The selected stories of Robert Bloch Book

As always, Bloch is a skilled writer. However, too many stories in this anthology hit too similar a note... setup and then a twist! Haha! The technique gets old by the end of the book, and thus this collection is best read one story at a time, over time, as opposed to all in one sitting. Doled out in smaller portions, like vitamins, the stories are a lot more enjoyable.

A lot of the plots will seem a little too "familiar" and predictable to horror fans, but to give Bloch credit where it's due, they were a lot more original at the time he wrote them.

As Bloch was a member of the Miskatonic Round Table, as it were, any collection of his writing must contain at least two stories of a Lovecraftian bent for fans of that genre. This collection is no exception, but the inclusions are more in flavor than in a dictionary of the Cthulhu mythos, and in face are subtle enough to name no names other than an offhand reference to R'lyeh.

Favorites of mine:

* Betsy Blake Will Live Forever: I really liked this one's ending. You could see the plot twist coming a mile away, but the last few lines really made the story work for me.

* The Baldheaded Mirage: A simple science-fiction horror story, but the stark images it evokes stayed with me long past the end.

* A Matter of Life: If this wasn't a Twilight Zone episode, it really should have been.