Karl Edward Wagner | |
|---|---|
 Karl on porch, mid-1970s. Photo by David Drake. | |
| Born | December 12, 1945 |
| Died | October 14, 1994 (aged 48) |
| Spouse | Barbara Ruth Mott (1974-1986) |
Karl Edward Wagner (12 December 1945 – 14 October 1994) was an American writer, poet, editor, and publisher of horror, science fiction, and heroic fantasy, who was born in Knoxville, Tennessee and originally trained as a psychiatrist. He wrote numerous dark fantasy and horror stories. As an editor, he created a three-volume set of Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian fiction restored to its original form as written, and edited the long-running and genre-defining The Year's Best Horror Stories series for DAW Books. His Carcosa publishing company issued four volumes of the best stories by some of the major authors of the so-called Golden Age pulp magazines. He is possibly best known for his creation of a series of stories featuring the character Kane, the Mystic Swordsman.
Although he held a degree in psychiatry, he became disillusioned with the medical profession, a disenchantment evident in the stories "The Fourth Seal" and "Into Whose Hands". He described his personal philosophy as nihilistic, anarchistic and absurdist, and claimed, not entirely seriously, to be related to "an opera composer named "Richard".[1] Wagner also admired the cinema of Sam Peckinpah, stating "I worship the film The Wild Bunch".[2]
- ^ Interview with Horror magazine, October 1994.
- ^ Mike Ashley, "Wagner, Karl Edward" in St. James Guide To Fantasy Writers, edited by David Pringle. St. James Press, 1996, p. 583-4.