A collection of stories from 1895, loosely linked by a forbidden play called 'The King in Yellow' that drives its readers mad. Blending horror, romance, and decadence, the tales invoke the eerie city of Carcosa and other strange realms. Chambers's atmospheric prose made this a foundational work of weird fiction.
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Cover of the original edition (Project Gutenberg, public domain).
Text source: gutenberg.org · The work is in the public domain.
Opening of the book
THE KING IN YELLOW BY ROBERT W. CHAMBERS Original publication date: 1895 THE KING IN YELLOW IS DEDICATED TO MY BROTHER CONTENTS THE REPAIRER OF REPUTATIONS THE MASK IN THE COURT OF THE DRAGON THE YELLOW SIGN THE DEMOISELLE D’YS THE PROPHETS’ PARADISE THE STREET OF THE FOUR WINDS THE STREET OF THE FIRST SHELL THE STREET OF OUR LADY OF THE FIELDS RUE BARRÉE “Along the shore the cloud waves break, The twin suns sink behind the lake, The shadows lengthen In Carcosa. Strange is the night where black stars rise,
And strange moons circle through the skies
But stranger still is
Lost Carcosa.
Songs that the Hyades shall sing,
Where flap the tatters of the King,
Must die unheard in
Dim Carcosa.
Song of my soul, my voice is dead;
Die thou, unsung, as tears unshed
Shall dry and die in
Lost Carcosa.”
Cassilda’s Song in “The King in Yellow,” Act i, Scene 2.
THE REPAIRER OF REPUTATIONS
I
“Ne raillons pas les fous; leur folie dure plus longtemps que la nôtre.... Voila toute la différence.”
Toward the end of the year 1920 the Government of the United
States had practically completed the programme, adopted during the last months of President Winthrop’s administration. The country was apparently tranquil. Everybody knows how the Tariff and Labour questions were settled. The war with Germany, incident on that country’s seizure of the Samoan Islands, had left no visible scars upon the republic, and the temporary occupation of Norfolk by the invading army had been forgotten in the joy over repeated naval victories, and the subsequent ridiculous plight of General Von Gartenlaube’s forces in the State of New Jersey. The Cuban and Hawaiian investments had paid one hundred per cent and the territory of Samoa was well worth its cost as a coaling station. The country was in a superb state of defence. Every coast city had been well supplied with land
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