Review Tuesday: The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers

Because of all this COVID-19 nonsense I decided to get caught up on some reviews that have needed to be posted for some time. Since I adore the Cthulhu Mythos by HP Lovecraft, and their generally creepy themes, I figure that the month of October would be perfect to dedicate to topics of horror and weirdness.  

 

The King in Yellow

by Robert W. Chambers

A collection of short stories by Robert W. Chambers that predates, but is part of, the Cthulhu Mythos. 

After reading and hearing so much about Hastur and The King in Yellow, I needed to see what it was all about. Since I have seen many allusions to THE KING IN YELLOW as being a part of the Cthulhu Mythos I wanted to see what it was all about. Additionally, since THE KING IN YELLOW was first published in 1895, it predates the first work by HP Lovecraft by more than a decade. 

The stories in the book are:

1. "The Repairer of Reputations"
2. "The Mask"
3. "In the Court of the Dragon"
4. "The Yellow Sign" 
5. "The Demoiselle d'Ys"
6. "The Prophets' Paradise"
7. "The Street of the Four Winds"
8. "The Street of the First Shell"
9. "The Street of Our Lady of the Fields"
10. "Rue Barrée"

So, to start, THE KING IN YELLOW is a fictitious play. Chambers alludes to it frequently, but it doesn't exist. Don't bother trying to find it, or trying to find out more about it. Just read this one book and you'll cover that base. Once you get passed that, enjoy this book for what it is, a collection of weird tales. I recommend that while reading this book you should always keep in mind the year it was published. Decades before "The Great War" it seemed to anticipate war in Europe and even describes the trench warfare. Societal issues that wouldn't come up for decades are discussed in these pages. 

 

If you came to this book looking for Hastur and what he's all about, you may be disappointed. He's in there but not in the malevolent and maddening way you might expect.

 

The book starts off VERY strange. The tales are clever and inventive. By the end, it almost seems more like stories of romance. I have trouble reconciling this collection in my mind, but that's just me. It's all good, and well-written, regardless.

AMAZON

 

the yellow sign