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xiaoliuan 's review for:
The King in Yellow
by Robert W. Chambers
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.