In this anthology of weird fiction, twenty-two authors who found the Yellow Sign share their harrowing visions of worlds shaped by its influence in stories and poems inspired by Robert W. Chambers’s foundational works of weird horror. From the personal to the historic, from the macabre to the fantastic, the stories and poems gathered here illuminate new, unexpected realities shaped by the King in Yellow, under the sway of the Yellow Sign, or in the grip of madnesses inspired by their power.

Robert W. Chambers’s classic work of weird fiction, The King in Yellow , contained two stories that have exercised wide influence in the genre. “The Repairer of Reputations” introduced the world to The King in Yellow, a play in two acts, banned for its reputed power to drive mad anyone who reads its complete text. Another story, “The Yellow Sign,” used the experiences of an artist and his model to elaborate on the mythos of the Yellow King, the Yellow Sign, and their danger to all who encounter them. In those tales Chambers crafted fascinating glimpses of a cosmos populated by conspiracies, government-sanctioned suicide chambers, haunted artists, premonitions of death, unreliable narrators—and dark, enigmatic occurrences tainted by the alien world of Carcosa, where the King rules in his tattered yellow mantle. In Carcosa, black stars rise and Cassilda and Camilla speak and sing. In Carcosa, eyes peer from within pallid masks to gaze across Lake Hali at the setting of twin suns.

Reader Reviews

Myles

(5/5)

May 16, 2024

An amazing King In Yellow anthology. So many of these stories are stand outs and they are all very well written. What I appreciate about this book is that each story is varied in their prose and their interpretation of the KiY, as well as the direction that their story takes. 4.5/5

Holley

(4/5)

Review coming soon.

Ctgt

Solid collectionReally enjoyed"Robert Chambers Reads The King in Yellow" by Lisa Norton"The Yellow Crown" by Carol Gyzander"Freedom for All" by JG Faherty"European Theater" by Trevor FiretogTop three stories"Y2K" by Todd Keisling"Suanee" by Steven Van Patten"The Exchange" by Tim Waggoner8/10

Jeremiah Dylan Cook

You can find my full review here - http://www.jeremiahdylancook.com/unde...

Elle

Good collection of stories with a strong central theme; not just The King in Yellow but the historical context suggested at in Chambers's works.

J.R. Santos

I liked this very much. I would give a higher rating if the editor at caught some minor mistakes (spelling error in a couple of stories) and the last story had been two separate, shorter tales.The last one I understand was published after the author's death and had multiple people review it and make changes to make it publication ready. It was a work of love, and I imagine it has a very special and personal meaning, which I can appreciate and made me value it as well.It's a good story. However i...

Alicia Hilton

Stories inspired by The Yellow King. Favorites: John Langan's "Helioforge," Sarah Read's "The Inn of the Fates," and Tim Waggoner's "The Exchange.”

John Collins

One of the best anthologies I’ve read. Each and every story is solid, built on a frightening foundation and filled with brilliant images and elegant language.

Tomasz

(2/5)

Major disappointment, actually. Very poorly edited, both in selecting the stories and cleaning up the copy (the Joe Pulver novelette is almost unreadable, in parts). Not much invention on show, either. Oh well.

Nikki

I enjoyed all the stories, though the last one was pretty disappointing - if you want to end on a high note, maybe read that one in a different order. Definitely a good idea to re-read The King in Yellow first to get the most out of this!

Kyla Ward

(3/5)

In any theme anthology, the reader may expect to encounter works that satisfy them and works that do not. When that theme derives from two short stories originally published in 1895, you may expect this to go double or even triple, given the dizzying ambiguity of Robert W. Chambers’ “The Repairer of Reputations” and “The Yellow Sign”. Chambers’ weird oeuvre includes more tales than this, but these two contain most of what is known about The King in Yellow – the legendary play that drives all who...

Michael Norwitz

An anthology of different takes on worlds under the sway of "The King In Yellow." Some of the stories didn't do much for me, but quite a few were excellent and haunting. I think anyone interested in the oeuvre would enjoy the book.

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