The Yellow Site
Register
Advertisement
King In Yellow

The King in Yellow (the play) is linked in some nebulous and horrible fashion with The King in Yellow, an alien god whose "scalloped tatters...must hide Ythill forever." The King is in turn linked in some way with "Carcosa, where black stars hang in the heavens; where the shadows of men's thoughts lengthen in the afternoon, when the twin suns sink into the Lake of Hali." The King himself occasionally appears on Earth, animating dead bodies (or possessing humans that eventually render the host dead) and claiming (or reclaiming) those who have eluded him. To read The King in Yellow (the play) is to be exposed to the King and to fall under his influence, going mad in the meantime.

The King doesn't strictly appear in the original stories, at least not in any way that allows us a good description. True, he appears to the narrator of The Yellow Sign briefly before he dies, but he is unable to convey quite what he sees.

Also see:


For other versions of The King In Yellow, see:

Advertisement