Der König in Gelb

Von Robert W. Chambers

Das Original, bekannt aus der TV-Serie True Detective und die Vorlage zu H. P. Lovecrafts Necronomicon.

Der König in Gelb erzählt von einem furchtbaren Buch, das jedem, der darin liest, Wahnsinn und Tod bringt. Bemerkt man die Gefahr, ist es längst schon zu spät.


Inhalt: Cassildas Lied - Der Wiederhersteller des guten Rufes - Die Maske - Am Hofe des Drachen - Das Gelbe Zeichen - Die Jungfer d'Ys - Das Paradies der Propheten - Die Straße der Vier Winde - Nachwort von Michael Nagula: Robert W. Chambers: Fantast zwischen Poesie und Dekadenz & Die Bücher des Robert W. Chambers



H. P. Lovecraft: 'Chambers erklomm beachtliche Gipfel des kosmischen Grauens'.

E. F. Bleiler: 'Das wichtigste Buch in der amerikanischen Literatur des Unheimlichen zwischen Poe und den Modernen.'

Ein gelungenes Werk in der Manier von H. P. Lovecraft. Die Gestalt des Königs in Gelb ist im Cthulhu-Mythos als Avatar von Hastur bekannt. Sein Erscheinen wird durch das Gelbe Zeichen angekündigt. Diese Ausgabe enthält alle unheimlichen Geschichten des Originals sowie ein ausführliches Nachwort zu Leben und Werk Robert W. Chambers (1865 ? 1933).

• Sprache: Deutsch
• Herausgeber: Festa Verlag
• Erscheinungsdatum: 17. Juli 2014
• ISBN: 9783865523334

Buchvorschau

Impressum

1. Auflage August 2014

Copyright © dieser Ausgabe 2014 by Festa Verlag, Leipzig

Titelbild: Borja Pindado – www.borjapindado.blogspot.de

Alle Rechte vorbehalten

eBook 978-3-86552-333-4

www.Festa-Verlag.de

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The King in Yellow

DEDICATED

TO

MY BROTHER

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 1, Scene 2

Der König in Gelb

Meinem

Bruder

gewidmet

An der Küste brechen dunkle Wogen,

Die Zwillingssonne hintern See gezogen,

Die Schatten werden lang

In Carcosa.

Seltsam die Nacht, da schwarze Sterne scheinen

Und seltsame Monde am Himmel kreisen,

Doch seltsamer noch ist

Das verlorene Carcosa.

Lieder, welche die Hyaden singen,

Wo die Lumpen des Königs schwingen,

Ersterben ungehört im

Finsteren Carcosa.

Lied meiner Seele, meine Stimme tot,

So stirb ungesungen, wie Tränen rot

Trocknen und sterben im

Verlornen Carcosa.

– Cassildas Lied in Der König in Gelb,

erster Akt, zweite Szene

Der Wiederhersteller des guten Rufes

Ne raillons pas les fous; leur folie dure plus longtemps que la nôtre …

Voilà toute la différence.

I

Gegen Ende des Jahres 1920 hatte die Regierung der Vereinigten Staaten das Programm so gut wie beendet, das während der letzten Monate von Präsident Winthrops Amtszeit begonnen worden war. Das Land war allem Anschein nach ruhig. Jedermann weiß, wie die Fragen von Tarif und Arbeit gelöst worden waren. Der Krieg mit Deutschland, eine Folge der Eroberung der Inseln von Samoa durch jenes Land, hatte auf der Republik keine sichtbaren Narben hinterlassen, und die zeitweilige Besetzung Norfolks durch das einfallende Heer war in der Freude über die wiederholten Siege auf See und dem darauf folgenden lächerlichen Gelöbnis General von Gartenlaubes im Staate New Jersey vergessen worden. Die Belagerung von Kuba und Hawaii hatte sich hundertprozentig ausgezahlt, und das Gebiet Samoas war als Bunkerstation der Mühe wert. Das Land befand sich in einem ausgezeichneten Verteidigungszustand. Jede Küstenstadt war großzügig mit Landbefestigungen ausgestattet worden; die Armee unter der väterlichen Obhut des Generalstabs, organisiert gemäß dem preußischen System, war auf 300.000 Mann mit einer Reserve von einer Million Landwehrmännern verstärkt worden; und sechs prachtvolle Geschwader von Kreuzern und Schlachtschiffen überwachten die sechs Stationen der befahrbaren Meere und ließen eine Reserveeinheit Dampfschiffe zurück, die mehr als fähig war, die heimatlichen Gewässer zu beaufsichtigen. Die ehrenwerten Herren aus dem Westen hatten sich zu guter Letzt zu dem Eingeständnis genötigt gesehen, dass eine Schule zur Ausbildung von Diplomaten ebenso notwendig war wie die juristische Fakultät für die Ausbildung von Rechtsanwälten; als Folge dessen wurden wir im Ausland nicht länger von unfähigen Patrioten vertreten. Die Nation erblühte. Chicago, einen Augenblick lang betäubt nach einer zweiten großen Feuersbrunst, war aus seinen Ruinen auferstanden, weiß und herrschaftlich und schöner als die weiße Stadt, die im Jahre 1893 als ihr Spielzeug erbaut worden war. Überall wurde schlechte Bauweise durch gute ersetzt, und selbst in New York hatte ein plötzliches Verlangen nach Schicklichkeit einen Großteil der dort vorhandenen Schrecken hinweggefegt. Man hatte die Straßen erweitert, sauber gepflastert und erleuchtet, Bäume gepflanzt, Plätze angelegt, Hochbahnbauten abgerissen und Untergrundtrassen erbaut, um sie zu ersetzen. Die neuen Regierungsgebäude und Kasernen waren schöne Beispiele der Baukunst, und das lange System steinerner Kais, welche die Insel vollständig umgaben, hatte man in Parkanlagen verwandelt, die sich für die Bevölkerung als Geschenk des Himmels erwiesen. Die finanzielle Unterstützung des staatlichen Theaters und der Oper zahlte sich aus. Die nationale Kunsthochschule glich in vielerlei Hinsicht ähnlichen Einrichtungen in Europa. Niemand beneidete den Kultusminister, weder um seinen Posten im Kabinett noch um seinen Amtsbereich. Der Minister für Forst und Wildgehege hatte es dank des neuen Systems berittener Polizisten wesentlich einfacher. Wir schlugen großen Gewinn aus den letzten Abkommen mit Frankreich und England; der Ausschluss von im Ausland geborenen Juden als eine Maßnahme nationaler Selbsterhaltung, die Gründung des neuen, unabhängigen Negerstaates Suanee, die Einwanderungskontrollen, die neuen Gesetze zur Einbürgerung und die allmähliche Zentralisierung der Exekutivmacht trugen alle zum nationalen Frieden und Gedeihen bei. Als die Regierung das Indianerproblem damit löste, dass Schwadronen indianischer Kavalleriekundschafter in überlieferter Tracht von einem vormaligen Kriegsminister den zahlenmäßig reduzierten Regimentern angefügt wurden, entließ die Nation einen langen Seufzer der Erleichterung. Als nach dem gewaltigen Religionskongress Bigotterie und Unduldsamkeit zu Grabe getragen wurden und Güte und Nächstenliebe einander bekämpfende Glaubensgemeinschaften zusammenbrachten, dachten viele, das Reich Gottes sei gekommen, zumindest in der Neuen Welt, die ja ohnehin eine Welt für sich ist.

Doch Selbsterhaltung ist das erste Gebot, und die Vereinigten Staaten mussten in ohnmächtiger Sorge mit ansehen, wie Deutschland, Italien, Spanien und Belgien sich im Griff der Anarchie wanden, während Russland, das sie vom Kaukasus aus beobachtete, nach und nach alle in die Knie zwang und fesselte.

In der Stadt New York war der Sommer des Jahres 1899 durch den Abbruch der Hochbahntrassen gekennzeichnet. Der Sommer des Jahres 1900 wird noch über viele Generationen im Gedächtnis der Bevölkerung New Yorks bleiben; das Dodge-Standbild wurde in diesem Jahr entfernt. Im darauffolgenden Winter begann der Kampf um die Aufhebung der Gesetze, welche den Selbstmord verboten, der seine letzten Früchte im April des Jahres 1920 trug, als die erste Todeskammer der Regierung am Washington Square eröffnet wurde.

Ich hatte an jenem Tage Dr. Archers Haus in der Madison Avenue verlassen, den ich aufgrund einer bloßen Formsache aufgesucht hatte. Seit dem Sturz von meinem Pferd vier Jahre zuvor war ich zuweilen von Schmerzen im Hinterkopf und Nacken geplagt, die jetzt aber seit Monaten nicht mehr aufgetreten waren, und der Arzt schickte mich an diesem Tag fort mit den Worten, an mir gebe es nichts mehr zu heilen. Es war kaum sein Honorar wert, das zu hören; ich wusste es selbst. Dennoch missgönnte ich ihm sein Geld nicht. Was mir nicht gefiel, war der Fehler, den er zu Anfang begangen hatte. Als man mich von der Straße aufhob, wo ich bewusstlos lag und wo jemand meinem Pferd den Gnadenschuss verpasst hatte, brachte man mich zu Doktor Archer, und der erklärte mein Gehirn für geschädigt und wies mich in sein privates Sanatorium ein, wo ich gezwungenermaßen die Behandlung für Geisteskranke über mich ergehen lassen musste. Schließlich beschied er, dass ich wohlauf sei, und ich, der ich wusste, dass mein Geist die ganze Zeit über so gesund gewesen war wie der seine, wenn nicht noch mehr, »bezahlte meinen Unterricht«, wie er es scherzend nannte, und ging. Ich erzählte ihm lächelnd, dass ich ihm seinen Fehler heimzahlen werde, und er lachte herzhaft und bat mich, ihn dann und wann aufzusuchen. Das tat ich in der Hoffnung auf eine Gelegenheit, die Rechnung zu begleichen, doch er bot mir keine, und ich sagte ihm, ich würde warten.

Der Sturz von meinem Pferd hatte glücklicherweise keine nachteiligen Folgen; im Gegenteil hatte er mein ganzes Wesen zum Besseren gewandelt. Von einem faulen, jungen Mann, der durch die Stadt streifte, war ich zu einem tätigen, energischen, maßvollen und vor allem – oh, vor allem anderen – zielstrebigen Menschen geworden. Es gab nur eine Sache, die mich beunruhigte; ich lachte über mein eigenes Unbehagen, und dennoch beunruhigte es mich.

Während meiner Genesung hatte ich den König in Gelb gekauft und zum ersten Mal gelesen. Ich erinnerte mich, dass mir nach der Lektüre des ersten Akts der Gedanke kam, besser damit aufzuhören. Ich sprang auf und warf das Buch in den Kamin; der Band traf den Kaminrost und blieb aufgeschlagen im Licht des Feuers liegen. Hätte ich nicht einen Blick auf die ersten Worte des zweiten Akts erhascht, hätte ich es wohl nie zu Ende gelesen, doch als ich mich vorbeugte, um es aufzuheben, blieb mein Blick auf der aufgeschlagenen Seite haften, und mit einem Schrei des Entsetzens oder vielleicht eines so durchdringenden Entzückens, dass es in jedem Nerv brannte, riss ich das Ding aus den Kohlen und kroch zitternd in mein Schlafzimmer, wo ich es immer wieder von vorn las, und ich weinte und lachte und bebte vor Grauen, das mich zuweilen noch heute heimsucht. Dies ist, was mich beunruhigt, denn ich kann Carcosa nicht vergessen, an dessen Himmel schwarze Sterne hängen; wo sich der Schatten menschlicher Gedanken des Nachmittags verlängert, wenn die Zwillingssonnen im See von Hali versinken; und in meinem Geist wird auf ewig die Erinnerung an die Bleiche Maske bleiben. Ich bete zu Gott, dass er den Autor verflucht, denn dieser Autor verfluchte die Welt mit seiner wunderschönen, gewaltigen Schöpfung, so schrecklich in ihrer Einfalt, so unwiderstehlich in ihrer Wahrheit – eine Welt, die nun vor dem König in Gelb erzittert. Als die französische Regierung die Übersetzung des Buches in Paris beschlagnahmen ließ, las man es in London natürlich voller Eifer. Es ist wohlbekannt, dass sich das Buch wie eine ansteckende Krankheit von Stadt zu Stadt und von Erdteil zu Erdteil ausbreitete, hier verboten, dort beschlagnahmt, öffentlich angeprangert durch Presse und Pfaffen, missbilligt selbst von den fortschrittlichsten literarischen Anarchisten. Kein feststehendes Prinzip war auf diesen verruchten Seiten verletzt worden, keine Lehre verkündet, keine Überzeugungen beleidigt. Es konnte aufgrund keines bekannten Maßstabes beurteilt werden, und wenngleich man zugab, dass die höchste Note der Kunst im König in Gelb zum Erklingen kam, so spürten doch alle, dass die Natur des Menschen weder dieser Belastung standhalten noch an Worten gedeihen konnte, in denen die Essenz reinsten Giftes verborgen lag. Die äußerste Banalität und Unschuld des ersten Aktes gestattete dem folgenden Schlag lediglich, eine umso schrecklichere Wirkung zu entfalten.

Es war, wie ich mich entsinne, am 13. April 1920, dass die erste Todeskammer der Regierung an der Südseite des Washington Square zwischen der Wooster Street und der South Fifth Avenue eröffnet wurde. Den Häuserblock, der zuvor aus einer Menge schäbiger alter Gebäude bestanden hatte, von Ausländern als Cafés und Restaurants benutzt, hatte die Regierung im Winter des Jahres 1898 angekauft. Die französischen und italienischen Gaststätten wurden abgerissen; der gesamte Block war von einem vergoldeten Eisengeländer umschlossen und in einen lieblichen Garten mit Rasen, Blumen und Brunnen verwandelt worden. Inmitten des Gartens stand ein kleines, weißes Gebäude, streng klassisch in der Bauweise und umgeben von Blumenhecken. Sechs ionische Säulen trugen das Dach, und die einzige Tür war aus Bronze gefertigt. Eine herrliche Marmorgruppe der drei Parzen stand vor dem Eingang, das Werk eines amerikanischen Bildhauers namens Boris Yvain, der im jungen Alter von 23 Jahren in Paris gestorben war.

Die Einweihungsfestlichkeiten waren bereits im Gange, als ich den University Place überquerte. Ich bahnte mir den Weg durch die stumme Schar der Zuschauer, wurde aber an der Fourth Street von einem Polizeispalier aufgehalten. Ein Ulanenregiment der Vereinigten Staaten war im Viereck um die Todeskammer aufgestellt. Auf einer erhöhten Tribüne, die dem Washington Park gegenüberlag, stand der Gouverneur von New York, und hinter ihm befanden sich die Bürgermeister von New York und Brooklyn, der Oberinspektor der Polizei, der Befehlshaber der staatlichen Truppen, Oberst Livingston, der militärische Berater des Präsidenten der Vereinigten Staaten, General Blount, kommandierend auf Governor‘s Island, Generalmajor Hamilton, Befehlshaber der Garnison von New York und Brooklyn, Admiral Buffby von der North-River-Flotte, Generalstabsarzt Lanceford, der Stab des National Free Hospital, die New Yorker Senatoren Wyse und Franklin und der Beauftragte für öffentliche Bauarbeiten. Die Tribüne war umgeben von einer Schwadron Husaren von der Nationalgarde.

Der Gouverneur beendete gerade seine Antwort auf die kurze Rede des Generalstabsarztes. Ich hörte ihn sagen: »Die Gesetze, die Selbstmord verbieten und jeden Versuch, sich selbst zu entleiben, unter Strafe stellen, sind aufgehoben worden. Die Regierung hält es für angebracht, den Menschen das Recht zu gewähren, ein Dasein zu beenden, das unerträglich geworden ist, sei es durch körperliches Leiden oder seelische Verzweiflung. Wir glauben, dass die Gesellschaft von der Entfernung solcher Menschen aus ihrer Mitte profitieren wird. Seit dem Inkrafttreten dieses Gesetzes ist die Anzahl der Selbstmorde in den Vereinigten Staaten nicht angestiegen. Nun, da die Regierung beschlossen hat, eine Todeskammer in jeder Groß- und Kleinstadt und jedem Dorf des Landes einzurichten, wird man sehen müssen, ob jene Gruppe menschlicher Geschöpfe, aus deren mutlosen Reihen täglich neue Opfer der Selbstzerstörung anheimfallen, die damit gebotene Erleichterung annehmen.« Er hielt inne und wandte sich zu der weißen Todeskammer. Die Stille auf der Straße war ungebrochen. »Hier erwartet ein schmerzloser Tod diejenigen, welche die Sorgen dieses Lebens nicht länger ertragen können. Ist der Tod ihnen willkommen, so sollen sie ihn hier suchen.« Dann wandte er sich rasch dem militärischen Berater aus dem Stab des Präsidenten zu und sprach: »Ich erkläre die Todeskammer für eröffnet«, und nachdem er wieder der gewaltigen Menge gegenüberstand, rief er mit klarer Stimme: »Bürger von New York und der Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika, im Namen der Regierung erkläre ich die Todeskammer für eröffnet.«

Das feierliche Schweigen wurde von einem scharfen Befehl gebrochen: Die Husarenschwadron bildete hinter der Kutsche des Gouverneurs eine Reihe, die Ulanen schwenkten und formierten sich an der Fifth Avenue, um auf den Brigadier der Garnison zu warten, und die berittene Polizei folgte ihnen. Ich verließ die Schar, welche die Todeskammer aus weißem Marmor anstarrte, überquerte die South Fifth Avenue und ging auf der westlichen Seite jener Hauptverkehrsader zur Bleecker Street. Dann bog ich nach rechts ab und blieb vor einem schäbigen Geschäft stehen, über dem dieses Schild hing:

Hawberk, Waffenschmied

Ich spähte durch die Tür hinein und sah, dass Hawberk in seinem kleinen Laden am Ende des Gangs beschäftigt war. Er blickte auf, und als er mich erkannte, rief er mit seiner tiefen, herzlichen Stimme: »Kommen Sie herein, Mr. Castaigne!« Constance, seine Tochter, erhob sich, um mich zu begrüßen, als ich über die Schwelle trat, und streckte mir

Rezensionen für Der König in Gelb

[keebrook · Bewertung: 2 von 5 Sternen]

nice Lovecraftian atmospheric writing with the first few short stories. dark and somewhat twisted if a bit claustrophobic in style and prose. but the later stories evolved into 19th century romance and i found it hard to follow or keep my mind on what was going on. the writing was not bad, it was just dated and was not holding my attention since it was full of brash young soldiers and bold women who would not settle for mediocrity… at least, that’s the kind of rubbish my mind recalls.

once again, i’m wondering if i’ve missed something. perhaps the brilliance of the much longer last story was hidden in its mundanity much like the fellow who shows Somerset Maugham’s protagonist in the Razor’s Edge that washing dishes IS a religious act.

maybe i’ll try again another day.

[vivian_metzger · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

A classic of weird and horror fiction. I really enjoyed this edition that was clean and had more info about the author and explantions of the work from the people who published it. I guess there are lots of editions. I read the one from Horror Writers Association by Sourcebooks with book introduction by Nic Pizzolatto.

[lynnmpk · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

This collection of short stories influenced HP Lovecraft. The stories are intertwined and connected by a fictional play named The King In Yellow, which drives its readers mad. The first half of the collection all mention the play at some point and show how it effects the readers. The second half of the stories, while being interconnected to each other, don't seem to be related to The King In Yellow at all.

I greatly enjoyed the first half, the second half felt mediocre compared to it. I wish that it was broken up into two short story collections because they just did not complement each other.

[thegalaxygirl · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

It's hard to rate this collection. The first four stories were quite good. I enjoyed them as a precursor to the Lovecraftian style of horror. The fifth one was okay, reminded me a bit of Lord Dunsany but not as good. The sixth one was just odd, it made no sense as a narrative. Perhaps the individual sections could be seen as prose poems. The last four were kind of...romances? Slice of life in Paris? Except boring and very slow going with uninteresting characters. I would re-read the first four, maybe the fifth, but not the others.

[coach_of_alva · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

I read this book many years ago and had forgotten its odd structure. Hearing it, I learned that the ten stories fell into two groups. The last six stories involve Americans in France, usually in the Latin Quarter of Paris. They are interesting and sometimes better than that, but I don’t think many read the book for them. I didn’t.
No, The King in Yellow is famous for the first four stories. They are not only great horror stories in themselves but historically important. Chambers used an imaginary land, Carcosa, created by Ambrose Bierce, and added a new trope, that of the accursed book that ruins the lives of its readers by connecting them to hidden and malign spiritual forces. H. P. Lovecraft was greatly influenced by Chamber’s work, as, oddly to me, was the creator of the HBO series of True Detective. Chamber’s horror stories are still original and disturbing, with only his Brahim snobbery to irritate.
Stefan Rudnicki was one of the first readers I recognized as a star when I started listening to audiobooks. He has a very strong voice, excellent diction, and much energy. He is on rare occasions and other recordings too stiff, so I was happy to find him at his best here. Not only was his narration smooth, but when he read conversations, I almost thought I was listening to a cast recording, and he handled women’s voices very well. Gabrielle de Cuir read the quotations Chambers inserted between the title and the story, many of them in French, and added a touch of class and sweetness to the recording.

[iffland · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

My free amazon version was very hard to read and badly formatted. I loved most of the King in Yellow short stories but as not all stories within the book were related to it I didnt enjoy them all equally.

[whatsleepsbeneath · Bewertung: 2 von 5 Sternen]

The stories range in quality, some fairly intriguing while others were entirely forgettable. The namesake is the real draw, and it's no wonder such a small, undiscussed idea has been so influential. I would read more about The King and his Yellow Sign, but not many of the other tales make me feel the same.

[meznir-1 · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

Chambers has a nice narrator's voice, but he is so busy explaining everything around the main characters that the scary stuff that happens sort of evaporates in the waterfall of words that he uses. That diminishes the horror effect of the King in Yellow and the Yellow Sign when used in the stories. Funny that the stories in which the King is merely referenced, worked better for me than the ones in which the actual presence of King, Play or Sign featured.

[westwest-3 · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

The fame of this book rests, deservedly so, on the first four stories. Their mysterious and oppresive atmosphere has inspired multiple authors of horror and weird fiction, most notably, H.P. Lovecraft. The fifth story seems perfect for a Twilight Zone episode. The other stories only interest resides in their portrayal of the life of Art students in XIX century fin-de-siecle Paris. The stories are well written and have internal consistency. I was pleasantly surprised to discover an author I had never read before.

The Arc Dreams Publishing edition is beautifully bound, and has many useful annotations. It is illustrated by Paraguayan artist Samuel Araya. My only minor complaint is that the illustration for the story "The Yellow Sign" is a knock off from Arnold Böcklin's "Toteninsel" and there is no attribution. Böcklin made five versions of his painting so I see no problem in Araya's beautiful and haunting interpretation, only that one of the notes should have pointed this out.

[jhemlock-1711 · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

What an intriguing group of stories. Cats, personal desolation, love and all things in between. By the time you read the stories and ask yourself what you just read, you will have the time to process the moral of each story and understand the writing on the wall. Just remember... Carcosa is not a real place. But we live in one very similar. The King awaits.

[joligula · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

What an interesting group of stories. It is easy to see how these stories influenced so many great writers. The tales are witty, intelligent and well written. Some of them are down right creepy. Highly recommended.

[trile1000 · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

The first four stories (The Repairer of Reputations, The Mask, In the Court of the Dragon, The Yellow Sign) of this book are great horror pieces. I can see where Lovecraft gets inspiration from Chambers. The rest are not quite of the same nature and thusly, I did not enjoy them as much.

[amandrake_1 · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

An erratic collection published in 1885, ranging from "flavor of life" pieces about contemporary art students in France to war and romance to the truly weird. They also range from the mediocre, to the effective, to the masterful, but never descend to the truly bad. Worth reading even without the acknowledged place of Chanbers as someone who influenced later authors of horror. "The Repairer of Reputations" is an exceptional story.
Also contains an Introduction by S.T. Joshi, some sparse endnotes, and some reprints of critics on Chamber's work, including contemporary reviews and an excerpt from Lovecraft's "Supernatural Horror in Literature".

[michael5rimmer · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

This book is chiefly known for its opening quartet of stories of eldritch horrors and macabre dystopias. Some works contain only those four, which may well satisfy the majority of readers who (like myself) are drawn to it due to the thread it weaves through the works of others, most famously H.P. Lovecraft. However that does the author a disservice. Chambers collected these stories together and intended them to be read as a complete work.

Doing that, you appreciate the arc he takes from the futurist dystopia of The Repairer of Reputations, with its claustrophobic feeling of paranoia, through the subsequent alchemical and supernatural tales, onto the fifth story, a folkloric fairytale, a short set of Gibran-like (though simultaneously unlike) prose poems, and so gradually into the historical world of everyday reality, with its wars and romance, comedy and pathos. An expert writer who deserves recognition for more than horror.

[isabelx_21 · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

DESTINY
I came to the bridge which few may pass.
"Pass!" cried the keeper, but I laughed, saying, "There is time;" and he smiled and shut the gates.
To the bridge which few may pass came young and old. All were refused. Idly I stood and counted them, until, wearied of their noise and lamentations, I came again to the bridge which few may pass.
Those in the throng about the gates shrieked out, "He comes too late!" But I laughed, saying, "There is time."
"Pass!" cried the keeper as I entered; then smiled and shut the gates.

I have wanted to read this book of short stories for a long time, as I have heard it mentioned as a good example of weird fiction.

There are three types of story in this book. Stories which refer to the notorious play called The King in Yellow, which send anyone who reads it mad, stories that are like snippets of dreams, and stories of American art students living in Paris (as the author himself did) and falling in love with various unsuitable women. These are mostly more realistic, but there is some overlap with the weird fiction of the first few stories.

The first story, The Restorer of Reputations, gets the book off to a strong start and is the only one that I had read before. I might have given it four stars if not for the art student stories, but it's a 3.5 star book for me overall.

[regularguy5mb · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

Finally reading this one, the book that inspired H.P. Lovecraft in his story creation of pushing the weird and horrible, especially in the way that Chambers keeps the horror within the speculative, leaving the audience to picture just how horrible the effects of reading "The King in Yellow" actually are.

My only problem with this book is that not every story continues the title's influence. While the argument could be made that the stories are all interconnected through the artist characters (either through location or names mentioned in previous tales that connect them to later characters and places), but the sudden switch in tone is a bit off-putting, especially when Chambers starts with such a powerful story in "The Repairer of Reputations." And while he does arrange the stories thematically, with "The Demoiselle D'Ys" and "The Prophet's Paradise" bridging the gap between the supernatural tales and the straight-up romances ("The Demoiselle D'Ys" being both supernatural and romance), the overall effect can leave the reader underwhelmed.

Still, overall an enjoyable read, and the stories within what has come to be called "The Yellow Mythos" are truly horrifying in their telling.

[kalessinastarno · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

I don't know what to think. I liked most of the stories but there is no real 'whole' about this book. Some of the stories touch each other, but throwing all of these together seems rather random.

[.monkey.-1 · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

A bit conflicted on this title. Another reviewer called the collection "uneven" and that says it pretty well.

Of the four actual "King in Yellow" stories, I thought two were pretty good, one wasn't bad, and one was not great. There is also a three page "story" filled with repetition that forced me to skim half the lines because holy crap irritating.
The other five stories are all romances, to one degree or another. Frankly, I think Lovecraft and the editor of my edition are both idiots when they claim Chambers a failure by taking the "easy route" of writing romances after not achieving the same sort of success in supernatural/horror after this work. Personally I found the romances to be better written than most of the rest in here. I am a huge horror fan; I do not read romances. But it was his romances that engaged me more and kept me intrigued. Therefore I would say he made the wise choice to do what he had the better talent for.

All in all, I'm glad to see what provided a big chunk of Lovecraft's inspiration, but I would hesitate to recommend this to a casual reader.

[jhudsui_1 · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

I couldn't find the particular print of this that I have because it's Powell's specific. This thing is public domain and too obscure to be in print by a mainstream publisher so there a lot of different little POD type versions floating around.

Most people's entry point to this is going to be knowing of it being referenced from Lovecraft. In fact, it's notable for being the originator of the Lovecraftian device of the "obscure grimoire" which is described obliquely, has its contents only hinted at, and which per motif of harmful sensation drives its readers insane. The eponymous fictional book itself sounds very Lovecraftian, taking place in a decadent civilization on a foreign planet and centering around a semi-divine figure of obscure horror. However the rest of the horror stories that feature that book are much more conventional ghost stories in their other respects. With the possible exception of Repairer of Reputations which is my favorite of the lot due to its use of an elaborate alternate timeline setting that has absolutely nothing to do with the plot and exists only for ornamental or obfuscatory purposes (kind of like Ada's).

Only half of the stories in the book are even horror stories though. The other half don't mention the King in Yellow at all, have no real horror elements and are more slice of life picaresques about bohemian expatriate American artists living in 1900s - 1910s Paris. They're actually pretty charming and I think I like them better than Chamber's horror stories to be honest. They don't quite reach the level of Wodehousian but the better ones edge near it.

[shimmin_1 · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

One of those books that's always discussed in spec fic circles, so I wanted to try it.

It's a decent read, but inconsistent. The main thing is that the nature of the stories changes considerably over the course of the book, and as such, will probably appeal to different people.

The first four are deeply weird stories. They combine alternative history, a very sinister supernatural, and lyrical writing, with excellent results. All are macabre and intriguing.

The Repairer of Reputations is a really effective tale of the unreliable narrator, which paints a fascinating and alarming picture of madness. It's not until right at the end that you can begin to unravel the complex delusions that intertwine, and find the very foundations of the story are shifting sand. This is already one of my favourite weird tales.

The titular King in Yellow features in The Yellow Sign. It's actually a much less strange story, essentially just a twist of the supernatural curse. However, it's very well-executed, with compelling writing that really sells the repulsiveness of the watchman, and the dogged thoughts that will not leave our protagonist alone. I confess, though, that all the build-up this story has elsewhere had led me to expect a far weirder tale.

The Court of the Dragon, The Mask and The Damoiselle d'Ys are less striking, though all of them are solid supernatural tales. There's a little flavour of the weird to Court, which I liked a great deal, and all are well-written and drew me along easily.

Beyond this, the collection moves into essentially historical writing, with the odd supernatural touch. The stories are a little grim, centring on Bohemian lives of poverty and hardship, even while the rich and idle move amongst them. One is a war story of Paris under siege. They aren't without interest, and the writing remains good, but having come for weirdness I found little to appeal in them. In particular, the several tales of Bohemian artists of them felt like style over substance, for very little seemed to happen, either in plot or in character development. That being said, they do evoke their atmosphere very effectively. Personally I found them of limited interest and was glad to finish them.

On the whole, this feels like a slightly odd collection that's neither one thing nor t'other. I would recommend the first few tales to those interested in weird fiction, and the last few to literary types.

[stahl2ricco · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

An uneven collection, starting out with tales of occult, then diving into stories of romance. The 4 stories revolving around Carcosa and the madness inducing play "The King in Yellow" are pretty creepy, a la Edgar Allen Poe. The romances? Not my cup of tea.

[xuebi-1 · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

Chambers is the forgotten member of the pantheon of weird fiction, whose story The Repairer of Reputations, was praised by Lovecraft. That and The Mask, The Court of the Dragon and The Yellow Sign all fit together in a loose mythology concerning the dreaded play The King in Yellow and the bizarre events the follow it. The remaining stories are a mixed collection that range from passable ghost stories to clichéd romance. Lovecraft was right in calling Chambers a fallen titan since it's clear that much of his talent for weird fiction was wasted in the more profitable field of romance genre fiction.

[dirac_2 · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

Decent collection of short stories. Seemed to lose some steam in the later stories.

[simondyda · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

The first four stories are macabre in tone, centering on characters that are often artists or decadents, and involve a fictional two-act play of the same title as the book, a play that is as accursed to those who possess it as the Necronomicon would later be. The first story "The Repairer of Reputations", is set in an imagined future 1920s America (and as such the book can be considered to fall into the Sci-Fi genre). The next three are set in Paris at the same time.

The color yellow signifies the decadent and aesthetic attitudes that were fashionable at the end of the 19th century, typified by such publications as The Yellow Book, a literary journal associated with Oscar Wilde and Aubrey Beardsley. It has also been suggested that the color yellow represents quarantine — an allusion to decay, disease, and specifically mental illness. For instance, the famous short story "The Yellow Wallpaper", involving a bedridden woman's descent into madness, was published shortly before Chambers' book.

The other stories in the book do not quite follow the same macabre theme of the first four, or their connection to the fictional Yellow King, although some are linked to the preceding stories via their Parisien setting and artistic protagonists. What they all have in common however is the underlying theme of obsession.

This is not only an historic work of American fiction, but an unique work of literature that in my view surpasses in excellence and originality any of the works it later inspired (eg the works of HP Lovecraft).

[randystafford · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

Robert Chambers probably would not be remembered today without H. P. Lovecraft.

The sole title his is now recognized for is The King in Yellow. Like most literary works, it was drifting into the dark and cold zone of cultural oblivion. Then he was caught in the gravity well of that coalescing star of weird fiction, H. P. Lovecraft. And, once illuminated by Lovecraft’s in his Supernatural Horror in Literature, this work became sort of a bright satellite beckoning Lovecraft fans to explore it.

But Chambers’ book is one of those moons with only one face of any interest.

To be sure, there is the appearance, in several connected stories, of the sinister effects and reputation of the titular volume and its enigmatic references to the Pallid Mask and Carcosa and Hastur and the lake of Hali. And the notion of such a book definitely inspired Lovecraft to create his more famous book of blasphemy, the Necronomicon.

But that’s only half the book, five weird stories. This group of stories is just connected enough to justify reading in order.

“The Repairer of Reputations” first seems to be an unexpected piece of science fiction, the future world of 1920 as imagined in 1895 with attendant projections of Progressive-era politics, turn of the century American imperialism, and contemporary anti-Semitism. Taken on those terms alone, it’s interesting, but we also get a plot about a mysterious Mr. Wilde who has allegedly built up, via social coercion and blackmail, a vast network of political control. Such a powerful network, in fact, that the artist protagonist of the story dreams of using it to usurp his cousin’s place as heir to the Imperial Dynasty of America. Or maybe not. Not everything is as it seem,s and some of the clues to that are in later stories.

“The Mask”’s plot – hinging on an artist who has discovered a way of petrifying living matter while preserving its most delicate structures – has little interest and kind of a sappy ending. However, the bits expanding Chambers’ mythology and the mystery of the King in Yellow make it worth reading.

“In the Court of the Dragon” is another slight story. After reading The King in Yellow, its hero encounters a menacing organist at a church service and begins to see the threatening man everywhere. As with “The Mask”, the real interest is the tantalizing bits we get about “the towers of Carcosa”.

“The Yellow Sign” is justifiably the most anthologized of the stories here and the high point of the book. Like most of the stories in the book, it involves an artist. Outside his studio, he sees a young man who reminds him of a “coffin-worm”. His favorite model, for whom he has great affection, tells him of a dream she had with the same man driving a hearse with the artist as its dead cargo. Chambers not only packs plenty of weirdness in, gives us the largest description of the contents of The King in Yellow of any story here, but also gives us an ending which I suspect influenced Lovecraft’s work.

“The Demoiselle D’Ys” eschews the usual Paris or New York City settings of the other stories, but it’s a standard and predictable time-slip romance.

And that’s it for the book’s interest as weird fiction. We then get a bunch of enigmatic vignettes and poems and then a batch of uninteresting and forgettable romantic stories of American artists in Paris. To be fair, though, there is one interesting part in “The Street of the First Shell” set, it seems, during the siege of Paris in the Franco-Prussian War of 1871. There is an extended passage in part three when the hero joins a French army attempting a breakout. It is an eerie account with a supernatural quality in its descriptions of the fog-shrouded battle, the confusion, and vivid bits of description.

So, for those who are interested in Carcosa and the related bits of Chambers’ mythology (actually some of it comes from Ambrose Bierce), the first half of this book is a must read. For those just looking for good quality weird fiction, just read “The Repairer of Reputations” and “The Yellow Sign”.

[veilofisis · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

‘It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living god.’

The King in Yellow is a book containing nine short stories, four of which are interrelated (and the subject of this review); they are, ‘The Repairer of Reputations,’ ‘The Mask,’ ‘In the Court of the Dragon,’ and ‘The Yellow Sign.’ The remaining five stories are (somewhat bizarrely) romances of a Francophile sort that are stale and wooden and worth very little of one’s time. The four stories mentioned above—the King in Yellow cycle, proper—are some of the most astoundingly original pieces of short fiction in all of American literature.

A profound influence on the work of Lovecraft and other ‘mythos’ writers of the early 20th Century, The King in Yellow begins with one of the most elemental of Gothic premises: a book that poisons. The King in Yellow, you see, is actually not a collection of stories at all; it is a play within a collection of stories—a play entirely denounced by both pulpit and press: a play capable of opening the mind to truths of such wicked import that to look upon them once is to look upon the face of madness; and this play trickles through the skeleton of each narrative in the King in Yellow cycle: a constant and sweetly sinister miasma that corrupts body, mind, and the very ethers of soul and sanity.

Through a quartet of stories, Robert W. Chambers—a man of remarkable, if briefly employed, vision—sustains a sense of dread only occasionally matched by the great talents he would inspire several decades later. Written in the fin de siècle period and gently touched by the influences of Bierce, Wilde, and Machen, Chambers’ near-revolutionary breed of cosmic terror is so bleak, atmospheric, and saturated with the cloak of doom that to dip into The King in Yellow is almost to taste the madness described therein; it is one of the most relentlessly disturbing works of fiction I have ever encountered.

The fevered descent that Chambers has titled ‘The Repairer of Reputations’ is the most successful story in the cycle and opens it, establishing its necessary mythology and tone; in many ways it simultaneously foreshadows not only the horror work of Lovecraft and his ilk, but also the dystopian nightmares of Orwell and Huxley (and, in fact, the vision that reverberates throughout the entire King in Yellow cycle actually startles with its prophecy, as if the reader himself had fallen into the same insidious hypnosis that the play described therein is reputed to induce). The opening story is a brilliant piece of fiction in and of itself, with subtle hints throughout the tale suggesting its jarring and brutally ambiguous ending early on (but to describe any more would rob the story of its impact, so I’ll digress).

The remainder of the cycle picks up where ‘The Repairer of Reputations’ leaves off, examining situations that occasionally make subtle reference to each other without ever explicitly crossing-over. ‘The Mask,’ which is the most accessible of the quartet, echoes Wilde with more insistence; ‘In the Court of the Dragon’ is terrifying and otherworldly stuff that waxes more sinister each time one returns to it. The closing story of the cycle, ‘The Yellow Sign,’ is the most popular with anthologists and was the most influential on later authors; it is one of the grimmest, most thoroughly desolate pieces of fiction I have ever read.

Chambers’ prolific literary output has largely been forgotten (excepting this, his masterpiece): and perhaps this is rightly so, given most of his work’s insipid, commercial triviality. The menace he nourishes to such ‘notable heights of cosmic fear’ (to quote Lovecraft’s Supernatural Horror in Literature) is largely missing from his other work (which can be sampled in several of the later, unrelated stories in The King in Yellow). But The King in Yellow is enough: there are so few works of such visionary genius in the canon of spectral literature that to define truly pioneering work is really quite easy—and Chambers’ genius ranks alongside Walpole, Poe, and Maturin for sheer originality and durability: for the King in Yellow cycle is intelligent, haunting, and exquisitely unnerving in a way that few ‘story cycles’ have maintained.

A product of the same decade that spawned Dracula, The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Turn of the Screw, The Island of Dr. Moreau, Salome, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Sorrows of Satan, and Trilby, The King in Yellow is part of that great fabric of decadent, brilliant, and eerily fresh fiction that we have called fin de siècle. While other works remain firm in their categorization, The King in Yellow is one of the few works of the 1890s to remain entirely unclassifiable: it is at once decadent and austere, anarchic and conventional, sagacious and utterly indolent. Above all else, though, it is profound beyond words: a kind of saturnine mirror of its own content, waiting to suffocate thought beneath the wings of some pythonic ‘Other.’

The King in Yellow is darkness—darkness and the gulf of nihility that broods beyond us: deep in the sky, where strange gods sleep. It will haunt you, certainly—but that breath of contagion is sweet; the empyrean heights to which it aspires—the heights that Lovecraft would shatter some time later—are as full of humbling gloom as that later luminary’s work, and just as insistent in the totality of their vision. Unlike Lovecraft, however, Chambers’ opus marvels in the sheer ambiguity of cosmic terror, never shedding a harsh light upon its subjects or delving too deeply into the complexity of mythology that the Lovecraftian throng would explore with such brilliance. But this is not a failing—if anything, the briefness and laconicism of the King in Yellow quartet is an important part of its beauty and overall success: it is the blueprint of an entire movement—a real-life parallel of the terrors posited within its pages.

[devenish_1 · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

You would be well advised to treat the short stories in this collection as two distinct sets,plus a one-off .The first set of six are excellent tales of horror and the supernatural,connected by a manuscript known as 'The King in Yellow'. All who read it are affected by it in terrible ways,often driven mad and suffering strange delusions. I would recommend these to anyone who favours the writings of Poe,Lovecraft or Bierce ,as you will find many similarities between them.
The 'one-off' is a short piece called 'The Prophet's Paradise',and consists of eight fragments of prose,which frankly I could make little sense of. The most I can say is that they reminded me somewhat of the works of Oscar Wilde.
The final three stories are very different from the rest,in that I suppose you would term them as historical romances. They seemed to take a long time to get nowhere and were personally of little interest to me.
The book is well worth reading however for the six early stories,which although extremely strange,are nevertheless fine additions to the horror genre.

[pondlife_1 · Bewertung: 2 von 5 Sternen]

I only read the first four stories, as I didn't find the other poems and stories particularly interesting.

The first four stories: The Repairer Of Reputations, The Mask, In The Court Of The Dragon and The Yellow Sign all focus on the play "The King in Yellow". Anyone who reads the second act either goes insane or meets a grisly end.

This book obviously inspired H.P Lovecraft, as it contains many of Lovecraft's themes such as cosmic horror, dangerous books, and insanity.

[cmbohn · Bewertung: 2 von 5 Sternen]

A couple of good stories. I especially liked the creepy first book, but the rest were just s-so. I understand this is a classic of the horror genre, but I didn't enjoy it.

[jonathangorman_1 · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

A collection of short stories, possible dream fragments, and poetry. Some of the poetry isn't great, but there were a few good poems. What appear to be dream fragments are occasionally spooky and feel a bit trippy. There's some good stories in here, but as others have commented, the last two stories are long and only match in that they take place in the Latin Quarter of Paris. Not bad, but jarring with the strange tone of the rest of the book. It would be interesting to find out precisely why Chambers included them. Was it an attempt to boost sale of the other material? From what I understand the last two stories reflected the type of material he was popular for at the time.

I read a digitized copy of the first version from the Internet Archive. (I think it was from there, but I can't remember for sure. It may have been from Google Books).