
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, September 25, 1994                   TAG: 9409260052
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: D-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES                                LENGTH: Short

ROBERT BLOCH, AUTHOR OF 'PSYCHO,' DIES

Robert Bloch, a master of fantasy and horror whose novel ``Psycho'' became the classic Alfred Hitchcock film, died Friday. He was 76.

Bloch died of cancer of the liver and esophagus, said his longtime friend, writer Harlan Ellison.

Bloch wrote more than 400 stories, more than 20 novels and dozens of film and television scripts. Many of his stories have been adapted for radio, TV and film and won him numerous awards.

``The death of Robert Bloch closes that door on the Golden Age of fantasy writing,'' Ellison, himself a noted writer, said. ``He is always listed as among the masters of imaginative literature.''

Although he wrote fantasies, mysteries, essays and humor, Bloch is best remembered for his chilling psychological suspense novels, which helped inspire such modern writers as Stephen King, whom he befriended.

His ``Psycho'' was filmed by Hitchcock in 1960. The story of a demented hotel owner who stabs his guest and talks to his mummified mother shocked audiences and became a classic.

by CNB