Local author writes stories of horrors on the Hudson
Robert Stava recently published his second installment in the Hudson Horror Series, titled “The Feast of Saint Anne’s.” The first novel in the series, “At Van Eyckmann’s Request,” was published in 2012.
Both stories are set in the fictional town of Wyvern Fall along the Hudson River and contain supernatural elements with historical storylines.
Stava, who lives in Ossining, N.Y., has drawn inspiration from the rich mythological history of the Hudson River. Living near Sleepy Hollow, Stava considers Washington Irving and his tale, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” a prime influence.
“I had the idea early on of focusing on this area,” said Stava.
Stava has worked in creative fields for years as a musician and graphic designer. He lived in New York City and worked in advertising at Y&R and J. Walter and then as creative director ran the 3D Media Group at Arup.
After helping produce a photography collection book called “Combat Recon,” where he gained skills in publishing, Stava decided to start working on writing books.
“Four years ago the book just started to hit me,” said Stava.
“The Feast of Saint Anne’s” is inspired by a real carnival but is set in Stava’s fictional town of Wyvern Falls. The structure of the book is four overlapping stories at the Saint Anne’s carnival.
The first story, “The Red Baron’s Daughter,” tells the story of two boys encounter with a fortune teller who claims to be the daughter of the great German fighter pilot.
The second story, “The Lonely Dancers,” involves a young man entering the music tent to find a famous British rock band that had died in a car accident thirty years before. Stava noted that this is an homage to a real band called Bram Tchaikovsky, who reunited unexpectedly after breaking up thirty years previously.
In the third story, “Lorenzo King and the Dunderberg Imp,” a reporter from New York City comes face to face with the Dunderberg Imp, a creature originally created by Washington Irving.
The final story is called “Hey Dummy!” It is about a local art director who finds that a ventriloquist act at the carnival is more than meets the eye.
Stava still freelances in graphic design while writing part time, but he has had enough time to complete the third and fourth novels in the series which will be released in the future. He will be signing books at Mt. Pleasant Public Library on Mar. 18 at 7:30 p.m.