April 5, 1917: Robert Bloch is born.

Although he wrote loads of critically-acclaimed short stories, won a Hugo, a Bram Stoker, and a World Fantasy Award, Robert Bloch is still most widely known for writing the novel that inspired Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho.

So, obviously, in honor of Bloch's birthday, I shall point you back to my old post about Jack Gantos' The Love Curse of the Rumbaughs, which is wonderfully weird and could possibly be viewed as slightly sick and twisted, and, like Psycho, features characters who make taxidermy a family affair:

This is not a book for your young Joey Pigza fanatic. It’s definitely a book for people who are already familiar with the gothic genre, but also for older (I’d say at least teenaged) fans of the darker aspects of Polly Horvath’s The Canning Season. My guess is that two out of three readers will, at the least, find it disturbing. But that lucky third will love it for its delicious creepiness.

Such a great book. TOTALLY OUT THERE, and NOT FOR EVERYONE, but a great match for me.