Psycho Robert Bloch

One of the most influential horror novels of the 20th century, Psycho by Robert Bloch is the shocking story that ushered in the dawn of the slasher genre.

Forty-year-old Norman Bates is a shy, overweight recluse who lives at home with his domineering mother; a mean-tempered, puritanical old woman who forbids him from having a life apart from her. Together they run the small Bates Motel in Fairvale, where business has suffered ever since the state relocated the highway. It’s the kind of place hardly anyone ever stops at anymore. 

Enter Mary Crane, a beautiful young secretary who has impulsively stolen $40,000 from her boss, hoping her boyfriend can use it to pay off his debts so they can finally get married. As she flees town en route to her boyfriend Sam, Mary accidentally turns off of the main highway and finds herself at the Bates Motel where there are plenty of vacancies. Soon, Mary Crane will meet Norman. She will meet Mother, too. And she will grapple with the gravity of the crime she has committed as she comes to realize the cutting truth—that we all go a little mad sometimes. 

Originally published on April 10, 1959, The New York Times called the novel “icily terrifying.” The seeds Bloch planted with Psycho grew into horror staples: the serial killer, the isolated location, the butcher knife, the shower and the shocking twist ending. The voyeurism displayed in the novel created a potent combination of terror and titillation that would also become a mainstay of the genre. Throughout his opus, Bloch subtly pairs contrasting elements, fusing them into iconic imagery. The soft, matronly style of Norma and the cold steel harshness of the weapon. The old Victorian house and the neon glow of the modern motel. By pairing opposites, Bloch is constantly hinting at disassociation, toying with the reader like a cat with a mouse. The gothic and the modern. The softness and the steel. The beauty and the brutality.

In 1960, Psycho was adapted into a feature film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The director famously bought up every copy of the book he could get his hands on so that no one would know the ending, resulting in very few first editions existing today. Often ranked as one of the greatest films in cinematic history, Psycho is currently #14 on AFI’s list of the Top 100 movies, and #5 on the Top 100 All-Time Greatest Movies list by Entertainment Weekly. In 1992, the Library of Congress deemed the film “culturally, historically and aesthetically significant” and selected it for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. As Hitchcock himself stated in one of his last interviews, “Psycho all came from Robert Bloch’s book.”

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About The Editions

The signed limited edition of Psycho by Robert Bloch is presented in three states: Artist, Numbered and Lettered. The editions measure 6” x 9” and feature six color illustrations by Gregg Kreutz, a new exclusive introduction by Joe R. Lansdale, and a dust jacket illustration for the Artist edition by Paul Mann. The editions include a frontispiece portrait of the author with a facsimile signature. The Numbered and Lettered editions are signed by Joe R. Lansdale, Gregg Kreutz and Paul Mann, and the Artist edition is signed by Gregg Kreutz and Paul Mann.

All editions are printed letterpress from hot metal type cast in Linotype Garamond with display type and titles hand set in foundry Garamond. The editions are printed on handmade Velké Losiny, mouldmade Somerset Book and Mohawk Superfine papers by Scott Vile at The Ascensius Press in Buxton, Maine.

The Artist edition is limited to 750 copies, and is the only edition to include a dust jacket illustrated by Paul Mann. It is a smyth-sewn, quarter cloth binding with Zanders Elephant Hide paper covering the boards. The spine and cover are foil blocked, and the binding design is inspired by the first edition book cover. The dust jacket is double-sided featuring a licensed version, on the reverse side, of the famous first edition dust jacket originally designed by Tony Palladino. The edition is housed in a slipcase wrapped in Japanese metallic paper with cloth ends and is printed letterpress from metal type on Mohawk Superfine. This edition is signed by Gregg Kreutz and Paul Mann.

The Numbered edition of 250 copies is a quarter goatskin binding with Japanese cloth sides which are foil blocked. The edition includes a color fold-out of the Artist edition dust jacket illustration by Paul Mann. Endsheets are printed from a custom design for this edition, and the book is housed in a four flap enclosure covered in Japanese cloth and lined with red velour. The edition is printed letterpress from metal type on mouldmade Somerset Book and is signed by Joe R. Lansdale, Gregg Kreutz and Paul Mann.

The Lettered edition is limited to 26 copies and is full goatskin Bradel binding with an embossed cover. Headbands are leather wrapped and endsheets are hand marbled for this edition by Claire Guillot in France. A color fold-out featuring the Artist edition dust jacket illustration is included. The edition is printed letterpress from metal type on handmade Velké Losiny paper. This historic paper mill in the Czech Republic was founded in the late 16th century and continues to produce handmade paper to this day. The edition is housed in a clamshell enclosure covered in two colors of Japanese cloth and lined with a luxurious velvet-like material. It is signed by Joe R. Lansdale, Gregg Kreutz and Paul Mann.

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Matching Numbers & Letters

A Matching Pre-Order email is sent to owners of our previous publication, The Amityville Horror with a designation of 1-250 at 9:00 A.M. PT on the day of announcement. If you did not receive the email, contact us here. If your order is not received before the deadline, your designated number or letter will be assigned to the new owner.

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Order Limits

Please be aware of the order limits for our editions. You can read more about this in the Order Limits article on our support site.

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Illustrations by Gregg Kreutz