OUR FOUNDER:
PAT GRAVERSEN

Text by Eileen Watkins

Born 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 deal as an example. "Publishers are beginning to realize what women writers can give them."

 The Garden State Horror Writers had just marked its Eleventh Anniversary when Pat Graversen passed away on May 17, 2000. She was 65. In her memory, the highest honor any author can receive in the Annual Garden State Horror Writers Short Story Contest is called The Graversen Award.