I found a paperback of the 1971's psychological horror novel "The Other" by Thomas Tryon 12 or 13 years ago at a Salvation Army Thrift Store for 10 cents. I was more than thrilled at the time as I had seen parts of the 1972 film adaptation several times on AMC late at night in the early 2000s. To this day, I have never seen all of the movie, which, to me, seemed to be edited so badly that the story was extremely confusing. Thus, I wanted to read the book, and like many other titles I own, I never took out the time to actually read it.

Well, that's until I read the entire novel yesterday afternoon.

Set in 1935, the film centers around identical 13-year-old twins Holland and Niles Perry. Their father had died in an accident in the apple cellar on their family's farm earlier in the spring, which sent their mother into a deep depression. Their Uncle George and his wife, Winnie, are now taking care of the farm. Additionally, their pregnant older sister, Torrie, lives nearby with her husband, Rider, as well as their grandmother.

Despite the recent tragedies, Holland and Niles have seemed to move on with their lives by playing on the farm. However, the apple cellar has been locked up and it's off limits for everyone. Holland doesn't like to obey by the rules and removes the lock so they can play in there. As the summer rolls on, many accidents and deaths occur around the farm and all the evidence points towards Niles, who had somehow gotten ahold of the Perry family ring, which was supposed to have been buried.

Remember, this is a horror novel and things, including the dead, never stay buried!

Final Thoughts

Believe it or not there's a Psycho III that isn't titled Psycho III, and,no, I'm not referring to the 1986 horror sequel starring Anthony Perkins. Actually, I'm referring to Robert Bloch's third novel Psycho House.

Unlike the film franchise, which focused on the serial killer Norman Bates, author Robert Bloch killed off the character at the beginning of Psycho II (not the 1983 movie), so he pretty much ruined any chances of another sequel. However, that's not the case, as he published a third and final sequel, Psycho House, in 1990.

Psycho House centers around the fully-restored Bates Motel and "psycho" house being turned into a tourist attraction in Texas with animatronic copies of Norman Bates. Guess what happens shortly after the attraction opens?

Yep, a few murders occur that leads the public to believe either Norman Bates is alive or there's another copycat killer on the loose.

The story mostly focuses on Amy Haines, a nonfiction crime author who's researching her next novel, which is going to be about Norman Bates. Of course, as soon as she arrives at the Bate Motel attraction, the murders begin. With the help of Dr. Steiner (the psychiatrist from Psycho and Psycho II), Amy is determined to unmask the killer.

Final Thoughts

I don't recall if I had previously mentioned that I'm a big fan of Netflix's Stranger Things, which is a science fiction horror series full of '80s nostalgia.

At the beginning of the year, Del Rey released the first fictional tie-in novel, Stranger Things: Suspicious Minds, which is a prequel set in between 1969 and 1970. I knew the title was being released but due to life issues, it had slipped my mind until I ran across the book at my local library.

The novel centers around Terry Ives (a.k.a. Eleven's birth mother), who agreed to be a test subject for a top secret government experiment (code-named MKULTRA) at the Hawkins National Laboratory, which is operated by Dr. Martin Brenner. To her, it seems like an easy to way to earn money. However, something is a fowl at Hawkins Lab that will jeopardize the life of her unborn child.

Final Thoughts

One of the greatest horror sequels happens to be 1983's Psycho II starring Anthony Perkins. What many people probably don't know is that there's another Psycho II! Yep, Robert Bloch (the author of the original Psycho novel) wrote a sequel that was released in 1982. He had finished writing the book before Universal Studios had finished the screenplay for their sequel film. The sequels have two completely different plots. Robert Bloch's sequel is more of a satire about Hollywood gory horror films. The 1983 film involved Norman Bates being released from a mental institution and reenters society. Universals Studios didn't like Robert Bloch's sequel and desperately attempted to stop him from publishing it. They feared it would hurt their movie. Bloch went ahead with his novel and Universal Studios refused to invite him to any Psycho II screenings.

Robert Bloch's Psycho II is set 20 years after the original novel and during this time Norman Bates has been in a mental hospital receiving treatment for his multiple personalities, which seems to have finally been cured. However, after two visiting nuns arrive at the hospital, Norman snaps. He kills one of the nuns, puts on her hammock, and escapes in a van. The authorities finds the charred remains of the van along with two bodies - one female and one male, which the latter being believed to be Norman Bates.

Later, somebody goes on a killing spree, starting with Sam and Lilia Loomis in Fairvale. Then the killer heads to Hollywood, where a movie studio is making a movie about Norman Bates.

Has "Mother" returned to protect Norman again?

Final Thoughts

I believe I was eight or nine-years-old when I first saw the classic Albert Hitchcock's Psycho. It aired on a local channel so it was edited a bit. Nevertheless, I became a huge fan of the Psycho movie series at an early age.

For those of you who aren't already aware of this, Psycho was based on the 1959 novel of the same name by Robert Bloch, who would later go on to write two sequel novels, Psycho II and Psycho House. And, no, sequel books' plots were never used for the sequel films.

Psycho centers around an overweight 40-year-old Norman Bates who runs his mother's motel. On a late stormy night, a young beautiful woman, Mary Crane, arrives at the motel looking for a room for the night. Let's just say things to go to well for Mary as she's brutally murdered by what look likes Norman's mother, Norma.

Unknown to Norman, Mary had stolen $40,000 from her boss and now many people are searching for her, including her boyfriend - Sam Loomis, her little sister - Lila, and a private investigator - Milton Arbogast. All the evidences points Mary's whereabouts to Bates Motel!

Final Thoughts