Blog Archives
A Genuine Curiosity
Robert Stava Author Interview
The Nightmare From World’s End is a science fiction thriller that begins when various people go missing along a river and a mythical squid may be to blame. What was the inspiration behind the idea for this book and how did that change as you were writing?
It was two things, actually. The first was an offhand comment by my wife one day while we were having lunch along the Hudson River. It was something out in the water that I took a grainy photo (zoom lens) and it came out looking like the classic ‘Loch Ness’ hoax photo. She looked at it and said: “Oh, that’s Ossie!”. “Indeed it is,” I replied, and so it started. The second was a massive crate I discovered along the shore of the Hudson after a big storm. It looked like it had been underwater for some time. That’s how it usually works – something I saw here, a comment there.
Along with that was a genuine curiosity about the American Indians that once populated this area, which go back at least 8,000 years. For me it’s a fluid process of researching and letting it inform the story as it develops. For example, I’d had the concept of the ‘Crazy Jack’ character for years, but dismissed the name as a product of me watching too many movies or TV shows. So, I initially wrote a scene where the American Indian anthropologist – Sarah Ramhorne – is saying as much. Then I discovered (to my shock) that in Munsee/Lenape mythology, there really is an enigmatic trickster named ‘Crazy Jack’. The joke was on me.
Native American folklore around the Hudson River area is a relevant theme within the book. What was the inspiration to infuse such rich culture in this novel?
So little is written about it yet aside from local names – Wappinger, Kitchawank, Weckuaesgeek, Sint Sinck – almost nothing remains of it here. It’s like a ghost hiding in plain sight. Many of the local tribes here were wiped out completely within a couple decades of first contact – we don’t even really know what they looked like. That naturally piqued my interest.
Is there anything that readers connect with in your story that surprises you?
People seem to really be into the characters in this one. That and the American Indian history. A frequent comment I get is: “Is all that stuff true?”. As far as I know, yes.
Your story makes mention of the ancient alien theory. Why did you include this in your novel?
Mainly it was by accident. I was at a local Indian pow-wow researching the story when I ran into an American Indian vendor who in a confidential tone started going off about ‘lost technology’, Atlantis and how the Indians ‘really’ got here in spaceships and had forgotten it. I immediately thought “This is too rich, I have to work this into the novel!” Then it became a running joke through the story: what if some real phenomena was going on to one side while everyone in the story is focused on the hoax phenomena happening on the other?
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be published?
Currently writing another novel for Severed Press titled The Lost World of Kharamu. It’s an updated take on Michael Crichton and Arthur Conan Doyle themes. It’s due out later this year – stay tuned.
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Website
In the aftermath of a major hurricane, a massive antique crate washes up on the shore of Raadsel Point. It’s smuggled cargo from the wreck of the Edmund Wood, an unregistered transport returning from a very unusual expedition. . . a ship that went down in the deepest and most dangerous part of the Hudson known as ‘The World’s End’. The nightmare creature it contains is about to unleash havoc on the citizens of the sleepy river village of Wyvern Falls and inadvertently draw to it a predator thought extinct a millennia ago. It will come down to two people to figure out what both these creatures are and how to stop them: expat CID Detective John Easton and American Indian anthropologist Sarah Ramhorne. The two of them will have to unravel local Indian myths, outmaneuver a corrupt mayor, a failing Ancient Astronaut Theorist TV show and an overzealous Green Folk Festival if they are to stand any chance of saving the day.
Nightmare From World’s End
The Nightmare From World’s End, a science fiction thriller by Robert J. Stava, takes place in Wyvern Falls located along the Hudson River. The action begins when various people begin to go missing along the river. Members of the community are confused about the disappearances until it’s discovered that a giant squid-like creature is wreaking havoc, leaving carnage and even more questions in its wake. That’s not all to the story, however. There isn’t just one creature, there’s two!
A major player in the chaos is John Easton, a private detective, begins to unravel the history around the two creatures. Alongside him is Sarah Ramhorne, a strong-headed Native American archeologist who seems to hold some of the answers. Together they, along with others, try to unravel the story that surrounds these two mysterious creatures and put a stop to the death that has been taking place along the Hudson River.
This book is definitely a thriller that will have readers flipping through the pages wondering what will happen next. The author holds nothing back when he describes each vicious attack committed by the giant squid. Also, the tie-in with Native American culture within the book was handled well. It’s obvious that Robert J. Stava did his research on the tribes in the Hudson Valley area, and while the main purpose of his book was to thrill his readers with the tale of giant, murderous, perhaps ancient sea creatures, a secondary purpose was to provide them with a history of the area and enlighten the reader on Native American history.
Adding to this point, Native American folklore is very present and relevant within the piece. The leading lady, Sarah makes it a point to educate those that she encounters about the injustice done to the tribes within the area. The author doesn’t just place Sarah’s dialogue as disconnected rants within the piece; it all leads up to the climax the unfolds towards the end of the story. This is evident through the actions of Crazy Jack, a homeless Native American (and real folklore character), that contributes to the climax of the story by waking up the second creature that lives on the other end of the river from where the squid is attacking. Throughout the story, Crazy Jack is guided by the voices of his ancestors, telling him what must be done in order to bring an end to the death and carnage unfolding.
This book has a lot going on it in; sea creatures, Native American history and folklore, a private detective with a tragic past, ancient aliens, mind-reading, and even ghosts. You name it, and it’s probably in this book. At times, it was a bit too much, and a little disconnected for the reader. Especially, the bit on ancient aliens. It’s hard to see how Guillamo Del Tesler and his fanatical theories about the river monster being an ancient alien come into play. He’s brought to the area after Jennie Roderick, a half-witted archaeologist student, mails him some doctored petroglyphs that indicate an alien existence within the area. While this part of the plot is an entertaining aside to the major drama going on in the story, it was difficult to discern how it actually contributed to the overall plot, if at all.
Overall, the author tells a good story. The entwinement of sci-fi thriller with Native American folklore is unique and provides a sturdy foundation upon which to base the plot of the entire story. Regardless of a couple smaller story lines falling out of place within the book, it was an entertaining read.
Pages: 249 | ASIN: B01MQLLNM3
What if a Hoax Became Terrifyingly Real?
Robert Stava Author Interview
By Summers Last Twilight focuses on the nefarious work of the villain, Steven Crowley, who is building a secret cult. What was your inspiration for the cult that he is secretly building?
The cult was modeled after both the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and Aleister Crowley’s Thelemite order “A∴A∴”, the later which he co-founded in 1907. I also drew on Umberto Eco’s “Foucault’s Pendulum, which is a masterpiece on these types of cults and Hermetic Orders like the Rosacrutions. I leveraged their rituals & practices into the story as well as Crowley’s own teachings which were intriguing: to me it was as if it was all an elaborate joke/game to him, while at the same time he was truly searching for some higher mystical reality. Crowley may have been having us on, but he was exceedingly smart, if something of a lunatic. The ‘what if?” came in the form of “What if someone actually applied the techniques using current Quantum Physics theories…what if something that was half a hoax became something terrifyingly real?”
The Sacred Order of the New Golden Dawn comes back in this novel. Do you feel that you were able to explore all the chaos they can bring?
There was a conscious decision to be merciful to the reader and keep it under 300 pages. You could write volumes on this stuff.
I felt that the actions scenes of violence and mayhem were expertly crafted. I find that this is an area that can be overdone in novels. How did you approach this subject to make sure it flowed evenly?
Really? Now that’s a compliment! I can only tell you I try and write those parts cinematically, visualizing them like a choreographed movie scene. I find older movies where they relied purely on acting and directing useful for that, as opposed to most current ones that overly rely on CG effects and flashy editing.
There is a band of quirky characters through the novel that I enjoyed, especially CID detective John Easton. What was your favorite character to write for?
John Easton. When I originally conceived of the character, I knew I wanted a variation on the classic British Detective, but had no idea how to avoid the usual tired cliché’s. The answer provided itself on a red-eye flight to London when I found myself jammed into a seat next to this restless guy who turned out to be a CID Detective Superintendent from Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force. Something I’d never heard of or ever thought of before. He was going on leave after suffering a gunshot wound in the leg the day before and was half-zonked on Cabernet & Percocet to handle the pain. It was definitely a ‘Bingo!’ moment. We ended up in an engrossing conversation most the flight and I got a good piece of my character’s backstory effectively handed to me from the real McCoy. When I got to the hotel I couldn’t sleep so turned on the TV and the first image was a a movie with Callum Keith Rennie in it and thought, “Bingo #2 – and that’s what he looks like!”. Then it was a question of mixing in a few of my own traumatic experiences, a latent psychic ability (based on a woman I once dated) and a dash of the original James Bond and he pretty much stepped out of the pages ready to go. He’s a recurring character who pretty much writes himself – sorry I can’t explain that better – and since he’s a capable guy it’s I’m always curious how he’s going to get out of any particular mess I throw him in.
Author Links: Website | GoodReads | Facebook | Twitter
Some nightmares refuse to stay dead… In the sleepy Hudson River village of Wyvern Falls, something dark and corrupting has re-emerged from the shadows, a secret cult seeded by the infamous Aleister Crowley. A cult that was supposedly struck down on the eve of the Great Depression: The Sacred Order of the New Golden Dawn With them will come nightmares and chaos, opening portals to horrifying dimensions . . . By Summer’s Last Twilight. A new chapter in Horror has begun…
By Summers Last Twilight
By Summer’s Last Twilight is the latest novel from horror author Robert J. Stava, set in the deceptively sleepy New York state village of Wyvern Falls. The book continues a long line of Stava’s work set in Wyvern Falls, and as such contains a great deal of information that may not be clear to the newcomer reader. Characters emerge, engage, and disappear – or get killed, since according to Stava that’s his favorite thing to do in a horror novel – without much in the way of apparent rhyme or reason, though there is a core group of heros and villains to tie the story together.
The nexus of the plot focuses on the nefarious work of the villain Steven Crowley, the latest descendant in the line hailing from the Occult provocateur Alistair Crowley – the latter infamous for his no-holds barred orgies and invocations of arcane rituals. In this story, though, the orgies and rituals have a sinister metaphysical purpose, shattering the membranes that separate our dimension from that of maddening demons who want to feast upon our flesh and our very sanity.
Steven Crowley has managed to worm his way up to the top of this quiet little town, his arcane calculations proving that this town would be the optimal spot to perform his ritual. A hurricane late in the summer washes a body out into a tree, catching the attention of the local plucky teenage gang of racial stereotypes who inevitably get to the bottom of things.
A man named John Easton is the grown-up that helps them get to the bottom of this, facing off against snakelike thugs like Razor and Weatherman who seem more motivated by violence for its own sake rather than any kind of humanity, however perverse it may be. Easton has numerous torrid affairs – this book drips with explicit sex, if that’s your thing – all of which end in bizarre disaster and let him sort of elbow the reader and go “women, right?”
Easton’s affairs include a near-sexual encounter with the breathy 15 year old French girl which, while going uncompleted, remains the most horrifying event in the entire book. Women don’t really get to do too much in this book except be lovers or mothers or crazy ex-girlfriends or literal objects of sacrifice, but so it goes in the world of Wyvern Falls.
There’s plenty of violence too, which would be remiss of a horror book to forget. The violent scenes are some of the most lovingly crafted and passionately executed sections to be found, giving the book a clear claim to the genre.
However, there’s too much of everything else. The horrific moments of the book are few and far between, interspersed with vast sections where characters sit around and explain things to one another.
Such lengthy exposition can somewhat be forgiven, given the by-design arcane nature of the source material. Crowley’s cult drew upon vast swaths of information that would be unfamiliar to the average reader today (or indeed to anyone ever) and Stava does an admirable job with providing expository backstory through the several interludes that intersperse the main story line.
All in all, though, the book remains in its own little world – if you are the type of reader who already enjoys this genre or Stava’s work in particular then you’ll find yourself right at home.
Pages: 288 | ISBN: 1515150747
LITERARY TITAN 