Fair with its technical exhibits of a new century's marvels, electricity, the telephone and telegraph.
Nearby a multi-turreted castle owned by G. Gordon Gregg (Pharmacist) is used as a hotel by Fair tourists. No-one noticed anything unusual about the disappearance of some particularly beautiful guests ... no-one that is save Crystal whose curiosity and ambition led her step-by-step into Gregg's dark world of ghastly invention. I've been enjoying a mini-Bloch fest too, although it's probably best I leave Terror (more Kali-Thuggee mayhem) and The Kidnapper (one of his very best: put me in mind of Jim Thompson first time around) alone for the time being as yes, he certainly gets samey. I was surprised how much i enjoyed revisiting Psycho 2 though, 'specially as it bored me to distraction on first acquaintance. |
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Post by sean on Jul 30, 2008 12:00:42 GMT
Yeah, funnily enough I gave 'Psycho 2' another go after reading the posts about it here, and enjoyed it more than I had done in the past. I must be getting old, though, 'cos I found the scene where Norman Bates shags a dead nun to be more shocking now than I did first time round!
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Aug 29, 2013 17:38:42 GMT
Well, this was a pleasant enough way to spend a few hours, although I have to say that it isn't one of Bloch's best novels. His thrillers tend to take two directions: in one kind you are made aware who the killer is from pretty much the start, and the fun is in watching the net close in, in the other everybody is a suspect, and the plot only untangles in the last chapter or so. This (like The Dead Beat for instance) is one of the former. Apparently American Gothic is loosely based on (perhaps better to say 'inspired by') the case of a chap called Herman W. Mudgett, who went by the name H. H. Holmes. There's an interesting wiki article about him here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Webster_Mudgett That perfectly sums up my take on Bloch's American Gothic, as well. For me, it didn't have nearly as much impact as The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson's 2003 nonfiction work about H. H. Holmes and the 1893 World's Fair. Here's the cover of my copy (the 1974 Fawcett Crest), which I prefer to both the Tor and Star covers. It has a Paperback Library Gothic feel to it, which fits the tone of the book surprisingly well. |
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Aug 29, 2013 18:34:13 GMT
It has a Paperback Library Gothic feel to it With one important difference, though. One crucial detail is missing. You know what I am talking about, right? |
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Aug 29, 2013 18:48:39 GMT
It has a Paperback Library Gothic feel to it With one important difference, though. One crucial detail is missing. You know what I am talking about, right? Hmm. I'm going to go with "missing the solitary lit window in the castle" (or "Murder Castle" in this case). |
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Aug 30, 2013 7:41:50 GMT
Exactly!
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Aug 30, 2013 16:51:35 GMT
All of this reminds me that I should track down a copy of Victoria Holt's The Legend of the Seventh Virgin, also published by Fawcett Crest. I hear that it's good. |
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Aug 30, 2013 17:01:13 GMT
It is excellent. Holt is very good in general, actually.
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