I found this rather-battered 1960 paperback - over 50 years old! - at the Used Book Superstore, and nabbed it for the Based on the Book bookbox. (The book is in fairly bad shape but I was charmed by its cover and age, and with a little patching up it should hold for a few more readings.) It's a movie-tie-in edition for the classic 1960 film, which still has considerable impact!

Many of the elements in the book wound up in the film, but there were some changes, notably the switch from a rather pasty middle-aged Norman to the nervy-but-cute Anthony Perkins version. [The story was partly inspired by the real-life crimes of Ed Gein, who was more of the middle-aged/pasty type, but I can't say I regret the change!]

The story of a quiet, ordinary sort of person who turns out to be a monster may not seem new now, but when it came out it wasn't something that occurred to people that often. I admit I hadn't read the book until after I first saw the movie; I think that the changes in the sequence of events and character-viewpoints in the film were a huge improvement, but the book has its own creepy charm...

[There's a TV Tropes page for the film and its sequels, but beware of spoilers - not all are masked.]

This book's going into my Based on the Book bookbox, with this book serving as the bookbox journal. The box will be on the way to the first participant soon. Enjoy!