From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Robert Albert Bloch (April 5, 1917 – September 23, 1994) was a prolific American writer, primarily of crime, horror and science fiction. He is best known as the writer of Psycho, the basis for the film of the same name by Alfred Hitchcock. He was also known as an excellent standup speaker with a wry sense of humour. He many times remarked that he had "the heart of a little boy", quipping "I keep it in a jar on my desk." 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. H. P. Lovecraft was Bloch's mentor and one of the first to seriously encourage his talent. Bloch was a contributor to pulp magazines such as Weird Tales in his early...read more