Review: The Skull of the Marquis de Sade by Robert Bloch

 

I haven't read many of Robert Bloch's stories, I found this one in the book "TerrorVision" from Valdemar publishing house. I was surprised how fluid it is and how Bloch keeps the interest in that man with such strange tastes and that particular skull.

As the title says, this story tells us about a strange event. The protagonist likes to collect weird and creepy things. For example, as soon as the story begins, we see that he is holding in his hands a book made of a woman's human skin. 

At that moment a strange man arrives, he is one of his "suppliers" who brings him an object difficult to match, it is the skull of the Marquis de Sade himself. Of course, the protagonist does not believe him at first, especially when he notices that the seller lowers the price too quickly and easily.

However, he will keep the subject on his mind. 

Not to mention that there is something very strange about that skull. Something that causes nightmares and brings bad luck. 

At one point this story reminded me of Robert Louis Stevenson's "The Bottle Im", as everyone who came into possession of the skull later wanted to get rid of it.

As obvious as it may be, I think it's good to mention that to fully enjoy this story you need to know who Sade was, and why his skull has so much negative energy. I don't claim to be an expert on this gentleman's life, but to know minimally who he was.

Robert Bloch surprised me in his facet as a storyteller, without a doubt he is a talented man.

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💀The Monkey's Paw by W. W. Jacobs

💀Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell

💀The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde

💀Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley