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Robert Bloch Inspiration Analysis
dob: 4 April 1917 published: 1959 Nurture vs. Nature
Chicago, IL Ed Gein Oedipal Complex
dod: 23 September 1994 Theory of Suspense Psychosexual Development
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The horror, or gothic, genre has its roots in the 17th century novel Castle of Otranto, written by Horace Walpole. This thrilling novel of the times spurned a new growth in the genre that dominated the literary times, which remains so today. Every year new horror and thriller movies are created for the public's insatiable hunger for a good scare. However, those produced today do not resemble those of the past, where the thrill was in investment of the audience's sympathies and fears instead of simple jump scares and gore fests of today.
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Robert Bloch, author of Psycho was a product of this former generation. His novel of most renown, Psycho, has characters able to bend the audience's sympathies and relies on subtleties and psychological twists to thrill the reader. Even more, his novel characterized a new subgenre of gothic, one without supernatural elements, giving a realistic view point for the audience; everything that happens in the book is done by regular people, which means they could happen to any of us in real life. Bloch's serial killer novel inspired many others to write about serial killers in their own way, whether they are based on real events or of the imagination.
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This entertaining aspect also incorporates specific themes: the current climate of pop psychology of Sigmund Freud. Freud's Oedipal complex and theories on psychosexual development were becoming incredibly popular among the public during the time of Psycho's creation. Bloch undoubtedly used these theories to build the character of Norman Bates, which created an interesting case study for the audience and their current interests.
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Hitchcock's movie adaptation of the film gave the novel its necessary filter to view the novel's aspects in its true light of horror. While remaining true to most of the novel, with some changes to grow his vision of the film, Hitchcock produced an essential classic that highlighted the themes and issues Bloch inferred in his novel. The added visual dimension of the film only gave opportunities to add conceptual interest. Hitchcock is also noted to have used various sources of inspiration to draw upon, such Edward Hopper. The overall mood Hitchcock created in his cinematic piece is true to the novel, and adds elements which further the text into its translation into film.
horror.
Horace Walpole is credited for the creation of the gothic, or horror genre, with his novel The Castle of Otranto. The popularity of his work paved the way for a slew of other gothic authors, growing out of the woodwork as the years passed and still continuing today. The supernatural elements and melodramatic drama plays on the audience's worst fears: the fears of the unknown supernatural and mythic forces that or may not govern our lives, death, tragedy and cruelty. The tragedies and horrific events that occurred are a shock to the audience, who wondered if these things could happen to them as well.
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Even so, thrill is a tricky thing to translate into text. In order to maximize the horrific in a situation, a certain level of mystery must remain. The most important part of the scare in an audience is the level of imagination involved. When the scary thing is left unsaid, the imagination runs to fill in the blanks. The most horrific is thought of, and the author's job is completed in creating the scariest thing the mind can imagine, he or she let's the audience do the imagining.
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Eventually, the subjects of terror in this genre changed as the public's interest changed. The rise in interest of serial killers provided the opportunity to budding authors of the genre to incorporate new real-life tragedies into their stories. Robert Bloch was a man who saw this opportunity. In various stories of his, of which the most notable is Psycho, Bloch drew on serial killers such as Jack the Ripper and Ed Gein. These new stories hit closer to home than supernatural stories ever could, as these deeds were committed by regular people. Regular people in stories did things that regular people in real life could, as the fictional characters are drawn from real life. The knowledge of watching something happen to someone else that could happen to you deepens the thrill of the horror genre.
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