Karl Edward Wagner: It's Time

In my book it’s always time to talk about Karl Edward Wagner. There might be some readers who aren’t familiar with this man or his work so I’ll bring you up to speed. From the 70s to the 90s, Wagner produced a handsome and diverse array of fiction. First off, he created Kane, a diabolical immortal. Sometimes a traditional hero, most of the time a villain, Kane spends his time trying to survive in a hostile world or trying to conquer it. Wagner disliked the term “sword and sorcery” and referred to his Kane stories as “acid gothics.” These tales are peopled with unscrupulous warriors, scheming royals, demons, vampires, werewolves, and in one case, sinister frog people. The Kane tales are top notch and bring to mind some of the best examples of pulp era fantasy.

Wagner wrote dozens of horror stories, his earliest ones tend to be the best and some are certainly classics. There is his widely-anthologized Cthulhu Mythos story, “Sticks”, or his haunting “In the Pines”. The ironic “More Sinned Against,” the mournful “The Last Wolf,” or his throwback to the pulp magazines “Sign of the Salamander.” One of my top stories would be one that Wagner connects to the King in Yellow called “I’ve Come to Talk to You Again.” It’s a tragic, nasty tale about the price of success.

Wagner was also a highly influential editor. He edited Year’s Best Horror Stories for over ten years, exhibiting good taste. He contributed to a changing attitude in editing Robert E Howard’s Conan stories (presenting Howard’s text as he wrote it instead of editor’s inserting their own stylistic alterations). Wagner co-founded the small press Carcosa which reprinted the works of Hugh B Cave, E. Hoffman Price, and Manly Wade Wellman (including Wellman’s award-winning collection Worse Things Waiting that recently returned to print.)

Why am I writing this? Most of Wagner’s stuff is out of print. His Kane stories are available as ebooks and his stuff has been reprinted by Centipede Press but considering the availability and cost of Centipede’s editions, Wagner’s stuff still has the out of print feel. Regardless, there is something exciting in the future of Wagner fandom: a documentary, The Last Wolf: Karl Edward Wagner, is in the works and will be released in the near future (no future release date yet). Personally, I hate to see an author out of print, which is a step away from obscurity. Wagner still has loyal fans out there to keep his flame alight but at this point the more coverage he gets the better. Do you remember Karl Edward Wagner? Then I encourage you to revisit his work. If you’ve never read him you are missing out on a major talent in speculative fiction that left this world too early.

P.S. In the 80s, Wagner made lists of the 13 Best Horror Novels in 3 subcategories (Supernatural, Sci-Fi, Non-Supernatural, 39 books in all). Most of the contents of these lists are obscure and rare, but at this point I read twenty five of them. I expect to finish almost the rest within the next six months. I intend to write some follow-up posts evaluating these books as I progress. So far, it’s been educational, entertaining, and occasionally baffling. At any rate, Wagner’s knowledge of horror fiction and his taste as an editor make his lists worth exploring for any lover of the genre.

Written by Nick Montelongo