The classic chiller that inspired the spine-tingling Alfred Hitchcock film. Everyone was scared to death when they saw the movie Psycho. But before the film was even a glint in Alfred Hitchcock's eye, award-winning author Robert Bloch put real fear into the minds of readers with his unforgettable portrait of a very polite young man who proves that evil lurks just beneath a smile. When the Bates Motel loomed up out of the storm, Mary Craine thought it was her salvation. The rooms were musty but clean and the manager Norman Bates seemed like a nice enough fellow, if a little strange... Then Mary met Norman's mother - and the butcher knife. The nightmare had just begun...