For the distantly deceased authors' "choices", a positive review or short essay pertaining to another writer's work was used. I had read Visiak's "Medusa" b/c of Wagner's boosterism in Jones and Newman's "Horror:100 Best Novels" (book length list w/ huge supplementary list, it's a "must get", if you see it about) in which famous horror authors (past and present) chose one notable book from any given year spanning 1592 to1987. According to Amazon, none of his dozens of books are currently in a world unto itself, that list is. In fact, I recall years ago finding books from his own personal library in a used bookstore here in Raleigh. He lived in nearby Chapel Hill for awhile. Known for both his medical expertise (he very nearly became a doctor) as well as for lighting up 1970s horror conventions with his Viking-biker appearance and appetite for drugs and booze - not to mention his own considerable fiction - Wagner took over the editorial reins of The Year's Best Horror Stories for DAW Books in 1980, and continued until his unfortunately early death at age 49 in North Carolina in 1994. I love this kind of behind-the-scenes look at the life and struggles of a modern pulp/horror/fantasy writer, and I think a lot of you will dig it too. Just found an oh-so-worthwhile personal remembrance of the late Karl Edward Wagner, by one of his oldest friends, entitled " The Dark Muse of Karl Edward Wagner." Turned up on one of my periodic Google searches for new info on older horror writers.
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