The King in Yellow

The King In Yellow is the dread play at the heart of the stories that form the book of the same name by Robert W. Chambers. Chambers offers some idea of what might be in the play, but only tangentially – and it is unclear exactly what is written in the play and what is inferred by the characters reading it due to their connection with Carcosa and the King in Yellow.
As first described, in The Repairer Of Reputations:

"When the French government seized the translated copies which had just arrived in Paris, London, of course, became eager to read it. It is well known how the book spread like an infectious disease, from city to city, from continent to continent, barred out here, confiscated there, denounced by press and pulpit, censured even by the most advanced of literary anarchists. No definite principles had been violated in those wicked pages, no doctrine promulgated, no convictions outraged. It could not be judged by any known standard, yet, although it was acknowledged that the supreme note of art had been struck in The King in Yellow, all felt that human nature could not bear the strain nor thrive on words in which the essence of purest poison lurked. The very banality and innocence of the first act only allowed the blow to fall afterwards with more awful effect."

English, translator unknown, c. 1895

The original is in French, apparently, but that edition was seized and destroyed by the Third Republic just after publication. The English edition is a thin black octavo volume, across the front cover of which is embossed a large Yellow Sign. Until the book has been read, the Sign has no effect on the viewer, except to imbue a sense of curiosity. After reading the book (or after having contact with anything or anyone from Carcosa), viewing the sign costs 0/1D6 Sanity points to see (for one time only). The text is an ambiguous, dreamlike play that opens readers to madness. Uniquely, readers cannot opt to disbelieve what is written here. Those of an artistic bent will feel compelled to reread the play. If the book results in insanity, the reader should become obsessed with Carcosa and the King in Yellow (see Yellow Sign, page 322 CoC7eCoreRulebook).
Sanity Loss: 1D10
Cthulhu Mythos: +1/+4 percentiles
Mythos Rating: 15
Study: 1 week
Suggested Spells: none.

Read the Document

The King in Yellow

"If I had not caught a glimpse of the opening words in the second act I should never have finished it, but as I stooped to pick it up my eyes became riveted to the open page, and with a cry of terror, or perhaps it was of joy so poignant that I suffered in every nerve, I snatched the thing from the hearth and crept shaking to my bedroom, where I read it and reread it, and wept and laughed and trembled with a horror which at times assails me yet. This is the thing that troubles me, for I cannot forget Carcosa, where black stars hang in the heavens, where the shadows of men's thoughts lengthen in the afternoon, when the the twin suns sink into the Lake of Hali, and my mind will bear forever the memory of the Pallid Mask."

— From the Repairer of Reputations by Hildred Castaigne

"No definite principles had been violated in those wicked pages, no doctrine promulgated, no convictions outraged. It could not be judged by any known standard, yet, although it was acknowledged that the supreme note of art had been struck in The King in Yellow, all felt that human nature could not bear the strain nor thrive on words in which the essence of purest poison lurked. The very banality and innocence of the first act only allowed the blow to fall afterwards with more awful effect."

— Hildred Castaigne

"I only remember the excitement it created and the denunciations from pulpit and press. I believe the author shot himself after bringing forth this monstrosity, didn't he? ...'truths' which send men frantic and blast their lives. I don't care if the thing is, as they say, the very supreme essence of art. It's a crime to have written it, and I for one shall never open its pages."

— Louis Castaigne

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Type

Manuscript, Literature

Medium

Paper

Authors

• Hastur, the Unspeakable

Signatories (Characters)

• Hastur, the Unspeakable

Signatories (Organizations)

• Cult of Hastur