The Night of the Ripper

De: Robert Bloch

Narrado por: Matt Godfrey

The author of Psycho takes on the famous unsolved slayings of Jack the Ripper!

Robert Bloch gave us fiction's most famous knife-wielding maniac in Psycho's Norman Bates, and in The Night of the Ripper (1984), this master of horror fiction offers his own unique take on history's most infamous unsolved murder case.

Whitechapel, 1888. A madman stalks the foggy streets, murdering prostitutes in acts of unimaginable horror and brutality. Two men – Frederick Abberline of the Metropolitan Police and Mark Robinson, a young American doctor – are determined to find the killer, but the list of suspects is a long one.

With the help of a supporting cast of characters that includes Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw, Arthur Conan Doyle, and the Elephant Man, the two sleuths must solve the puzzle before it's too late and the Ripper strikes again!

©1984, 2024 Estate of Robert Bloch (P)2025 Valancourt Books LLC

I can always count on Robert Bloch to deliver

I needed to read a good murder-mystery about a serial killer after the previous book that I read disappointed a bit. Enter one of my favorite authors, Robert Bloch, to the rescue. The Night of the Ripper gave me exactly what I wanted. This is a sold murder-mystery with twists and turns and several credible red herrings. Bloch does his research, and he follows the, Jack the Ripper timeline, the chief suspects, and some actual bizarre events that happened during the investigation. There are some historical characters here who add a bit of interest: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Oscar Wilde, and the Elephant Man, for example, that add a little depth to the story's historical setting, even if they don't really add much to the investigation. Bloch did his research on the case, and, more importantly, he recreates the gloom, the poverty, and the hopelessness of White Chapel. This novel is so atmospheric. I was fully immersed in the setting.

I can't say that I was ever on the edge of my seat while reading The Night of the Ripper, as one should be while reading a murder-mystery novel, but I was never bored. Bloch did put his own spin on the Ripper murders, and I found the idea pretty intriguing. If there was one flaw to this book it is that I did not find any of the main characters all that interesting.

That said, I can't wait to read more Robert Bloch. Thank you, Valancourt Books, for making vintage horror more accessible to modern readers.

Bloch Stalks the Ripper Again

Robert Bloch wrote several Jack the Ripper stories in his career from Weird Tales to Star Trek. This later novel is an engaging version of the real life murders and investigation.

Matt Godfrey does an excellent job bringing the work to life. Valancourt Books is doing classic horror fans a service by bringing more of Bloch’s work back into print.