Psycho
Ratings35
Average rating3.7
15
Ratings35
Average rating3.7
She was a fugitive, lost in a storm. That was when she saw the sign: motel – vacancy. The sign was unlit, the motel dark. She switched off the engine, and sat thinking, alone and frightened. She had nobody. The stolen money wouldn’t help her, and Sam couldn’t either, because she had taken the wrong turning; she was on a strange road. There was nothing she could do now – she had made her grave and she’d have to lie in it. She froze. Where had that come from? Grave. It was bed, not grave. She shivered in the cold car, surrounded by shadows. Then, without a sound, a dark shape emerged from the blackness and the car door opened. Psycho is not a tale for queasy stomachs or faint hearts. It is filled with horrifying suspense and the climax, instead of being a relief, will hit the reader with bone-shattering force.
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We've all seen the movie, right? Well, the novel lends some interesting background to Norman's story. (Actually, the backstory is used in Psycho IV: The Beginning - cut me some slack, I watched in the Olden Days when you had to make due with what was on TBS to while away a Saturday afternoon!), and made much clearer to me Mary/Marion's motivations. It's also just a fun, quick guilty pleasure of a read.
Bloch's story is a weird collision of pop psych freakshow, character study, and Columbo-style murder mystery, with a soupcon of salacious material that probably had many boys hiding this under their mattresses in the '60s. But mostly it works, driven largely by Norman and Lila's characters. Like the film, the book wraps up with the odd doc-splaining of Norman's history and condition, which falls pretty flat, but being in Norman's head for much of the story is equal parts intriguing and repellent - but always interesting.
Definitely recommended, and the audio book was very well done - the reader does a great job at presenting the characters and accentuating the tension in the story.
I feel like this concept was huge for the time period, but lackluster for the current one. there was no question about the “plot twist”, it was an assumption/given from the beginning. (Perhaps I remembered the plot subconsciously from somewhere? But I have never watched the movie, so who knows..)
I thought I had read this before but now I think I merely started it when I was a teenager but never finished it (I remember my parents had a Reader's Digest abridged version of it). It's very similar to the movie with a few differences. Most notably Norman Bates' physical appearance and how the book starts with him rather than Mary (Marion in the film). If you're a fan of the film, it's definitely worth reading and if you're not a fan of the film, what's wrong with you?
Finally got around to reading this and totally loved it. A fast paced horror/thriller that had me captivated until the end. Highly recommended.
Featured Series
3 primary books4 released booksPsycho is a 4-book series with 3 primary works first released in 1959 with contributions by Robert Bloch and Chet Williamson.
