8 h 8 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 200 pagesHardcover · 6 × 9 in · 200 pagesAbout this book
What if a play could break your mind—and its shadow could follow you into daylight?
In Robert W. Chambers’s The King in Yellow, a forbidden play links the first four stories, drawing its readers toward madness. In The Repairer of Reputations, Hildred Castaigne dreams of ruling a hidden empire in a future New York. In The Mask, Boris Yvain discovers a fluid that turns living things to stone. Beauty and ambition sit close to terror.
In The Yellow Sign, painter Scott cannot forget a church watchman’s face, while his model Tessie Reardon dreams of a hearse. Yet this collection does not stay in nightmare. The Demoiselle d’Ys leads into Breton legend, and later pieces offer prose poems and tender stories of young artists in Paris’s Latin Quarter. Dread gives way to longing, romance and a different kind of uncertainty.
What you’ll discover
- The forbidden play Follow the shadow of a text whose readers cannot trust their own minds.
- Names without answers Carcosa, Hastur and the Yellow Sign suggest a nightmare that Chambers never fully explains.
- Beauty with a cold edge Enter Boris Yvain’s Paris, where a strange discovery brings beauty close to terror.
- A painter’s gathering dread Share Scott’s unease as a watchman’s face and Tessie’s dreams disturb his world.
- Beyond the nightmare Explore Breton legend, prose poems and the tender lives of young artists in Paris.
Is it for you?
This book suits readers who like quiet dread, hints rather than monsters, and a taste of nineteenth century Paris. It may be less suited to those who want a single plot, since only the first half is about the play.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A play that no reader survives unharmed
- A madman plans to rule a future America
- Beauty and terror in an artist's Paris
- A brooch, a watchman and a hearse
- From nightmare to Breton legend and Paris romance
- How Chambers builds dread from what he leaves out
Who’s who
- Hildred CastaigneThe narrator of The Repairer of Reputations, a young New Yorker who has read the play and dreams of ruling a hidden empire.
- Mr. WildeA deformed shopkeeper among cats and files who claims he can mend or destroy any reputation in the city.
- Boris YvainA young chemist in Paris who has found a fluid that turns living things to stone, in The Mask.
- ScottA New York painter in The Yellow Sign, troubled by the face of a church watchman he cannot forget.
- Tessie ReardonScott's model and friend, who loves him and is haunted by dreams of a hearse.
- Jack HastingsAn American who loses his way in Brittany and falls in love with a woman from an old family in The Demoiselle d'Ys.
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- 15-minute summary
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- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in, 200 pages: 9,95 USD when you start free, 15,95 USD on its own.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Horror & GothicFree to read
The King in Yellow
by Robert W. Chambers· 1895
Stories of a sinister play give way to artists’ romances.
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Language: Italiano
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 6
A play that no reader survives unharmed
The book opens with a verse from the play itself and then with the idea that holds the early stories together. There is a play called The King in Yellow. Its first act is harmless and even lovely. The trouble comes in the second act, where the words, we are told, strike the reader with a terror he cannot shake.
Chambers gives us only scraps of this play. We hear of a mysterious city named Carcosa, of twin suns sinking behind a lake, of a woman named Cassilda, and of a pale king whose cloak is yellow. We also hear of Hastur, a name that drifts through the tales without a clear meaning. The king himself wears a Pallid Mask, and his sign, the Yellow Sign, is a symbol that marks those he has chosen.
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The author
Robert W. Chambers
1865–1933 · American novelist and illustrator
Robert W. Chambers was an American writer whose 1895 collection The King in Yellow became a cornerstone of weird fiction, casting its influence over H.P. Lovecraft and generations of horror writers since. He was a successful popular novelist in his day, but this early work is what endures.
“Along the shore the cloud waves break, The twin suns sink behind the lake, The shadows lengthen In Carcosa.”
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What is The King in Yellow about?
It is a collection of stories, the first four linked by a cursed play that drives readers mad. The later pieces include a ghostly romance, prose poems and tales of artists in Paris.
What is the Yellow Sign?
It is a mysterious symbol tied to the king in the play. In the story named for it, those who come to know it are marked and followed. Chambers never says exactly what it looks like.
Is The King in Yellow a real play?
No. The play is an invention of Chambers. He gives only scraps of it, such as Carcosa, Cassilda and the Pallid Mask, and never prints the text, which is why it seems so threatening.
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