Robert Bloch's forte is psychological horror. During a career as an author that has spanned fifty years, he has concentrated mostly on short stories, teleplays, and occasional novels. For a ten-year period, though, from 1962 to 1972, he was responsible for a series of modest but very effective suspense films.

Bloch, the son of Raphael A. Bloch and Stella Loeb, was born in Chicago, Illinois. An extremely bright child, Bloch skipped grades in a Milwaukee grammar school and at age fifteen was corresponding with veteran fantasy writer H. P. Lovecraft. He made his first professional sale at age seventeen to Weird Tales magazine. He has since written over 400 short stories, nonfiction articles, and radio, television, and movie scripts. He has received many awards and honors, including the Screen Writers Guild Award, 1960; the Mystery Writers of America Edgar, 1960; the Third Trieste Science Fiction Film Festival Award, 1965; the Ann Radcliffe Memorial Award...