The American novelist Robert Bloch stunned readers with his 1959 thriller Psycho which spawned numerous films and a television series.
According to the description,
Norman Bates loves his Mother. She has been dead for the past twenty years, or so people think. Norman knows better though. He has lived with Mother ever since leaving the hospital in the old house up on the hill above the Bates motel. One night Norman spies on a beautiful woman who checks into the hotel as she undresses. Norman can't help but spy on her. Mother is there though. She is there to protect Norman from his filthy thoughts. She is there to protect him with her butcher knife.
This is one of the most well-written thrillers that I have read. Having seen Alfred Hitchcock's movie adaption, I did know what was coming. That being said, I was still shocked by Norman's bizarre relationship with his mother and how he seems to, at times, stand up to her. Other times, he caves to her demands and acts like a child. Hearing his thoughts was a different experience than simply observing them on the silver screen and that made the novel a cut above.
Bloch truly made Norman Bates a selfish, but ultimately terrifying foe that sends shivers down your spine. If you were a reader who has not seen the movie, you would not see what is coming in the climatic showdown.
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