Public reader discussion about The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers.
By whiteduck
Damn, that Repairer of Respect story was actually really good. Wilde, Constance, Louise, and the narrator all felt like they fit the setting perfectly. I’m gonna knock out the other 8 stories over the next week or so. Also, quick question—can anyone recommend more H.P. Lovecraft stuff? I wanna keep reading his books after KIY.
By basketCold
I’ve been wanting to read The King in Yellow for a while, but I’m kind of stuck on where to actually get a physical copy. I’ve seen free audiobooks and downloads floating around, but I really prefer having a real book in my hands. I’m not sure which edition to grab, and Amazon hasn’t really worked out for me so far. I saw people talking about different versions, but I mostly just want the same physical collection that’s on the Internet Archive. Edit 2: I finally found one that looks like it has what I was hoping for (Cassilda’s Song and all ten stories, as far as I can tell). I bought it through my local bookstore first so I could check what was inside, and here’s the link to the one I got in case anyone else is trying to track down the same thing: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-king-in-yellow-robert-w-chambers/1100069467?ean=9781464213717
By StillHawk
This is one of those stories that really sticks with you. I kept thinking about how much the “unreliable narrator” messes with what you’re even supposed to believe, and a bunch of the themes still feel way too current—like assisted dying, immigration, racism, wealth inequality, infrastructure, all that. It’s all packed into this “story” that leaves you kind of unsettled the whole time. And the constant intense inner thoughts make me feel like I can’t really trust anything. I honestly don’t even know what part is made up or hallucinated—does that even matter, though? I’m curious what other people think about it.
By whiteisland72
This might be a dumb question, but has anyone bought a bunch of copies of the same book before and noticed big differences? I’m trying to track down an edition/publisher for The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers. Is there one that people generally thought was better than the rest—especially for the illustrations? I’ve read some reviews saying certain reprints were kind of awful, both in what they included and how it looked/was printed. Do you know if there’s a specific year or edition that’s got the full Robert W. Chambers stuff and also decent, well-done artwork? Or am I basically going to have to choose between the content and the visuals?
By cup_cold
This is basically a spot to gush or vent about horror books, just be cool about it. If you’re gonna disagree with people, that’s totally fine since horror is so subjective and not everyone’s gonna like the same stuff. But if you start getting abusive, you’ll be gone—looks like bans can be temporary or even permanent depending on the first offense. They also want to keep things from getting spammy, so no image-only posts, no blog spam, no surveys, and don’t promote your own unpublished or self-published fiction. Also skip linking to fundraisers or anything for sale. Spoiler tags are up to you. If you want to hide a possible spoiler, use the [spoiler text here] thing. There are AMAs coming up (all listed in ET), and there’s a bunch of “essential resources” and other horror-related subs, plus a few external publishers/sites. Hope it’s fun.