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Content snapshot
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Violence
Barely any
Mild; violence at the edges of the supernatural horror
Language
None
No strong language
Sexual Content
Barely any
Brief; fin-de-siècle romantic content
Substance Use
Barely any
Mild; the period world includes absinthe
Emotional Intensity
A lot
Significant; the cosmic horror of a text that drives readers to madness is the book's central conceit — psychological dread at a high level
What this book is about
Robert W. Chambers's 1895 collection of interconnected horror stories is built around the mysterious play that drives its readers to madness — a fictional text that functions as a kind of psychic weapon. The first four stories explore the play's consequences in a near-future America and in fin-de-siècle Paris; the later stories, though not supernatural, are equally unsettling. The King in Yellow was a major influence on H.P. Lovecraft and has experienced a major revival of interest through its role in True Detective.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Cosmic horror and madness themes
Supernatural psychological horror
Reader Verification
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