drake1fb 's review for:

The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers

3.0

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Some highs and some lows. Overall this was a very interesting collection of short stories. It was interesting to see the roots of modern weird fiction stories. The writing was pretty great throughout with the pacing and plotting in some of the romance stories bogging down the latter half of the collection. The introduction on this particular version notes some similarities in the final two stories which I agree with. I always enjoy when an author goes through some effort to paint a memorable picture of a place that have a fondness for. The stories set in France reminded me of a fictional version of A Moveable Feast which was pretty fun. The thing that draws most people to these stories are the King in Yellow stories which are delightful weird fiction/cosmic horror in a much more subtle sense than most are used to. These stories contain a lurking dread under the veneer of normal society of the time which made for an excellent delivery. Overall I enjoyed the collection but some of it shows its age.