Earlier this week the Associated Press reported on the death of [tag]Ira Levin[/tag]. Levin wrote memorably creepy novels that in turn became (generally Campy) iconic films. Most notably, [tag]A Kiss Before Dying[/tag], [tag]Rosemary’s Baby[/tag], [tag]The Boys from Brazil[/tag], and [tag]The Stepford Wives[/tag] (twice).

Levin’s page-turning books were once compared by Newsweek writer Peter S. Frescott to a bag of popcorn: “Utterly without nutritive value and probably fattening, yet there’s no way to stop once you’ve started.”

The AP obituary lacks one of my favorite (although possibly apocryphal) quotes about Levin’s insidiously clever plotting:

Stephen King described Levin as “the Swiss watchmaker of suspense novels”, adding: “He makes what the rest of us do look like cheap watchmakers in drugstores.”

Levin also wrote plays, some good ([tag]Deathtrap[/tag]), some not so good ([tag]Drat! That Cat![/tag]), and adapted [tag]No Time for Sargeants[/tag] from novel to play.