kurezan 's review for:

The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers

3.5

dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I read Robert W. Chambers' The King in Yellow because it was a stated influence on the first season of one of my favorite tv shows-- True Detective. Indeed, while reading the four short stories that make up this collection, my mind continued to wander back to True Detective and how its vague references to Carcosa, black stars and so on, were actually quite in line with the vague references to the same esoteric material in these four short stories. I got the sense that a version of the events portayed in the tv show could find a home in this collection. I have seen some complaints that these weird tales lacked the promised cosmic horror and were rather mundane slice of life stories, which is kind of funny since I recall hearing the same complaints about True Detective, but nevertheles I think this book'  material was charming, moody and short enough to warrant a read. I particularly liked "Repairer of Reputations" and "The Yellow Sign." It felt like reading a series of spooky stories and I was reminded a lot of The Woman in Black, Don't Look Now (1973) and The Void (2016). 

Previous to this particular collection I had a strange version of The King in Yellow which must have been a quick buck money grab from the public domain, with super small font, no spacing between stories, and everything crammed together. That version of this had more stories included, but was basically unreadable. This edition has large text and was a rather cozy read by comparison. I think it's a worthwhile read for anyone with a taste for early 20th century horror stories -- stories that are less outright scary and more moody and macabre.