The King in Yellow

For fans of HBO’s True Detective,here is the complete, original text of The King in Yellow, a collection of ten Victorian-era short stories that includes some of the most important and defining works in the genre of weird fiction.Along the shore the cloud waves break,The twin suns sink behind the lake,The shadows lengthenIn CarcosaWith these opening lines, Robert W. Chambers introduces readers to The King in Yellow,a fictional play referred to but never fully seen in four of the stories included here: The Repairer of Reputations, The Mask, In the Court of the Dragon, and The Yellow Sign.Set in the dark and sinister world of Carcosa, the play drives all who encounter it to madness and despair, though we, as readers, only glimpse its unspeakable horrors.This seminal collection of short stories has captured the imaginations of generations of readers, including H. P. Lovecraft, who used The King in Yellow as inspiration for the Necronomicon, the fiction-within-a-fiction at the heart of his own genre-defining Cthulu Mythos. More than a century later, The King in Yellow continues to wield remarkable influence in popular culture, and has experienced a resurgence in popularity as a key literary reference in HBO’s hit dramatic series True Detective.

From the Back Cover

A book of short stories, The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers, embodies classic elements of mystery and horror as well as romance and fantasy. Inspired by a fictional play of the same name, the first four entries are characterized by supernatural elements and a threat of impending doom.

About the Author

Robert William Chambers (1865-1933) was a Brooklyn-born artist and writer best known for producing supernatural, horror and weird tales. He published his first novel, In the Quarter in 1894 but didn’t receive major recognition until 1895 with a collection of short stories called The King in Yellow. Despite entries in other genres, such as romance and historical fiction, Chambers’ most acclaimed works were Gothic in nature. His eerie tales would go on to inspire a generation of writers including H.P. Lovecraft.

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