ABSTRACT. Influenced, at the beginning of his literary career, by the outside supernatural horrors created by Howard P. Lovecraft, Robert Bloch changed his interest to the inner horrors often found in the minds of psychopaths or serial killers, but seldom evident in normal people. The modern embodiment of such abnormal characters is the loner Norman Bates whose normal everyday behavior hides his extremely dangerous multiple personality. pp. 31–72

Keywords: loner; solitude; horror; science fiction; Howard P. Lovecraft; Robert Bloch; multiple personality; psychopath; Norman Bates; Mother