Mark McLaughlin's Blog: Revenge of the B-Movie Monster - Posts Tagged "robert-w-chambers"

THE PRISONER OF CARCOSA & More Tales Of The Bizarre by Mark McLaughlin & Michael Sheehan, Jr.

US: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/165...
UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1...

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...

THE PRISONER OF CARCOSA presents tales of the bizarre, featuring Lovecraftian horrors, alien nightmares, oceanic monstrosities, an account of The King In Yellow, and much more. Many of these adventures have only been available so far on Kindle. This paperback collection is a companion volume to HORRORS & ABOMINATIONS, THE HOUSE OF THE OCELOT, and CITY OF LIVING SHADOWS.

In “The Prisoner Of Carcosa,” a traveler falls in love with one of the owners of the Golden Moon Bed & Breakfast. He doesn’t know that the owner’s family guards a copy of the accursed book, The King In Yellow, which brings madness to those who read it. He soon learns that when that evil book is near, a hideous creature known as the Seeker of the Yellow Sign isn’t far behind.

“Horrors Of The Trash Island” presents a Lovecraftian tale of ecological horror. Millionaire Asher Bellworth and his staff take a cruise on his yacht to check out an area in the South Pacific said to be the location of R'lyeh. R'lyeh is a legendary city on a sunken island where the evil entity Cthulhu is said to be trapped in a temple. They see a massive trash island floating over Cthulhu’s realm, and discover that the trash island is inhabited by a bizarre array of deadly mutations, as well as a bizarre human inhabitant.

“Yuletide Mementos: A Tale Of Lovecraftian Horror” is a sequel to Lovecraft’s "At the Mountains of Madness." The tale is set in the family home of Professor William Dyer, leader of an ill-fated Antarctic expedition conducted by Miskatonic University in 1930. When he returned, he brought back two trunks, which he stored in the attic. A young relative is now curious about those trunks, not realizing that they hold an ancient horror, waiting to be unleashed.

In “Diabolical Entities And How To Deal With Them,” Professor Artemis LaGungo provides an overview of the demonic denizens of Hell, and tells how to resist their unholy temptations.

“You Shall Have This Delicacy” tells of the world’s most powerful witch, who gathers her friends for a dinner party with a shocking agenda.

Set in the far future, “Tell Your Secrets To The Slime” follows a band of space explorers to a polluted planet populated by a grotesque life-form that feeds on guilt and sorrow. Will they be able to escape the alien horror that threatens to destroy them?

Mark McLaughlin is the author of EMPRESS OF THE LIVING DEAD, BEST LITTLE WITCH-HOUSE IN ARKHAM and HIDEOUS FACES, BEAUTIFUL SKULLS, among other horror collections. With McLaughlin, Michael Sheehan, Jr. has co-authored the Lovecraftian paperbacks, HORRORS & ABOMINATIONS, THE HOUSE OF THE OCELOT, and CITY OF LIVING SHADOWS, as well as the Kindle collections, THE ABOMINATIONS OF NEPHREN-KA, THE HORROR IN THE WATER TOWER, THE BLASPHEMY IN THE CANOPIC JAR, SHOGGOTH APOCALYPSE, THE RELIC IN THE EGYPTIAN GALLERY, THE CREATURE IN THE WAXWORKS, THE TESTAMENT OF CTHULHU, STAINLESS STEEL SARCOPHAGUS and more.

The Kindle version of the story collection, THE PRISONER OF CARCOSA, is now available:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09NP4FQ6B/
The paperback is also available, and the hardcover will be available within a couple days.

The GoodReads page for the book:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...

The collection, co-written with my best friend, Michael Sheehan. Jr., has received a five-star review on Amazon.

The review: "THE PRISONER OF CARCOSA by Mark McLaughlin and Michael Sheehan, Jr. is a collection of supernatural and sci-fi short stories. This anthology consists of six tales, some written by both authors together, and some written solely by Mark McLaughlin. The subject matter of each story is truly bizarre ... and will delight fans of this genre. What I found refreshing was the quality of the writing that is so good it makes reading a pleasure. Every reader will find their own favorite in this collection. My favorite is McLaughlin’s “Diabolical Entities And How To Deal With Them,” that is at its core a spotlight on our own personal demons that encourage self-destructive and self-defeating behavior. It reminds me very much of C.S. Lewis’s, “The Screwtape Letters,” a cautionary illustration of Satan’s methods of deterring us off the right path. The accompanying offerings in this anthology vary from science fiction to horror, and each is a gem. Altogether, these short stories by Mark McLaughlin and Michael Sheehan, Jr., deliver. Do I recommend THE PRISONER OF CARCOSA? You bet I do! FIVE STARS!!!"

After I left a post on my website, in which Grok, a top form of search engine intelligence, praised my work with King in Yellow stories, friends asked me, “Who does Grok consider to be the top living writer of King in Yellow fiction?” So I asked Grok.

Grok placed me second, after Brian Stableford. That makes sense: Stableford was incredibly talented. But apparently, no one has told Grok that Brian Stableford passed away recently. That saddens me, because I have future trips to England in my plans, but I will never get a chance to meet him.

Grok’s response:

McLaughlin’s style is characterized by vivid, often poetic imagery and a focus on the bizarre and the macabre, making him a natural fit for expanding the King in Yellow universe. While not as voluminous in dedicated mythos work as someone like Brian M. Stableford, McLaughlin’s targeted stories and collaborations bring fresh, unsettling interpretations to Carcosa, the Yellow Sign, and the tattered king’s influence. His award-winning status adds to his credibility in the horror community, and he’s been praised for injecting humor and eccentricity into cosmic dread, which sets him apart.

Key King in Yellow Works:

“Sea-Green Gown With Gold Buttons” (from Weird Worship: Tales of Two Strange Deities & Their Followers, 2022, co-authored with Michael Sheehan, Jr.): This story directly invokes the forbidden play The King in Yellow, portraying a nightclub performer who descends into madness after encountering its secrets and falling in love with a mysterious figure from Carcosa. It captures the mythos’ themes of artistic obsession and inevitable insanity with a modern, performative twist.
Contributions to broader mythos anthologies and collections, such as elements in The Weird World of Mark McLaughlin MEGAPACK® (2018) and Horrors & Abominations (2020, with Sheehan), where Yellow Sign motifs intersect with Cthulhu-inspired entities like Ghattambah (an original creation of McLaughlin’s that sometimes overlaps with Hastur/King lore).
Advertisement

Critical Acclaim and Influence: Beyond the Stoker win, McLaughlin has been nominated for additional Stokers (e.g., Professor Lagungo’s Exotic Artifacts & Assorted Mystic Collectibles in 2003 for poetry) and is celebrated in horror circles for his boundary-pushing prose. Outlets like Cemetery Dance and Fangoria have highlighted his ability to blend poetry and fiction, influencing newer weird fiction writers. His work often appears in mythos-adjacent anthologies, reinforcing the shared universe of Chambers and Lovecraft.
Volume and Breadth: With over a dozen collections, novels like Injectables (2023, a Lovecraftian horror novel tying into Innsmouth and reanimator themes with subtle Yellow Sign echoes), Human Doll (2019), and The Hell Next Door (2021), plus poetry volumes like Crushed Velvet: Poems of Horror & Beauty (2022), McLaughlin’s output is extensive. He’s particularly strong in short fiction and poetry, genres that lend themselves to the fragmented, haunting style of King in Yellow tales.
Living Status: Born in 1961, McLaughlin continues to publish through small presses and independently via Amazon, with recent activity including blog posts and new releases in 2024–2025.
Ranking of Living Contenders
Here’s a take on top living writers of King in Yellow stories, ranked subjectively by a mix of direct mythos engagement, critical reception, and innovation:

Brian M. Stableford: The scholarly benchmark for expansive, philosophical takes.
Mark McLaughlin: A strong second for his Stoker-winning credentials, poetic flair, and direct, madness-focused stories like “Sea-Green Gown With Gold Buttons.” If you prioritize award-winning horror poetry intertwined with the mythos, he’s arguably the greatest in that sub-niche.
Ann K. Schwader: For lyrical poetry collections like The King in Yellow Tales, Vol. 2 (2015), with multiple Stoker nominations.
Caitlín R. Kiernan: Broader cosmic horror with key Yellow Sign integrations, like in The Red Tree (2009).
Galad Elflandsson (M.R. Summerleigh): Underground sequels in The Exile and Other Tales of Carcosa (2025 edition).
Robin D. Laws: Gaming-infused expansions in New Tales of the Yellow Sign (2012).
McLaughlin’s inclusion strengthens the field, especially for readers who enjoy the mythos through a lens of surreal performance and personal descent into the yellow haze.

If you’re a fan of his work, start with Weird Worship—it’s a chilling entry point.