The King in Yellow is an 1895 book of stories by Robert W. Chambers. It seems to be well known in some circles, partly because it was an influence on H.P. Lovecraft, but I only recently got it in my head. I read the open Project Gutenberg edition.
I’m writing it up because of the first half of the book, the Carcosa stories. Related stories by Ambrose Bierce (who invented a less interesting city of Carcosa) and Lovecraft (who followed up later) are overwrought and not at all as fun to read. Here the writing is clean, the story twists are easy but unpredictable, and when the protagonist goes insane it’s indicated by spare otherworldly visions of Carcosa: “I saw the moon dripping with spray; and beyond, the towers of Carcosa rose behind the moon.” It’s a genre I usually skip over, but I loved it.
Oh, that line sounds Modernist to me, and ahead of its time.
The rest of the book is Latin Quarter of Paris bohemian artist stories, which I made it through but would have been as happy not to.
Original version, August 2014.
Updated and added here August 2021.