The King in Yellow

"The King in Yellow is a book of short stories by American writer Robert W. Chambers, first published by F. Tennyson Neely in 1895. The book is named after a play with the same title which recurs as a motif through some of the stories. The first half of the book features highly esteemed weird stories, and the book has been described by critics such as E. F. Bleiler, S. T. Joshi and T. E. D. Klein as a classic in the field of the supernatural. There are ten stories, the first four of which («„The Repairer of Reputations“», «„The Mask“», «„In the Court of the Dragon“», and «„The Yellow Sign“») mention The King in Yellow, a forbidden play which induces despair or madness in those who read it.

The first and fourth stories, «„The Repairer of Reputations“» and «„The Yellow Sign“», are set in an imagined future 1920s America, whereas the second and third stories, «„The Mask“» and «„In the Court of the Dragon“», are set in Paris. These stories are haunted by the theme: «„Have you found the Yellow Sign?“»

The weird and macabre character gradually fades away during the remaining stories, and the last three are written in the romantic fiction style common to Chambers' later work. They are all linked to the preceding stories by their Parisian setting and their artistic protagonists.

Robert W. Chambers is also famous for such works as:

""The Repairer of Reputations"«, „„In the Court of the Dragon““, „„The Demoiselle d'Ys““, „„The Prophets' Paradise““, „„The Maker of Moons““.»