Michael F. Wagner

Karl Edward Wagner was an American author, poet, editor, and publisher recognized for his contributions to horror, science fiction, and heroic fantasy. Born in Tennessee, he initially trained as a psychiatrist but became disillusioned with the medical field, ultimately dedicating himself to writing. His personal philosophy was described as nihilistic, anarchistic, and absurdist.

Wagner's literary output included numerous dark fantasy and horror stories. As an editor, he was instrumental in restoring Robert E. Howard's original Conan texts and curated the influential "The Year's Best Horror Stories" series. He also published classic pulp magazine authors through his Carcosa publishing company. He is perhaps most famous for creating the character Kane, the Mystic Swordsman, an immortal warrior-sorcerer whose stories are often categorized as sword and sorcery, drawing influences from figures like Cain, Solomon Kane, and Melmoth the Wanderer.

Wagner's life was marked by a departure from his medical career to pursue writing full-time. He died in 1994 due to complications from alcoholism. His work has been celebrated posthumously, with collections of his stories and a documentary about his life being released.

Karl Edward Wagner's most significant contribution to heroic fantasy is the creation of Kane, the Mystic Swordsman. This character, inspired by biblical Cain, Solomon Kane, and Charles Maturin's Melmoth the Wanderer, is an immortal, left-handed warrior-sorcerer with red hair. Wagner envisioned Kane as a complex anti-hero, capable of intellectual mastery or brutal violence, cursed to wander the Earth until destroyed by the chaos he perpetuates. Kane's character is defined by his amorality, his status as a born killer, and his extensive knowledge gained over centuries of travel. The stories featuring Kane, often classified as sword and sorcery despite Wagner's dislike for the term, have been compared favorably to the works of Robert E. Howard and Michael Moorcock. Wagner's initial Kane novel was published in 1970, with subsequent works like "Death Angel's," "Bloodstone," and "Dark Crusade" solidifying the character's legacy. A proposed fourth novel, "In the Wake of the Night," remained unfinished.

Beyond his own fiction, Karl Edward Wagner made substantial contributions as an editor and publisher. He meticulously restored Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian stories to their original, unedited forms, publishing them in a three-volume set that appealed to purists. Wagner also edited the long-running "The Year's Best Horror Stories" series for DAW Books, a significant anthology for the genre. Through his Carcosa publishing company, he issued four volumes showcasing the best stories from the Golden Age of pulp magazines, preserving the work of authors like Manly Wade Wellman, Hugh B. Cave, and E. Hoffmann Price. Wagner also served as a literary agent for Manly Wade Wellman's estate, further demonstrating his commitment to supporting fellow writers.

Wagner's personal philosophy, described as nihilistic, anarchistic, and absurdist, informed the darker themes present in his writing. His disillusionment with the medical profession, stemming from his psychiatric training, is evident in stories like "The Fourth Seal" and "Into Whose Hands." His fiction often explored complex psychological states, including drug addiction, sexual repression, and transsexualism, as seen in collections like "In a Lonely Place" and "Exorcisms and Ecstasies." Wagner's work frequently blended literate and allusive styles with pulpy, parodic elements, referencing diverse sources from Ed Wood films to Richard O'Brien's "The Rocky Horror Show" and the mythos of Carcosa.

“I worship the film The Wild Bunch”