Classic Horror Lovers discussion

Lets kick off a buddy read of The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers

"The Repairer of Reputations"
"The Mask"
"In the Court of the Dragon"
"The Yellow Sign"
"The Demoiselle d'Ys"
"The Prophets' Paradise"
"The Street of the Four Winds"
"The Street of the First Shell"
"The Street of Our Lady of the Fields"
"Rue Barrée"

Read at your own pace and post any comments you have. Be sure to use spoiler tags.

we did a reading of "The Yellow Sign" on PSEUDOPOD, for those interested (as always, it's free!)

http://pseudopod.org/2013/12/13/pseud...

I intend to join in, but (as usual) may be playing catch-up. I dimly remember reading this classic back in the 70's or 80's. It's past due for another peek.

I would like to join in on this buddy read. :)

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/8492

In case anyone needs a copy, it's free at the above link on Gutenberg.

*****"The Repairer of Reputations"*****

How about the 1890's idea of Utopia?

(view spoiler)[Suicide chambers, "the exclusion of foreign-born Jews as a measure of self-preservation, the settlement of the new independent negro state" and the "Indian problem" solved. (hide spoiler)]

*****"The Repairer of Reputations"*****

So....knowing no more than what is to be read in the first short story...tell me if I got this right...

(view spoiler)[Wilde, The Repairer of Reputations, was nothing more than a blackmailer. Hildred murdered Wilde thinking he was killing the cat. Vance, who was being blackmailed by Wilde, failed to murder Constance and Hawberk, choosing instead to commit suicide. Thus, as can be assumed(?), Louis marries Constance and destroys any chance of the destiny that Hildred saw for himself as the king, the idea of which may or may not have been the ramblings of an insane person to begin with. Hildred, arrested for the murder of Wilde, dies in the insane asylum. (hide spoiler)]

This is going to be fun!

*****"The Mask"*****

Pretty straight-forward story. Its kind of obvious where the story-line is heading. The protagonist was a bit slow to pick up on the clues though.

Good story!

(view spoiler)[Before the white rabbit appeared in the house, I expected that the stone Genevieve was going to end up being one of the "Fates" at the Lethal Chamber described in "The Repairer of Reputations". (hide spoiler)]

*****"In the Court of the Dragon"*****

(view spoiler)[The protagonist reads "The King in Yellow" and then doses in church and dreams he is being pursued by Death. He awakens just as the sermon wraps up, recognizes the dream for what it was and then, seeing "Death" again, realizes that he is in reality being pursued by Death as an agent of the King in Yellow, the "living god". Reality or madness brought on by reading "The King in Yellow"? (hide spoiler)]

"The Repairer of Reputations"
I did see that the story was set in the borderland between madness and some "other reality" (but did not catch on that the "repairer of reputations" was actually a blackmailer).
This story raises a fascinating (to me) question - are some people ("crazy" if you like) actually able to slip out of this world and into another world (in their mind, at least) with this other world appearing equally as real as this one?
Are worlds like Carcosa truly as real for some people as this one?
Another similar "world" is Amber. I am not saying Zelazny slipped back and forward (in his mind) between Earth and Amber, but the whole process of moving around in Shadow made me wonder (as does any similar story I read) - is there a certain kind of ("crazy") person who slips back and forward between different worlds that seem equally as real?

Clashton wrote: ""The Repairer of Reputations"
I did see that the story was set in the borderland between madness and some "other reality" (but did not catch on that the "repairer of reputations" was actually a bla..."

(view spoiler)[He was bringing in a lot of cash from people that had a reason to hide something:

"He read name after name of the people who had come to him in regard to their reputation, and the sums he had amassed were startling.

"I put on the screws now and then." he explained.

"One day or the other some of these people will assassinate you," I insisted."

I think the only "repairing" of reputations he was doing was extorting money from people to prevent the info he had from becoming common knowledge. (hide spoiler)]

Ken wrote: "Clashton wrote: ""The Repairer of Reputations"
I did see that the story was set in the borderland between madness and some "other reality" (but did not catch on that the "repairer of reputations" w..."

Very clear now that you point it out. I took it literally, that a repairer of reputations was a real skill, being part of this new society, like the lethal chamber.

It will be interesting to get other opinions on that.

Spoiler Alert below!

I just finished "Repairer of Reputations." What a wild ride! I'm not quite sure how I feel about it other than it was very enjoyable to read. Some of the descriptions of how places were rebuilt was a little dull, but thankfully it wasn't a large portion of the story so it balanced out. I've read a couple stories by Lovecraft and the same frenzied pace found in his writing was achieved in this story as well. Subltle (or perhaps not so subtle?) hints towards racism was present as well. I can't say I enjoy that, it's just something that is.


Spoiler! (Don't know if this will work since using my phone, but I tried...)


Imagine a death chamber? That portion of the story along with the frenzied love of a crown that may or may not have been magnificent were most interesting to me. Great story, well written, I will glady read more. :)

I just read the comment about not realizing the "repairer of reputations" was a blackmailer. I picked up on that too. But not until Vance was given orders and his reaction to the orders.

Loved the crazy cat, that was a strange addition to an already strange situation but didn't detract from it.

On a side note I recently (months ago?) role played a game centered on the king in yellow and we also had the insane cat present. We mowed it down with a car - didn't have a choice, it was pretty vicious. That was only fun because it was pretend, but it was fun indeed.

K4tie wrote: "Loved the crazy cat, that was a strange addition to an already strange situation but didn't detract from it...."

(view spoiler)[I actually wondered if the cat wasn't just imaginary. The story kept pointing out how Wilde "squatted" in chairs or on the floor. Sounds kind of feline to me. (hide spoiler)]

The Mask

Fairly simple story - good atmosphere.

Incidentally, for those that don't know there are a number of music groups influenced by the Carcosa/King in Yellow stories.

There is also a tribute lp, with several bands
http://www.rainfallsite.com/KIY3.html

On the topic of "The Mask", from that compilation here are
The Petals - The Pallid Mask
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxABX...

[Spoiler alert]


Just finished "The Mask." Although these were new characters the same theme of madness and obsession with the king in yellow carried on. I knew what to expect at the end but not until as it was first hinted.

This story wasn't as filled with a feverish pace as the last and therefore I read it much slower. Good psychological thrill in both stories so far.

Does anyone else pick up on the stories moving slowly, as if dancing, around the plot of the story and then picking up at a break neck spread dash to the end? Could be just me, but the author definitely has control of his flow of the story.

*****"The Yellow Sign"*****

Outside of verifying the madness caused by reading the play, "The King in Yellow", I didn't see much else in this short story, though I am sure we will run into a tie-in later in one of the other stories.

The description of the dream and of the church watchman were both haunting.

*****"The Demoiselle d'Ys"*****

I really liked this tale. But, I couldn't see the tie-in with "The King in Yellow"....maybe in a later story?

(view spoiler)[So, the question is...was it a dream brought on by a slight poisoning from a snakebite or did Phillip traverse time in meeting the young Demoiselle d'Ys?

I am going with dream. The names of the servants I thought were a good hint. Loup Garou...werewolf? Pelagie..."people of the sea"? Jeanne La Flamme...a Duchess of Brittany? Hastur...a recurring name in these short stories? (the tie-in?). etc.

I think Phillip got bit by the snake and hallucinated the whole episode taking cues from his surroundings. (hide spoiler)]

Another great story!

Ken wrote: "*****"The Demoiselle d'Ys"*****

I really liked this tale. But, I couldn't see the tie-in with "The King in Yellow"....maybe in a later story? ..."

I preferred to think of it as a ghost story, myself. :)

Charlene wrote: "I preferred to think of it as a ghost story, myself. :) ..."

That would be more fun!

*****The Prophets' Paradise*****

WTF was that?

*****The Street of the Four Winds*****

This was a nice little story that doesn't appear to tie in at all with the King in Yellow story line, though the mentioning of a Fate has me questioning that line of thought. I am sure that it was chock full of symbolism that could be explained in depth by an academic, whether the symbolism is real or imagined, accidental or intentional.

Sounds good!

Here's a topic for The King in Yellow that we did previously, if anyone would like to see our impressions. I loved it, it was dreamlike and very imaginative.

Just started this yesterday. Very interesting world he creates. Putting the Lethal thing right in the city center is a weird idea. Reminds me of that ST episode with war operated by computers.

I finished "The King in Yellow" The King in Yellow and Other Horror Stories several days ago.
The stories that referenced "The King in Yellow" and "Carcosa" left a haunting impression on me, and left me wanting more, like I want to see Carcosa for myself.

I know there is at least one compilation of stories that derive from "The King in Yellow", and "Carcosa", so I will try those at some point.

The stories in the second half of the book were ok, but more about regular life of an American living in Paris (even if some were set during time of war), but lacked that atmosphere of another world (even if a world that exists only in madness) just dimly sensed, or sensed only by the main character in the story.

An excellent review of Robert W. Chambers' The King in Yellow , written by Michael Dirda, was posted today on barnesandnoblereview.com. As well as going into some detail about the individual stories in that collection, the essay (entitled "Robert W. Chambers: Sentimental Horrification") talks about some of the author's other books (viz., The Slayer of Souls and In Search of the Unknown ). Dirda's essay can be found here.

I am reading this (off and on) due to the special edition from the Lovecraft EZINE special tribute to the novel. I am not enamored with the stories so far.