ItвЂ™s laced with intriguing nuggets and scraps that, stitched together, help shed light on an author still lacking a proper biography. The list of contributors is impressive, with contributions by the likes of Ramsey Campbell, S.T. ItвЂ™s an intriguing blend of remembrance and reminiscence by those who knew him, insightful essays about his works, fiction that he either wrote or curated during his editorship of the DAW YearвЂ™s Best Horror stories, and other valuable miscellanea. If youвЂ™re a fan of Wagner you need this volume in your collection. This new issue of Phantasmagoria adds to that bulwark. I worry at times that he may slip into obscurity, though he has a hardcore following among sword-and-sorcery and horror aficionados in the know, while a few corners of the web keep his guttering flame alive. WagnerвЂ™s stories are getting harder to find, although his Kane material at least is available in ebook format. But during his too-short life, Wagner for a time was able to harness his dark muse and create works of lasting potency. His stories are populated with writers struggling with fickle markets, bad marriages, and alcoholism, leading to torment and ruin, and cursed hero-villains, seeking a solace which forever eludes their grasp. While itвЂ™s too tempting to associate an artist with their art, and sometimes a mistake to correlate the two, WagnerвЂ™s numerous conflicted and tortured protagonists make it difficult to entirely disassociate his fiction from the events of his personal life. Wagner to me seems to have harbored a secret loneliness, and possessed an uncomfortable insight into the human condition that possibly contributed to his well-documented struggles with addiction.

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