Karl Edward Wagner was born in 1945 in Knoxville, TN. He graduated from Kenyon College with a history degree in 1967. He then attended the medical program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He briefly practiced as a psychiatrist, but then turned to writing as a career. He first published "Darkness Weaves with Many Shades" in 1978 and then went on to publish and edit close to 40 books. He edited three volumes of Robert E. Howard's original stories (delighting purists by restoring the texts to their original published form). He set some of his own work in Howard's universe, creating his own pre-historical hero Kane. He also wrote contemporary horror stories. He edited many horror and fantasy anthologies. In 1980 he took over editing The Year's Best Horror Stories . Through his editorial work, he helped redefine the modern horror short story. He died in 1994 from a combination of a tick bite and alcoholism.
From the guide to the Karl Edward Wagner Collection, 1973-1994, (Bowling Green State University - Browne Popular Culture Library)
Karl Edward Wagner was an American psychiatrist who became a full-time writer, publisher, and editor of horror fiction. Born 12 Dec. 1945 in Knoxville, Tenn.; died 30 Sept. 1994 in Chapel Hill, N.C. His works include novels featuring his anti-hero Kane, e.g. Darkness weaves with many shades (1970), Bloodstone (1975), Dark crusade (1976), and Night winds (1978); four collections of horror stories, In a lonely place (1983) and Why not you and I? (1987), Unthreatened by the morining light (1989), and Exorcisms and ecstasies (1997); and other works. He was also editor of The year's best horror stories (vol. 7-22) and founder of Carcosa Press. He won the August Derleth Award (1975, 1977) and Bram Stoker Award (1998), and was nominated for the World Fantasy Award. For further details see biographical essay by Kenneth R. Shepard in Contemporary authors online; for his publications (as author, editor, and publisher) see Scott F. Wyatt and Stephen Jones, "Karl Edward Wagner: a working bibliography of English language first editions", in Karl Edward Wagner, Exorcisms and ecstasies (Minneapolis, Minn.: Fedogan & Bremer, 1997).
From the guide to the Karl Edward Wagner papers, Wagner (Karl Edward) Papers, circa 1968-1994, (John Hay Library Special Collections)
