The King in Yellow
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3.7 • 70 Ratings
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Publisher Description
The King in Yellow is a book of short stories by American writer Robert W. Chambers, first published by F. Tennyson Neely in 1895.
The book is named after a play with the same title which recurs as a motif through some of the stories. The first half of the book features highly esteemed weird stories, and the book has been described by critics such as E. F. Bleiler, S. T. Joshi and T. E. D. Klein as a classic in the field of the supernatural. There are ten stories, the first four of which ("The Repairer of Reputations", "The Mask", "In the Court of the Dragon", and "The Yellow Sign") mention The King in Yellow, a forbidden play which induces despair or madness in those who read it. "The Yellow Sign" inspired a film of the same name released in 2001.
Robert William Chambers (1865 - 1933) was an American artist and fiction writer, best known for his book of short stories entitled The King in Yellow, published in 1895.
Customer Reviews
Classic Collection of Weird Tales and Romantic Stories
“The King in Yellow” is probably the best known book by Robert W. Chambers. It is a collection of short stories that was first published in 1895. It was mentioned by later writers of weird tales, most notably H. P. Lovecraft.
The King in Yellow is a play that is referenced in the first few short stories in the book. People who read this forbidden work typically go mad. In one story, an esoteric “Yellow Sign” is featured. This symbol is likewise associated with the King in Yellow. The King in Yellow is a malevolent supernatural being who reportedly rules in the City of Carcosa by Lake Hali, which might be on another world, or in an alternate universe. Note that the names for this location were borrowed from another writer, Ambrose Bierce, and were subsequently used by later writers.
While these weird tales start out the collection, it transitions into romantic stories set in Paris that have little to no supernatural aspects. These later stories tend to feature art students who live in decadence or sometimes poverty. There is one set during the Siege of Paris during Franco Prussian War that is titled "The Street of the First Shell.”
It’s a notable and often mentioned work among readers of Lovecraftian fiction, as well as weird tales in general. I think fans of this sort of literature should read it at some point. It is in the public domain now, so free copies can be obtained from many sources.
Disappointed
The first half of the book was great. It was exactly what I wanted out of this title. The back half seemed to come out of nowhere and didn’t fit with the themes and plots of the first half. It felt like the first half of the book was leading somewhere and the author just forgot about it.