March 15 2026, 18:04

The King in Yellow

Author: Robert W. Chambers

First published: 1895

Five short stories. A book in the Penguin Weird Fiction collection. The original has ten stories, so I’m guessing an editor at Penguin chose the “most weird”. The King in Yellow is also the name of a book referenced in some of the stories reputed to send whoever reads it insane—it describes an ancient city called Carcosa, shone down on by black stars, near the Lake of Hali, and mentions a symbol called the Yellow Sign.

Chambers’ stories are thought to have been an inspiration and reference for later writers like H.P. Lovecraft and George R.R. Martin, and I can certainly see how that could be true. He spins the ideas of other worlds with just enough detail to make them feel tantalisingly real, but the stories are mostly tied down with realistic detail and strong character voices.

The opening story is the longest, The Repairer of Reputations. It follows Hildred, a wealthy man in a future version of New York where the United States has conquered the western hemisphere while Russia controls the east. Hildred reads The King in Yellow and comes to believe he has royal blood from the kings of the land of Carcosa. A mysteriously knowledgable Mr Wilde stokes the madness in Hildred and contrives a conflict between Hildred, an armourer friend, Hawberk, and Hildred’s cousin Louis, who is fresh back from military service. Things spiral marvellously out of control. It’s a fascinating descent into madness.

In contrast, The Mask is a gothic love story with an unexpectedly emotional ending, showing the range of Chambers’ talents. I think that was my favourite. The Yellow Sign takes us back into horror, but also revels in the daily life of an artist and painter, Mr Scott, and his favourite model, Tessie. I loved how rich and full of life these stories felt.

The last story that feels like a story is The Demoiselle d’Ys, a time travel love tale, because the final one, The Prophets’ Paradise, is more a collection of snippets—strange looping puzzles that are hard to make meaning of, almost as if they were taken from the pages of The King in Yellow.

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