Psycho is a 1959 horror novel by American writer Robert Bloch. The novel tells the story of Norman Bates, a caretaker at an isolated motel who struggles under his domineering mother and becomes embroiled in a series of murders. The novel is considered Bloch's most enduring work and one of the most influential horror novels of the 20th century. The story was adapted into Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 film of the same name, and adapted into the television series Bates Motel (2013–2017). Bloch later wrote two sequels, which are unrelated to any of the film sequels