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The Fagin
Returning to her hometown of Blue Hill with her young son, Jason, Felice Sinclair realizes the town has changed over the years when Jason becomes the unwilling student of the high priest of terror who stalks the night. Reprint.
- GenresHorror
285 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1982
92 people want to read
About the author
Pat Graversen
10 books10 followersBorn in West Virginia, Pat Graversen published her first novel, INVISIBLE FIRE, with Fawcett Books in 1981; THE FAGIN came out in hardcover from A&W Publishers in 1982. After a hiatus during which she concentrated on raising her family, she published DOLLIES in 1990 and STONES in 1991, both through Zebra Books.
Graversen then signed a five-book contract with Zebra. Under its terms, the publisher brought out SWEET BLOOD and a paperback edition of THE FAGIN in 1992, and both BLACK ICE and PRECIOUS BLOOD in 1993.
A short story by Graversen, "Ups and Downs," appeared in DARK SEDUCTIONS, an anthology of erotic horror put out by Zebra in 1993. She collaborated with her son Paul Erik on two young adult novels, GHOST TRAIN (published by Zebra,) and YIN-YANG. Her final novel was GRAYTHINGS, the last under her five book contract.
Graversen grew up in West Virginia, which she recalled as a "mystical, wonderful place," and traveled extensively before she married and settled in Toms River, New Jersey. Two of her children had entered school before she first considered writing fiction.
"When I took the kids to the park, I would bring along a notebook and write there," she recalled.
That first year, she turned out almost 40 short stories. She sent them to small magazines, and most were rejected. Finally, in 1979, Nuggett published "Lenny Sent Me," a "psycho story" about an ex-con who hunts down the sister of a man he befriended in prison.
She then completed her first book manuscript, INVISIBLE FIRE, and connected with an agent who sold it to Fawcett. Although the novel had a few plot elements in common with Stephen King's FIRESTARTER, it was no imitation; her book actually came out first.
Her next publication, THE FAGIN, featured a villain who kidnapped small boys for a Satanic cult. Graversen began to develop a specialty --child-in-peril plots, usually involving the supernatural.
DOLLIES drew upon her brief stint as a real estate agent. "I showed one house that scared me," she said. "When I took the people downstairs, there was a room in the basement with all these dolls in it. There was also a light swinging from the ceiling, as if someone else had just been down there.
"Sometimes it's only a small thing that gives you the idea. When I get one, I write it down in my idea book. It could be a name, or a sentence I hear."
STONES tells the story of a mother and her adolescent daughter who are menaced by the spirit of an ancient fertility goddess. More than Graversen's previous books, it incorporated a large dose of offbeat sexuality, as the innocent young girl takes on the personality of the female demon.
The author stated that she got the idea from a dream. "I saw a small woman made of stone, with greenish skin. I stayed scared by that all one summer."
She based BLACK ICE on the true story of a child who drowned in a lake near her home. Many readers told her that book was their favorite, because it was a "good, old-fashioned ghost story."
Pat also authored a large volume of published poetry, and three romance novels. One of her romance novels, HEART ON TRIAL (NAL Rapture Romance, 1982) sold to several foreign markets.
Graversen founded the Garden State Horror Writers in 1989 to encourage others in New Jersey who aspire to work in her genre. She also belonged to the Authors' Guild, the Authors League and the Horror Writers Association.
Because she appeared to be such a typical middle-class wife and mother, people assumed she wrote something more conventional, such as romance. She also sensed a condescending attitude from some men in her profession, but said, "I don't believe in being held back because I'm a woman."
"I've liked the women horror writers I've read. They've been ignored in the past, but they're catching up. Ten years ago, there were hardly any. Now you can at least name a half-dozen. Women are getting good contracts now, too," she pointed out, using her own five-book
Graversen then signed a five-book contract with Zebra. Under its terms, the publisher brought out SWEET BLOOD and a paperback edition of THE FAGIN in 1992, and both BLACK ICE and PRECIOUS BLOOD in 1993.
A short story by Graversen, "Ups and Downs," appeared in DARK SEDUCTIONS, an anthology of erotic horror put out by Zebra in 1993. She collaborated with her son Paul Erik on two young adult novels, GHOST TRAIN (published by Zebra,) and YIN-YANG. Her final novel was GRAYTHINGS, the last under her five book contract.
Graversen grew up in West Virginia, which she recalled as a "mystical, wonderful place," and traveled extensively before she married and settled in Toms River, New Jersey. Two of her children had entered school before she first considered writing fiction.
"When I took the kids to the park, I would bring along a notebook and write there," she recalled.
That first year, she turned out almost 40 short stories. She sent them to small magazines, and most were rejected. Finally, in 1979, Nuggett published "Lenny Sent Me," a "psycho story" about an ex-con who hunts down the sister of a man he befriended in prison.
She then completed her first book manuscript, INVISIBLE FIRE, and connected with an agent who sold it to Fawcett. Although the novel had a few plot elements in common with Stephen King's FIRESTARTER, it was no imitation; her book actually came out first.
Her next publication, THE FAGIN, featured a villain who kidnapped small boys for a Satanic cult. Graversen began to develop a specialty --child-in-peril plots, usually involving the supernatural.
DOLLIES drew upon her brief stint as a real estate agent. "I showed one house that scared me," she said. "When I took the people downstairs, there was a room in the basement with all these dolls in it. There was also a light swinging from the ceiling, as if someone else had just been down there.
"Sometimes it's only a small thing that gives you the idea. When I get one, I write it down in my idea book. It could be a name, or a sentence I hear."
STONES tells the story of a mother and her adolescent daughter who are menaced by the spirit of an ancient fertility goddess. More than Graversen's previous books, it incorporated a large dose of offbeat sexuality, as the innocent young girl takes on the personality of the female demon.
The author stated that she got the idea from a dream. "I saw a small woman made of stone, with greenish skin. I stayed scared by that all one summer."
She based BLACK ICE on the true story of a child who drowned in a lake near her home. Many readers told her that book was their favorite, because it was a "good, old-fashioned ghost story."
Pat also authored a large volume of published poetry, and three romance novels. One of her romance novels, HEART ON TRIAL (NAL Rapture Romance, 1982) sold to several foreign markets.
Graversen founded the Garden State Horror Writers in 1989 to encourage others in New Jersey who aspire to work in her genre. She also belonged to the Authors' Guild, the Authors League and the Horror Writers Association.
Because she appeared to be such a typical middle-class wife and mother, people assumed she wrote something more conventional, such as romance. She also sensed a condescending attitude from some men in her profession, but said, "I don't believe in being held back because I'm a woman."
"I've liked the women horror writers I've read. They've been ignored in the past, but they're catching up. Ten years ago, there were hardly any. Now you can at least name a half-dozen. Women are getting good contracts now, too," she pointed out, using her own five-book
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 5, 2025
Zebra horror books are still proving to be mediocre on the verge of putting you to sleep horror. Nothing is ever scary and the plots rarely go anywhere with dragged out storylines and non exciting ending. Shame
October 17, 2025
Let’s start with the good: The Fagin has one of the best covers in Zebra’s long, proud history of ridiculous, glorious horror art. You look at it and think, wow, this is gonna be a dark, satanic masterpiece about cults and corruption and lost innocence. You can almost smell the evil. Unfortunately, that smell fades fast once you open the book — replaced by something more like stale soap opera fumes.
Because here’s the thing: what should have been a spooky, disturbing tale about a young boy being kidnapped and brainwashed by a satan-worshiping cult instead devolves into… a melodrama about a horny mom, her mentally and physically abusive ex, and some weirdly uninteresting mind control stuff. Graversen somehow takes a premise dripping with potential and wrings out every last drop of tension until you’re left with a limp towel of suburban misery.
And it’s slow. Painfully slow. Like, “please let something — anything — happen” slow. There are slogs, and then there’s The Fagin, which feels like reading quicksand. You can see the ending coming from a mile away, and yet it still manages to arrive with all the impact of a deflated balloon. Graversen truly excels at making horror boring, which is almost impressive in its own right.
At this point, I’m convinced both Zebra authors named Pat — Graversen and Patricia Wallace — were put on Earth to teach us the meaning of disappointment. Every time I see “Pat” on a Zebra spine, I brace myself for a 300-page exercise in patience.
So yes, the cover rules. The story drools. Long live the cover artist — they deserve a medal for misleading me so beautifully.
Because here’s the thing: what should have been a spooky, disturbing tale about a young boy being kidnapped and brainwashed by a satan-worshiping cult instead devolves into… a melodrama about a horny mom, her mentally and physically abusive ex, and some weirdly uninteresting mind control stuff. Graversen somehow takes a premise dripping with potential and wrings out every last drop of tension until you’re left with a limp towel of suburban misery.
And it’s slow. Painfully slow. Like, “please let something — anything — happen” slow. There are slogs, and then there’s The Fagin, which feels like reading quicksand. You can see the ending coming from a mile away, and yet it still manages to arrive with all the impact of a deflated balloon. Graversen truly excels at making horror boring, which is almost impressive in its own right.
At this point, I’m convinced both Zebra authors named Pat — Graversen and Patricia Wallace — were put on Earth to teach us the meaning of disappointment. Every time I see “Pat” on a Zebra spine, I brace myself for a 300-page exercise in patience.
So yes, the cover rules. The story drools. Long live the cover artist — they deserve a medal for misleading me so beautifully.
June 2, 2020
While a great concept, the plot plods on through a slow burn that's entirely too long for what happens. Some great moments are bogged down by too much melodrama.
Want to read
May 2, 2023This is another one of those books from childhood public library visits I'd thought I misremembered, or that didn't actually exist at all - the hardcover version (which caught my eye as a kid and locked it in my memory vault - it was in the adult fiction section, a place the librarians wouldn't yet let me check out from) had a creepy illustration which is as yet unavailable on Goodreads: however, I searched for the title/author on Google images and bingo.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews