# Another Guess the Story/Author **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 13, 2014, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-guess-the-story-author/695466 "2014-08-13T21:39:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-guess-the-story-author/695466/1 "2014-08-13T21:39:55Z")
OK, dopers. My turn. The story I’m trying to recall is; A young woman is interviewing an old man. He claims he was a serial killer in his youth but had to give it up because he couldn’t catch his prey any longer. For some reason I keep associating it with Robert Bloch, which makes no sense, because I’m almost positive he didn’t write it. Any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-guess-the-story-author/695466/2 "2014-08-13T23:46:20Z")
If the fellow killed Hitler, Stalin, and Bundy, you may be thinking of The Murderer by Lawrence Watts-Evans. If not, I’ve got nothing, at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-guess-the-story-author/695466/3 "2014-08-14T01:16:45Z")
No. The only person he kills in story is the girl. I remember him discussing being too feeble to fight and needing to use guile. He invites her into his house… And she goes. I also remember it was a short story ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-guess-the-story-author/695466/4 "2014-08-14T01:27:04Z")
> [@G0sp3l](#): > > No. The only person he kills in story is the girl. I remember him discussing being too feeble to fight and needing to use guile. He invites her into his house… And she goes. > I also remember it was a short story Ah. It does sound like Bloch or Frederik Brown, but I don’t know the specific story. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-guess-the-story-author/695466/5 "2014-08-14T02:25:18Z")
Your story might be Lawrence Block’s “Catch and Release.” ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-guess-the-story-author/695466/6 "2014-08-14T13:18:18Z")
It doesn’t sound like any Bloch or Brown story that I’ve read – and I’ve read a LOTY of Bloch and Brown (although, admittedly, bot all of them) ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-guess-the-story-author/695466/7 "2014-08-14T14:41:48Z")
> [@pinkfreud](#): > > Your story might be Lawrence Block’s “Catch and Release.” Not that either. But I still have to give you an assist 🙂 Searching for “Catch and Release” pointed me to Anthologies, which made me look at Bloch Anthologies. “_Interview with a Psycho_” written by Billie Sue Mosiman is in an anthology named _Psychos_ being edited by Robert Bloch before his death. Which is why his name was associated with it for me. Thanks. To the library! Well, actually, Amazon 😃 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-guess-the-story-author/695466/8 "2014-08-14T14:42:35Z")
FWIW, Robert Bloch wrote the _ **Star Trek** _ episode “Wolf in the Fold,” about Jack the Ripper\*, so he’s no stranger to serial murderers. \*I’m going to assume you knew that already. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-guess-the-story-author/695466/9 "2014-08-14T14:57:49Z")
Of course I knew that! Well, not the title of the episode. Or that Bloch wrote it. But definitely that the ep existed 🙂 It was season two of _Voyager_, right? 😃 Just think, if Bloch had kept writing for TOS he’d be a household name instead of a virtual unknown. And that Matheson guy. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-guess-the-story-author/695466/10 "2014-08-14T15:33:22Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > FWIW, Robert Bloch wrote the _ **Star Trek** _ episode “Wolf in the Fold,” about Jack the Ripper\*, so he’s no stranger to serial murderers. > > \*I’m going to assume you knew that already. 🙂 Bloch wrote quite a few “Jack the Ripper” stories. It was one of his interests, like Philip Jose Farmer with Tarzan. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-guess-the-story-author/695466/11 "2014-08-14T17:05:22Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Bloch wrote quite a few “Jack the Ripper” stories. It was one of his interests, like Philip Jose Farmer with Tarzan. Yes, the first Ripper story Bloch ever wrote (and one of his best) was _Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper_. In his autobiography, Bloch remarks that an oddity connected with the Ripper was that he had christened himself in his letter to a news agency signed ‘Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper’: \*This interesting little detail, although often recounted, had implications that others seemed to have overlooked. I was fascinated by the phrasing the murderer used for self-identification and upon due reflection, realized that these five words could constitute both the title and the plot of a short story.’ \* Of course it’s widely accepted now among Ripperologists that none of the letters Jack supposedly wrote to the press is genuine but that shouldn’t get in the way of a good story. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-guess-the-story-author/695466/12 "2014-08-14T17:07:43Z")
> [@G0sp3l](#): > > Not that either. But I still have to give you an assist 🙂 > Searching for “Catch and Release” pointed me to Anthologies, which made me look at Bloch Anthologies. > > “_Interview with a Psycho_” written by Billie Sue Mosiman is in an anthology named _Psychos_ being edited by Robert Bloch before his death. Which is why his name was associated with it for me. > > Thanks. > > To the library! Well, actually, Amazon 😃 Glad you found it - I might look for a copy myself… ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-guess-the-story-author/695466/13 "2014-08-14T17:14:41Z")
> [@G0sp3l](#): > > Of course I knew that! Well, not the title of the episode. Or that Bloch wrote it. But definitely that the ep existed 🙂 It was season two of _Voyager_, right? 😃 > > Just think, if Bloch had kept writing for TOS he’d be a household name instead of a virtual unknown. And that Matheson guy. **[Voice of Troi]:** I sense … hostility! 😕 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-guess-the-story-author/695466/14 "2014-08-14T17:16:11Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Bloch wrote quite a few “Jack the Ripper” stories. It was one of his interests. It is nice to have a hobby! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-guess-the-story-author/695466/15 "2014-08-14T22:16:44Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > It is nice to have a hobby! 🙂 Better writing about him than imitating him. Bloch used to quip that he wrote the way he did because he had “the heart of a small boy…I keep it in a jar on my desk.”