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    Psycho
    Psycho
    Psycho
    Audiobook (abridged)3 hours

    Psycho

    Written by Robert Bloch

    Narrated by William Hootkins

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    When the Bates Motel looms up out of the storm, Mary Crane thinks it is her salvation. The rooms are musty but clean. The manager, Norman Bates, seems like a nice enough fellow, if a little strange. Then Mary decides to take a shower and the nightmare begins...
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherThe Copyright Group
    Release dateJan 1, 2014
    ISBN9781780003399
    Psycho

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    Reviews for Psycho

    4/5

    886 ratings42 reviews

    What our readers think

    Readers find this title to be a great read with fantastic narration. The plot is solid and elegant, and the dynamics of power and the final twist are loved by readers. The book is described as scary and creepy, with a depiction of the bad side of humanity. The construction of the characters, especially Norman Bates, is appreciated. Overall, readers recommend this book, even if they have seen the movie, as it adds a new dimension to the story.

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      Wow this book was intense. Honestly I had to remind myself I wasn't enjoying a Stephen King novel. It has all the thrill, excitement, twists, etc. I know, I know, it's a classic and I have no excuse for having not read it before now. It's just when I normally think of classics I think of Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, and the Bronte sisters. Well, anyway this book is spooky and exciting, and I completely recommend it, especially if like me, you've never bothered to watch the movie. This was an incredibly fun experience for me.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      spectacular, one of the best books I´ve read this year, amazing story
    • 5/5
      Came very late to this gem but loved it . Full of twists, great character insights and psychology! Such an original story! Very well narrated too
    • 4/5
      I was lucky in the sense that I never saw the movie so I went into this fully blind. My god, that was creepy!!!!!!
    • 3/5
      I wish I had enjoyed this more. I really tried hard to imagine what it would have been like for the original readers back in 1959, but I am just too familiar with the movie and story for this to have worked for me. In one of those rare cases, the movie follows the book almost exactly so I just couldn't feel the suspense from the novel knowing exactly what was going to happen. There are small differences between the two such as a scene taking place somewhere else and events not quite happening exactly the same way. Two major differences are that Norman Bates in the book is a fat 44yo man! Quite a difference from the scrawny, slightly effeminate Anthony Perkins version. Secondly, the final events of the climax unravel a bit differently, but with the same results. The book and movie even end with the exact same line. What the book really gave me an appreciation for though is the current show I've been watching, "Bates Motel". The dialogue between Norman and his mother in the TV show is much more like the book's, more nasty and sexual than in the Hitchcock movie.This is well-written though and I've read a lot of Bloch's short stories to appreciate him as a horror writer. I just think the book is going impress people who are much less familiar with the plot than I. I do envy someone reading the book before seeing the movie.
    • 4/5
      The book is always better. This one is absolutely case in point. And to be fair, I like the Hitchcock film. But the book is always better.
    • 5/5
      A great story! Even if you think you know the story via pop culture osmosis, I’d strongly recommend reading the original story from beginning to end. It’s a fast-paced story, made even better by the fantastic narration. I really cannot stress how great both the storyline ~and~ the narrator are for this audiobook
    • 5/5
      Norman Bates was a chubby alcoholic with glasses? Amazing the impact of seeing the movie first has on expectation. The narrator was awesome. I’m a 44 year old man and got chills on some parts. Great read!!!
    • 3/5
      3.5/5.

      the movie (psycho, 1960) is better than the book imo but overall it was a good read.
    • 5/5
      Scary scary scary. I loved the way Norman was constructed and the inner monologue was truly terrifying. I loved the dynamics of power in the way the mother was depicted and loved even more the final twist. I believe humans are capable of incredible things, both in the good and in the bad and here is a great depiction of what the bad can look like.
    • 4/5
      re-read.

      better than the first time. psycho (1960) is still better, tho.
    • 5/5
      awesome, if you like the movie the book is a must both are great
    • 4/5
      I was reading this book and thinking, "Wow, this is all so eerily familiar? Have I read a similar book before? Maybe this was made into a movie somewhere along the line? Maybe it's just a derivative work of another great novel?"

      Regardless, this book should totally be made into a movie. I could almost picture certain scenes in my head while I was reading along. Maybe black and white would be fitting for this film. Maybe that shower murder scene could really be made into something unforgettable. So much potential. Too bad Hitchcock isn't around anymore. He would've been a good one to adapt this novel into a film.
    • 5/5
      Beautifully constructed and William Hootkins adds dimension with his voice acting. Well worth a listen even if you've seen the film or the television series.
    • 4/5
      William Hootkins does a Norman Bates that is almost too good.
    • 5/5
      What a terrific book: spare and precise without one wasted word. Has seeing the movie helped? A little, although the Norman here is quite different from Anthony Perkins. Personally, I think Perkins (and Hitchcock) did a fabulous job with Norman’s portrayal. Regardless of whether you’ve seen the movie, though, you should give this a listen. I just knew appreciated Bloch’s achievement.
    • 3/5
      3.75/5
      Predictable but would recommend if you have a few hours free. An enjoyable short read with FANTASTIC narration, a classic.
    • 3/5
      I bet this was pretty exciting if you read it before the movie was made. The trouble now however is that every bit of this book is common cultural knowledge. I've never even seen the movie, but it turns out that I know the entire story. Unfortunately that means that all the truly original and intriguing bits have no bite, and the flaws really stand out.Also worthy of consideration is its troubling representation of transpeople and individuals with mental illness.
    • 4/5
      “I think perhaps all of us go a little crazy at times.”When Mary Crane stops for the night in a tiny, obscure little motel she thinks nothing of the odd but seemingly nice manager Norman Bates. All she’s concerned about is getting cleaned up and resting before she sees her fiancé the next day. The two are going to finally be able to start their life together after Mary stole $40,000 from her employer. Unfortunately, things don’t go according to plan for Mary Crane.Psycho is one of those mandatory readings for any horror fan and while this one isn’t completely terrifying, it’s realistic enough to get under your skin. Norman Bates’ character is in fact based off a real life murderer, Ed Gein, who in the 1950s killed two women but dug up the graves of many women in order to practice human taxidermy. When police searched his house, things like a wastebasket made of human skin and bowls made from human skulls were found. Bloch didn’t have Norman Bates share the obsession with human taxidermy, however, both men did have a strange obsession with their mothers. The victims Gein dug up were said to all resemble his own mother. Bloch did an impeccable job at introducing Bates as a sympathetic character. He’s been misguided his entire life by his overbearing mother who constantly instilled a belief in sin and that women are nothing but evil. The man is a murderer yet is he worthy of the sympathy felt? Quite the moral conundrum.‘Mary started to scream, and then the curtains parted further and a hand appeared, holding a butcher’s knife. It was the knife that, a moment later, cut off her scream.And her head.’Personally, I hadn’t even seen the film before reading this so shockingly enough I went into this completely oblivious to the truth behind the story. What a fantastic twist.. even if I did see it coming. Bloch’s writing is incredibly fluid and despite the time that has passed since its original publication manages to read without the feel of a classic. It’s a shame that Bloch didn’t write more horror novels but I’m definitely going to have to seek out some of his short stories.
    • 5/5
      The narration is terrific. The novel is as urgent and suspenseful as the movie. One thing one has to admire is the way Robert Bloch built this plot. Is as solid and elegant as anything you have ever read. No wonder we are still fans of these characters.
    • 5/5
      What can you say? The best of the psycho people books out there.
    • 4/5
      This is not the Psycho movie. It's hard not to judge the book by the Alfred Hitchcock movie and it's hard not to cast the actors from that movie in the novel, though clearly Anthony Perkins is not the Norman Bates of the novel.

      The novel takes its time building up, and while its a slow start, it's worth the time investment because Bloch carefully paints a very clear picture throughout the novel of who Norman Bates really is. As I read this, I could clearly see the novel's influence on Stephen King, especially in his novel The Dead Zone.

      What I didn't know was that Bloch had written a couple of sequels to this. Now I'm going to have to see if I can find them.
    • 4/5
      Just as intense as the movie!
    • 3/5
      This was just ok. It doesn't have the same character development and suspense that the movie adaptation does. One of the few cases where the movie is better than the book.
    • 4/5
      The problem with reading a book after seeing a movie is constantly comparing the visual medium with the written. In the case of Psycho, the movie is so ingrained in the pop culture consciousness generally, and my mind specifically, it was impossible to read Bloch's psychological mystery fresh. And that's a shame, because it's a very good book with a nice twist.

    • 5/5
      Roughly three decades after my first viewing of Hitchcock classic cinematic adaptation of Psycho, I finally managed to get around to reading the original source material. Having lived through so many sequels, prequels, remakes, and re-imagined takes on Hitchcock’s original film, it’s almost a struggle to read Robert Block’s novel without letting the cultural impact of what is now an entertainment franchise influence the experience. Luckily, Bloch’s Psycho has an inherent timeless built into the deviant catalyst of its story, despite how dated other elements of it might be over a half-century later.The Norman Bates of the novel is different than the lanky, awkward cinematic persona made famous by Anthony Perkins, but many of the differences are understandable when translating informative text into informative visuals. Bloch’s Norman is overweight and middle-aged, potentially an alcoholic (his alcohol consumption is actually linked to violent appearances of “Mother”) and in addition to his taxidermy hobby he is an avid reader. In fact, Bloch uses Norman’s library comprised of metaphysical, historical, pornographic, and occult tomes to paint a more complex psychological profile that doesn’t necessarily replace his oedipal issues with his mother, but at the very least lends a bit more reasoning to some of his delusions and behaviors.Of special importance to any true crime fan is Bloch’s two references to Ed Gein, whose grave-robbing, necrophilia, and eventual killing of a local woman five years earlier inspired countless horror novelists and filmmakers, Bloch included. First there is the opening of the novel, in which Norman is reading about native tribes turning a corpse into a weird kind of body drum, which is a spin on Gein’s fascination with stories of shrunken heads. Then there is the direct mention of Gein at the end, in which it is stated that news coverage of the events at the Bates Motel were fueled by comparisons to Gein’s crimes. Reading a book you already know the details of can be a challenge, but Bloch’s writing is straightforward and engaging, and there are enough differences between Bloch’s text and Hitchcock’s vision to keep the narrative fresh for those of us looking back. The most intriguing aspect to me of Bloch’s novel was the inclusion of an epilogue that involves an evolution of Norman’s psychosis that would have resulted in a totally different franchise if Hitchcock had used it in his film.Long story short, it takes a great literary work to withstand the effect that cultural awareness can have on a reader already familiar with the story, and Bloch’s Psycho easily withstands this test. If you’ve seen the film but never read the book, you owe it to yourself to give it a shot.
    • 5/5
      Mary Crane steals $40,000 from her employer and drives away from her old life in Ft. Worth. Leaving behind her younger sister is difficult, but Mary desperately wants to marry Sam, her debt-ridden fiancee 800 miles away. If Mary can convince Sam that she's inherited the money, he'll marry her and she'll change her name and disappear forever. Mary has been careful about covering her trail so far, but if not for the rain, she wouldn't have made the wrong turn on the highway, the one that leads her to a little motel run by Norman Bates.
    • 5/5
      This is an awesome book. Even though it's around 60 years old and a super famous movie was made from it, it still kept my total attention.
    • 4/5
      This is a very entertaining novel whose only problem is that people who have watched Alfred Hitchcock's movie version will not be able to enjoy the surprises.
    • 4/5
      I wrapped up my “month” (it was more like six weeks) of horror reading with Robert Bloch’s Psycho. Full disclosure: I only saw Psycho the movie for the first time last winter. And I didn’t even realize, until a few weeks ago, that it was based on the book by Robert Bloch, which in turn was inspired by the extremely creepy Wisconsin murderer and grave robber Ed Gein.The story begins with Mary, a young woman who takes refuge in a hotel one rainy night. She is on the run after stealing a large sum of money from her employer. Norman Bates, the owner of the hotel, invites her up to his house for a quick dinner, during which she comes to realize that Norman has a very strange sort of “mama’s boy” relationship with his mother. Disturbed by an outburst from Norman, Mary retreats to her hotel room, where she is later murdered while taking a shower. But this is only the beginning of the horror.03-psycho-screenChances are, if you like horror (or Hitchcock) movies at all, you’ve seen Psycho. But in case you haven’t, I won’t spoil it for you. What you need to know about the book is that Norman Bates is a very, very disturbed man. It was fascinating to get inside his mind–he is in turns confused, psychotic, and semi-lucid, so it’s difficult but fun to guess what exactly is going on. His relationship with his mother is extremely messed up and manipulative. And Norman himself can be very violent.I definitely recommend this as a creepy (but not too scary) horror book. It’s a quick read packed with mystery, morbidity, murder and psychosis. I definitely enjoyed it more than I did the movie.