The King in Yellow and Other Horror Stories

Almost every idea Lovecraft had can be traced back to these early stories by Robert W. Chambers. From plays that drive you insane upon reading, to creatures far removed from any worldly animal Fans of horror and Lovecraftian tales will find much to love here. The only regret one will have is not reading it sooner!

Robert W. Chambers is an almost forgotten writer of fantasy and horror who should be honored for his originality and insights into human nature. To read the King In Yellow is to give Robert W. Chambers a chance to show how a well written psychological story can unfold. His stories build slowly and soon pull the reader into a world only Chambers could envision. To reveal any of his story plots here would do him an injustice. The sad part of today's readership is that many no longer have the patience to move slowly and deeply through a story to it's climax. Everything must be swift and obvious these days. If you read Robert W. Chambers prepare for a time in another world that slowly sucks you into the unknown and often the terrifying. Grab an armchair, turn off the tv and the radio and quietly allow yourself to be absorbed by Chambers masterful writing. You will be delighted.

Robert Chamber's title story became one of the most important works in American supernatural fiction since those of Poe, representing one of the first attempts to establish the horror of the names: this reprints all the supernatural stories from THE KING IN YELLOW, presenting some of Chambers' best from a range of sources. A highly recommended pick for fans of horror and the supernatural.

HP Lovecraft was heavily inspired by Chambers' wierd tales from _The King in Yellow_. (He stole the name and vague concept of Hastur from it.) The frustrating thing about RW Chambers is that he COULD write very well, but for some reason he usually didn't. At his best he could weave an atmosphere of terrifying hallucinatory brilliance. At his worst he was hokey, sentimental, sappy, and tiresome. Half of his original _The King in Yellow_ consists of dopey romance stories that will infuriate the wierd fiction fan. Not so here. This Dover collection has only the best tales from _The King in Yellow_, as well as a number of other chilling morsels picked from Chambers' large body of later (mostly forgettable) work. You should get hold of this collection just for "The Repairer of Reputations," which ranks as a superior masterpiece of surreal paranoid delirium. It's one of the top 5 wierd stories of all time, and actually BETTER than anything by Lovecraft.

An excellent collection by a lesser-known writer of shorthorror fiction, this volume contains one of my all-time favorite short stories in any genre, "The Harbor-Master."Buy and read this book!