John Hostler
John Hostler, known variously as the Magical Curmudgeon and "the guy with the beard," has survived comfortably on magicdom's periphery since the late 1970's. While material developed in his early teens found its way to a one-man Parade in Linking Ring magazine, it wasn't until Jerry Mentzer's Card File II that Hostler's magic appeared in a standalone publication. In 2009, the controversial Rauschenberg Effect marked the inaugural release of John's "A" and "B+" material. This was followed by the critically praised Cryptical Envelopment, The Triskadequadra Principle, Tell Monte, and – most recently – Magnum Opossum. Hostler's writing, plots, technique, and scripting routinely swerve from the beaten path.