Karl Edward Wagner

Karl Edward Wagner (1945-1994) was an American writer, editor and publisher of horror, science fiction, and heroic fantasy, who was born in Knoxville, Tennessee and originally trained as a psychiatrist. His disillusionment with the medical profession can be seen in the stories The Fourth Seal and Into Whose Hands. He described his world view as nihilistic, anarchistic and absurdist, and claimed, not entirely seriously, to be related to an opera composer named Richard. Wagner also admired the cinema of Sam Peckinpah, stating I worship the film The Wild Bunch.