By Abby Lynch, ’29

Staff Writer

 “I cannot forget 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; and my mind will bear for ever the memory of the Pallid Mask.”― Robert W. Chambers, The King in Yellow

Most people these days haven’t read about the King in Yellow, an eerie supernatural entity that, legend claims, can drive a person insane. Many authors have written versions of the character, some claim that you go insane just by looking at him or his face under his mask. But the one I have read was written by Robert W. Chambers, who included this story in a collection of supernatural horror tales published in 1895. Chambers’ book includes a play within the book and a series of stories that link together. Sometimes the stories within stories are confusing and mess with your brain, but that’s kind of the whole point of the book. It has inspired a lot of supernatural horror media, including the works of HP Lovecraft, comic books and video games.

Here are two of my favorite stories from Chambers’ book:

“The Repairer of Reputations” — This short story is about a character named Mr. Wilde who basically blackmails his rich and powerful clients to “fix” their damaged reputations. I found this mini story interesting because Mr. Wilde connects to another story called “Imperial Dynasty of America,” where he drove that story’s main character, Hildred Castaigne, insane by making him believe he is the King in Yellow’s heir.

  “The Mask” — This mini story is way different from the last one. It is about two sculptors who are in a love-ish triangle with another girl. The group finds a cool liquid that turns living things into marble, but when they find The King in Yellow book, one of the characters is turned into marble. That drives one of the trio to suicide before the other learns that the transformation is only temporary. At least it’s a happy ending for two of them.