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3.43 AVERAGE
3.43 AVERAGE
I don't understand what happened in the last 6 stories but the first 4 were really good
A couple of stories were great, but the rest left me bored.
This collection was fine. My primary gripe is that almost every story needed just a little bit more. Not necessarily about the titular King in Yellow- I understand that a significant source of the horror is lack of knowledge about the plays content and machinations- but to the plots of the actual stories themselves. They all left me feeling something undefined was missing, not in a way that enhanced the horror, but in a way that annoyed me.
Having said that, the writing style was right up my alley, particularly in the last 3 stories, and I'd be interested in reading a full novel by Chambers. He does have some interesting ideas and some beautiful turns of phrase, and I can see why so many influential horror writers have built off of or referenced his mythology, it just feels like all the stories needed one more draft.
(As for some criticism that the first 3 stories are disconnected from the rest of the book, I have a vague feeling that they do connect through side characters and places, but I simply don't care enough to re-read and scour for proof)
Having said that, the writing style was right up my alley, particularly in the last 3 stories, and I'd be interested in reading a full novel by Chambers. He does have some interesting ideas and some beautiful turns of phrase, and I can see why so many influential horror writers have built off of or referenced his mythology, it just feels like all the stories needed one more draft.
(As for some criticism that the first 3 stories are disconnected from the rest of the book, I have a vague feeling that they do connect through side characters and places, but I simply don't care enough to re-read and scour for proof)
A collection of short stories written in 1895 and having a very distinct Poe influence. There is a vague thread throughout the book relating to a drama called The King in Yellow which has been banned and will apparently send its readers insane. The first few stories give some background to this and are connected by a shared universe where this book exists. But other stories are simply stand-alone pieces with a supernatural element.
In truth, it's not very good. The first story is probably the best (madness, jealousy, the king in yellow book as a main feature of the plot) but the others are fairly forgettable. Chambers can certainly write, in a manner that has a literary touch, an educated quality, but he simply doesn't know how to tell a story. He will really drag you through the mill for the sake of a twist ending that feels enormously anticlimactic, providing inane details that offer nothing of value regarding the story or worse, meandering plots that become swamped in uninteresting (and hugely underdeveloped) characters. The book is also dated in the sense that a number of cliches are present. For example, the story 'The Demoiselle d'Ys' is about an American man lost on the Breton moors where he meets a lady falconer who takes him back to her home. They fall in love (very quickly) and in the morning he is bitten by a snake and as he dies he turns around and sees that her home is actually a collection of ruins. Then he falls on a gravestone that reveals her name: DEMOISELLE D'YS WHO DIED FOR THE LOVE OF A STRANGER A.D 1573.
All I could think, as I laughed at this, was about that episode of Friends where Joey thinks he's gonna hit the bigtime because he's been cast as the lead in a movie called 'Shutterspeed' about a man who meets a woman and they fall in love. Then when he goes to her house to find her, the old woman there says: 'Betsy's been dead for ten years.'
Anyway, I found this highly average to say the least. If you're a fan of short (spooky) stories or the writing of Poe, Lovecraft, then you might find this worthy of a look. I found it somewhat dull.
In truth, it's not very good. The first story is probably the best (madness, jealousy, the king in yellow book as a main feature of the plot) but the others are fairly forgettable. Chambers can certainly write, in a manner that has a literary touch, an educated quality, but he simply doesn't know how to tell a story. He will really drag you through the mill for the sake of a twist ending that feels enormously anticlimactic, providing inane details that offer nothing of value regarding the story or worse, meandering plots that become swamped in uninteresting (and hugely underdeveloped) characters. The book is also dated in the sense that a number of cliches are present. For example, the story 'The Demoiselle d'Ys' is about an American man lost on the Breton moors where he meets a lady falconer who takes him back to her home. They fall in love (very quickly) and in the morning he is bitten by a snake and as he dies he turns around and sees that her home is actually a collection of ruins. Then he falls on a gravestone that reveals her name: DEMOISELLE D'YS WHO DIED FOR THE LOVE OF A STRANGER A.D 1573.
All I could think, as I laughed at this, was about that episode of Friends where Joey thinks he's gonna hit the bigtime because he's been cast as the lead in a movie called 'Shutterspeed' about a man who meets a woman and they fall in love. Then when he goes to her house to find her, the old woman there says: 'Betsy's been dead for ten years.'
Anyway, I found this highly average to say the least. If you're a fan of short (spooky) stories or the writing of Poe, Lovecraft, then you might find this worthy of a look. I found it somewhat dull.
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
2.5 rounded down.
I can appreciate this as a foundational work of cosmic horror, but good lord. Such a strong start with the first story that immediately nose-dives into a series of rather dull self-indulgent "haha young girls are so sexy also I'm a piece of shit painter" tirades. Look, I do absolutely understand its merit as a genre-defining work, but does it hold up these days? In my opinion, not remotely.
I will admit I may be biased here as mainly a horror consumer; in the same vein that most old horror movies don't really hold up well in comparison to greater pieces of the modern era, The King in Yellow has promise but lacks so much due to it /being/ that foundational work. After the first story, the book largely expects you to be creeped out Just Because, and I'm sure that that was very much the case in the late 1800s, but nowadays? Meh.
I don't know, I'm torn because I do not think you /have/ to explain things especially in cosmic horror, but since we barely even hear about the play it's very easy to sort of omit its relevance in the stories. I can see its influence on Lovecraft clear as day, the flowery somewhat meandering prose, the vagueness of it all... I cannot deny its importance and if you are curious about the history of horror you may as well read it. But it is not a particularly engaging or interesting read in my opinion.
The last few stories in the collection are pretty much completely unrelated to The King in Yellow. A shame given we already get so little about the original concept. The first four therefore may be worth reading as they are brief anyway.
As others have mentioned, the maddening after-effects of the play largely feel like after-thoughts.
I can appreciate this as a foundational work of cosmic horror, but good lord. Such a strong start with the first story that immediately nose-dives into a series of rather dull self-indulgent "haha young girls are so sexy also I'm a piece of shit painter" tirades. Look, I do absolutely understand its merit as a genre-defining work, but does it hold up these days? In my opinion, not remotely.
I will admit I may be biased here as mainly a horror consumer; in the same vein that most old horror movies don't really hold up well in comparison to greater pieces of the modern era, The King in Yellow has promise but lacks so much due to it /being/ that foundational work. After the first story, the book largely expects you to be creeped out Just Because, and I'm sure that that was very much the case in the late 1800s, but nowadays? Meh.
I don't know, I'm torn because I do not think you /have/ to explain things especially in cosmic horror, but since we barely even hear about the play it's very easy to sort of omit its relevance in the stories. I can see its influence on Lovecraft clear as day, the flowery somewhat meandering prose, the vagueness of it all... I cannot deny its importance and if you are curious about the history of horror you may as well read it. But it is not a particularly engaging or interesting read in my opinion.
The last few stories in the collection are pretty much completely unrelated to The King in Yellow. A shame given we already get so little about the original concept. The first four therefore may be worth reading as they are brief anyway.
As others have mentioned, the maddening after-effects of the play largely feel like after-thoughts.
The turn the last few stories take is so disorienting, but they're not bad, and the first four stories are wild, indisputably some of the best weird fiction ever. "The Repairer of Reputations" alone is worth the price of admission but the whole thing is an experience, the fact that the last five or six stories are so, on their face, non-threatening almost makes the book feel more sinister.
(-4) Ich hatte einen längere Pause innerhalb einer Geschichte, die mich dann nicht so fesseln konnte. Allerdings gehört dieses Buch eindeutig in den atmosphärischen Horror der mir gut gefällt, an das unverweigerliche Glauben an unmögliche Dinge.
Das Nachwort war nur teilweise interessant, es wurde mit zu viel Namen umher geworfen.
Das Nachwort war nur teilweise interessant, es wurde mit zu viel Namen umher geworfen.