The King In Yellow by Robert Chambers (Overview, no spoilers)
The following contains rough descriptions of some (not all) of the stories in The King In Yellow by Robert Chambers. The book was published in 1895 and has had influence on other authors, including H.P. Lovecraft. "The King in Yellow" refers to a (imaginary) play, a supernatural entity, and the book by Chambers. Also associated with this is something called "the yellow sign."
In order of appearance:
1. The Repairer Of Reputations
The main character is Hildred Castaigne, a mentally unstable and unreliable narrator who obtains and reads the play called The King In Yellow. The story has been called a horror story with "motifs of the Yellow Sign and the King in Yellow." The tale takes place in 1920, at a time when the United States has become intolerably ethnocentric. I must confess that I had to read, and then reread, the story. I found the reading to be dry, but worth the effort. There are ten stories in the collection, but only four relate to the King In Yellow mythos.
The Repairer Of Reputations is preceded by the Table Of Contents and Cassilda's Song from a mysterious play called The King In Yellow:
"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.
2. The Mask
The story can be described as a love story containing elements of fantasy and alchemy (the narrator defines it as chemistry). It has a pleasant ending. It refers to The King In Yellow, with quotes from the same before the story starts:
Camilla: You, sir, should unmask.
Stranger: Indeed?
Cassilda: Indeed it's time. We all have laid aside disguise but you.
Stranger: I wear no mask.
Camilla: (Terrified, aside to Cassilda.) No mask? No mask!
The King in Yellow, Act I, Scene 2.
3. In The Court Of The Dragon
The narrator is on the run from a mysterious organist. The King In Yellow himself appears in this story.
In the Court of the Dragon | The Yellow Site | Fandom
4. The Yellow Sign
The source of the cryptic saying, "Have you found the Yellow Sign?"
https://kinginyellow.fandom.com/wiki/The_Yellow_Sign_(story)
5. The Demoiselle D'Ys
While it doesn't refer specifically to KiY material, I include it because it's an excellent story. It's a love story with elements of time travel.
That's the end of the list, but, again, a few more stories appear in the book. They are not horror or supernatural-oriented tales.
More reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_King_in_Yellow
https://kinginyellow.fandom.com/wiki/The_King_In_Yellow_(The_Book)
Read it for free: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/8492
