Robert Herold

The supernatural has always had the allure of forbidden fruit, ever since my mother refused to allow me, as a boy, to watch creature features on late night TV. She caved-in. (Well, not literally!)

As a child, fresh snow provided me the opportunity to walk out onto neighbor’s lawns halfway and make paw prints with my fingers as far as I could stretch. I would retrace the paw and boot prints, then fetch the neighbor kids and point out that someone turned into a werewolf on their front lawn! (They were skeptical.) I have pursued many interests over the years, but the supernatural always called to me. You could say that I was haunted. Finally, following the siren’s call, I wrote The Eidola Project, based on a germ of an idea I had as a teenager

Ultimately, I hope my book gives you the creeps, and I mean that in the best way possible! (Book two involves a werewolf and is titled, Moonlight Becomes You. It will be out later this year and I’m busy writing the third installment of the series. The Eidola Project has won several awards—see my social media links.)

BTW: Eidola is pronounced “eye-do-la” and it’s a Greek word for ghosts, phantoms, and apparitions

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Uncaged welcomes Robert Herold

Uncaged: Welcome to Uncaged! Can you tell readers more about your novel The Eidola Project?

Eidola means phantoms or apparitions, so it describes the nature of this 19th Century team of ghost hunters who investigate all things that go bump in the night— or worse! Imagine Stephen King, Caleb Carr, and Sherlock Holmes thrown in a blender and whipped up to a bloody froth.

Uncaged: What inspired you to write in the supernatural and paranormal genres?

I’ve always loved these genres. It may have been because they were forbidden fruit as a child when my mom refused to let me watch creature features on latenight TV. I wore her down and she relented. At that point, I couldn’t get enough of the supernatural, reading and watching whatever I could. I even wanted to be a werewolf! (See my bio for more on this.) As an adult, I began novel writing a few years ago and for inspiration harkened back to a short story I wrote for my one of my junior high English classes. The teacher loved it and had me read it to the class. All you teachers out there: Know you are planting seeds that may grow and bear fruit long after your classes!

The sequel to the Eidola Project is due out in a few months. The group travels to Petersburg, Virginia, to investigate a series of murders among the Black community—rumored to be caused by a werewolf. It’s titled Moonlight Becomes You. The manuscript has already won two first place awards (including Best Novel by a new writer) by the Southeastern Writers Association. I am also nearing completion of writing book #3.

Uncaged: How has the coronavirus pandemic changed your lifestyle?

I used this opportunity to retire from teaching history after a 36-year career and I’m devoting myself full-time to writing.

Uncaged: Past or present, which authors would you love to sit and have lunch with and why?

Shakespeare, David Liss, Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, Shirley Jackson, Caleb Carr, Bernard Cornwell, Walter Mosley, Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, Dean Koontz, Richard Matheson, & Paul Tremblay—we would need a big table! They are/were all masters of their craft and I admire them greatly.

Uncaged: Have any of your characters ever done something that you didn’t intend when you began?

Yes. I can’t tell you about these incidents because I don’t want to spoil elements of the books. If you create well-rounded characters, they make demands on you and, as a writer, one must comply.

Uncaged: What are some things you like to do to relax when you aren’t writing or working?

I enjoy taking walks with my chihuahua, Jangles (AKA, Master of the Universe—he wanted you to know that). I also enjoy spending time with my wife (who beats me mercilessly at cribbage), reading, watching quality movies and tv shows, and listening to music. In addition, I enjoy collecting books and records, and playing the saxophone and the flute.

Uncaged: What does success as an author look like to you?

I’d like to be widely read, as I believe I have something to offer the supernatural horror canon. I love books in all their forms. I am currently enjoying reading Doctor Sleep by Stephen King.

Uncaged: What would you like to say to fans, and where can they follow you?

I hope my books give you the creeps—and I mean that in the best way possible!

Enjoy an excerpt from The Eidola Project

The Eidola Project Robert Herold Paranormal/Horror

It’s 1885 and a drunk and ragefilled Nigel Pickford breaks up a phony medium’s séance. A strange twist of fate soon finds him part of a team investigating the afterlife. The Eidola Project is an intrepid group of explorers dedicated to bringing the light of science to that which has been feared, misunderstood, and often manipulated by charlatans. They are a psychology professor, his assistant, an African-American physicist, a sideshow medium, and now a derelict, each possessing unique strengths and weaknesses. Called to the brooding Hutchinson Estate to investigate rumored hauntings, they encounter deadly supernatural forces and a young woman driven to the brink of madness. Will any of them survive?

Excerpt

Sarah retrieved the lamp and twisted the peg. The outhouse door swung open on its own, and she gasped.

“Momma?” Sarah asked as she held out her lantern. No. A ruined version of Molly stood in the doorway. Before her disappearance, people often commented on the sixteen-year-old’s beauty, but in the last twenty-eight days birds pecked out her pretty blue eyes, and maggots now swam in the sockets. Molly’s head hung to the left at an odd angle. Her skin looked mottled with patches of gray, blue, and black. A beetle crawled out of Molly’s half-opened mouth and darted back in. Sarah’s heart leaped to her throat, and she jumped back. She lost her footing, fell onto the outhouse seat, and dropped the lantern to the floor. She bent to retrieve it; thankful the glass globe did not break. Sarah looked up and saw an empty doorway. Impossible, she told herself. Must’ve dozed off, had a nightmare, and woke up when I dropped the lamp. Her heart still pounded in her chest, and Sarah took a deep breath to calm herself. Holding the lamp before her once more, she crept out…