Stephen Rebello

A gripping behind-the-scenes look inside the classic suspense shocker—and the creative genius who revolutionized filmmaking.

First released in June 1960, Psycho altered the landscape of horror films forever. But just as compelling as the movie itself is the story behind it.

Stephen Rebello brings to life the creation of one of Hollywood’s most iconic films, from the story of Wisconsin murderer Ed Gein, the real-life inspiration for the character of Norman Bates, to Hitchcock’s groundbreaking achievements in cinematography, sound, editing, and promotion. Packed with captivating insights from the film’s stars, writers, and crewmembers, Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho is a riveting and definitive history of a signature Hitchcock cinematic masterpiece.

In the months I spent researching this book—conversing with the gifted, generous men and women who actually created "Psycho," studying Alfred Hitchcock's decades-old personal notes, sketches, annotated screenplays, specifications for music cues—not only did it feel to me as if "Psycho" were being filmed right that minute but also that I was witnessing the full force of Hitchcock's genius at the height of his powers. The sensation was that powerful, immediate and exciting. My hope is that readers will feel a bit of what I did during the research and writing, that of being a time-traveler privileged to witness the birth pains of a ferocious and monumental piece of pop cultural history.

I'm passionate about the art and commerce of moviemaking. For this book, I knew that I wanted to detail every aspect of the making of a particular Hitchcock film, one that upended my childhood ideas of what a moviegoing experience could be. "Psycho" didn't just startle, entertain and terrify me. It burned itself into my consciousness. Haunted my dreams. Took me into the heart of darkness. The movie never leaves me and, today, as I work with talented and creative people turning the book into a dramatic feature motion picture, "Psycho" looms as an even larger aspect of my creative life.

• Anthony Perkins

  "Marvelously researched and irresistible." —Anthony Perkins, star of Psycho

• Richard Schickel

  “One of the best accounts of the making of an individual movie we’ve ever had.”—Richard Schickel, Time film critic

• The Washington Post

  “Will inform cineastes and indulge Psychomanes.”

• The New York Times

  “Meticulous history of a single film production.”

• Sunday Telegraph

  “Joyously entertaining.”

• Leonard Maltin

  "[A] landmark book."—Leonard Maltin, film critic 

• Newsweek

  “Fascinating.”