Psycho: An Inner Sanctum Mystery.

BLOCH, Robert.

$9,800.00

Item Number: 124949

New York: Simon and Schuster, 1959.

First edition of this classic thriller novel, the basis for Alfred Hitchcock’s film. Octavo, original half cloth. Association copy, lengthily inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, “For Philip José Farmer, a gentleman, and a scholar – with best wishes to all three of you- and hopes that this example will be of help when you come to your write your autobiography Fondly Robert Bloch 1967.” The recipient, award-winning author Philip José Farmer, is widely considered one of the greatest and most distinctive science fiction writers of the 21st century. Revered for his eccentric style of crossover fiction that reworked the lore of a plethora of celebrated pulp heroes and literary figures, he received three Hugo Awards and three lifetime achievement awards and is critically recognized as the first writer to break the taboo on sex in science fiction literature. Although he is best known for his horror novel Psycho, Bloch began his writing career as one of the youngest members of the Lovecraft Circle, emulating Lovecraft and his brand of “cosmic horror”. He was a contributor to pulp magazines such as Weird Tales in his early career, and was also a prolific screenwriter and a major contributor to science fiction fanzines and fandom in general, winning the Hugo Award in 1959 for his short story The Hell-bound Train. Near fine in a very good dust jacket. Jacket design by Tony Palladino. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. An exceptional association.

Psycho tells the story of Norman Bates, caretaker at an isolated motel who struggles under his domineering mother and becomes embroiled into a series of murders. The novel is widely recognized as Bloch's most enduring work and one of the most influential horror books of the 20th Century. The story was adapted into Alfred Hitchcock's seminal 1960 film of the same name, starring Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, John Gavin, Vera Miles, and Martin Balsam