The King in Yellow: The Shadows Lengthen in Carcosa
By Jacob Guynup
Staff Writer
Originally published in 1895, The King in Yellow is a collection of short stories by author Robert W. Chambers. Chambers was a pioneer of horror writing, eventually inspiring the works of H. P. Lovecraft, especially The Call of Cthulhu, in the early 20th century. The short stories themselves range from psychological and cosmic horror to romantic fiction, which foreshadowed future stories by Chambers.
Although there are a total of 10 short stories, the first 4 have become the most famous. The book begins with The Repairer of Reputations, which is set in 1920s New York City. I found this chapter to be both incredibly eerie while still being a fascinating read, as the chapter shows the reader a vision of the world in the 20th century despite having been written almost 30 years before that time period. Normally,
a story about the future wouldn’t be eerie on its own, but what gives it that quality is just how many details about the future Chambers actually predicted. For example, he mentions that the United States had recently gotten out of a war with Germany.
The next two stories, those being The Mask and In the Court of the Dragon are both set in Paris, while the fourth, The Yellow Sign, is set in New York once again. These first chapters are all uniquely connected as each mentions the forbidden play known as The King in Yellow.
This play that the chapters are referring to is never fully revealed, leaving the reader to interpret this play in whatever way they see fit while incorporating the small clues they are given into that interpretation. For example, a song from the play is given that talks about the land of Carcosa, which is a fictional ancient city shrouded in mystery that was first mentioned by author Ambrose Bierce in his book, An Inhabitant of Carcosa. Mentions of the city wouldn’t end there, as H. P. Lovecraft had used the city as part of his worldbuilding of the Cthulhu mythos.
The influences of The King in Yellow can be seen all across the modern media. As mentioned, The King in Yellow has been a major influence on the works of H. P. Lovecraft and his cosmic horror mythos. The TV series True Detective was also partly inspired by the book, using similar themes and ideas in their writing. Inspiration can also be seen in both the Dark Souls franchise and the game Signalis, which both feature direct references to the book and its themes.
Ultimately, The King in Yellow is a cornerstone of horror and weird fiction, and an essential read for anyone interested in this type of cryptic storytelling. I, personally, cannot recommend this book enough.