It was a dark and stormy night when Mary Crane glimpsed the unlit neon sign announcing the vacancy at the Bates Motel. Exhausted, lost, and at the end of her rope, she was eager for a hot shower and a bed for the night. Her room was musty, but clean, and the manager seemed nice, if a little odd.
This classic horror novel, which inspired the famous film by Alfred Hitchcock, has been thrilling people for fifty years. It introduced one of the most unexpectedly-twisted villains of all time in Norman Bates, the reserved motel manager with a mother complex, and has been called the "first psychoanalytic thriller."
"Icily terrifying!"-New York Times
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...
The new Bates Motel is a tourist attraction, a re-creation of the infamous murder site, and the developers are already counting their profits. But there's a new exhibit that nobody expected: the bloody corpse of a teenage girl crumpled in the front hall, stabbed to death. Among the avalanche of press and publicity is reporter and true-crime book writer Amelia Haines, who is studying the original Psycho killings. To her, the new murders are a golden opportunity; if she can become part of the investigation, perhaps track down the killer herself, then her fame and fortune will be assured. But catching the madman won't be easy: the town is full of suspects, and Amy's best informants keep turning up murdered. If she isn't careful, Amelia Haines may become the next permanent guest at the Bates Motel.
"Bloch's superb storytelling skills, combined with his masterful use of tension and suspense, make for excellent reading."-School Library Journal
You remember Norman Bates, the shy motel manager with the fatal mother fixation. Now, years after his horrific bout of butchery, Norman is at large again. Breaking free from the psycho ward, he cuts a shocking swath of blood all the way to Hollywood-where, it so happens, they are making a movie about Norman's life and crimes. A movie that suddenly and terrifyingly becomes a lot like real life.
"Perhaps the finest psychological horror writer…and never in finer form."-Stephen King
Earth may be our home but the future lies beyond this reality. In X Minus One we are transported to new worlds, new times and new adventures. Science Fiction and science fact are perhaps two views of the same thing. What your minds are about to witness - and take part in - may be a dimension too far. Your safety cannot be guaranteed. If you have any doubts turn back before it's too late....Countdown sequence initiated.......
