Bitter Ends

A professional writer for more than half a century, Bloch has become a virtual fixture on the popular culture landscape. He has produced hundreds of stories in the science fiction, horror and mystery genres, novels, radio plays and screenplays, and is perhaps best known as the author of Psycho. Of those writers who began in pulp magazines and still remain active today, Bloch has stayed most true to his roots. Even his later stories have the crude punchy impact that denoted pulp writing. Never a stylist or a master of characterization, Bloch produces stories that provide the raw satisfaction of an uncensored subconscious fantasy made overt: fate is inexorable, often malicious, sometimes dealt out with an O. Henry twist. This three-volume set of 98 of Bloch's stories (the volumes are separately titled Final Reckonings, Bitter Ends and Last Rites) includes stories in each of the genres Bloch has worked in, neglecting the oft-reprinted in favor of the obscure and the previously unreprinted. Even long-time fans will find unfamiliar work here, and it's all pure pulp fun. (March)