High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Robert Albert Bloch (April 5, 1917 – September 23, 1994) was a prolific American writer, primarily of crime, horror and science fiction. He is best known as the writer of Psycho, the basis for the film of the same name by Alfred Hitchcock. He many times remarked that he had "the heart of a little boy", quipping "I keep it in a jar on my desk."