Novel review: Robert W. Chambers - The King in Yellow (1895)

Like basically everybody having read this in modern times, I learned about it due to its supposedly massive influence on H. P. Lovecraft. This review then solely concerns the first four horror stories and not the full book.

Even if nobody had told me about that connection, I would have quickly made it, so strongly similar both authors are; be it the eerie atmosphere or the constant yet vague references to an imaginary artwork and its cursed contents.

In that matter, I fully understand how Lovecraft could fall in love with the concept, because it's absolute genius! It ties those unrelated works together to the point where you care more about the unsaid horror than the stories themselves.

Yet, unlike Lovecraft (on average), said short stories felt pretty underwhelming in that they were too reliant on style and atmosphere to work, with a plot/characterization/setting that left a lot to be desired. I only really enjoyed the first one, The Repairer of Reputations.

So, despite the aforementioned strong style and atmosphere, I can't rate it much higher than that.