The King In Yellow--so it seems, has had quite an influence on all of you over here at Top
5 Scary Videos.
Believe me, whilst that’s by no means a surprise--it’s also dangerous territory.
Because that’s exactly where he wants you to be--just curious enough to keep your interest
piqued.
Like a lantern floating gently through a misty moor.
The fact of the matter remains, if you’ve seen our recent Lore Explored on the King
In Yellow, then you’ll know that there is far, far more to this literary mystery than
what first meets the eye.
In that case, and under the assumption that knowledge is indeed power--we better see what
else we can find out about one of the most curious characters in Cosmic Horror.
Let’s take a look.
Hello horror fans, what’s going on, and once again welcome back to the scariest channel
on YouTube--Top 5 Scary Videos.
As per usual, I’ll be your horror host Jack Finch--as today, we curiously take a look
at the Top 5 Scary King In Yellow Facts--That Will Terrify You.
Roll the clip.
For the curious amongst you, of course--you probably have guessed it by now, but that
scene was from Season 1 of True Detective, possibly the best modern interpretation of
the King in Yellow in anything ever--and if you don’t know me by now, then you’ll
never, ever know me when it comes to how phenomenal that particular demonstration of television
truly is.
When it comes to many things, Season 1 of True Detective is near enough perfection.
Because after all.
Have you seen the Yellow Sign?
Anyway--what we’re concerned with is one particular book of short stories written way
back when in 1895 by Robert W. Chambers.
So let’s take a look see at which one of them is the most terrifying.
Kicking off at Number 5 - The Repairer of Reputations
And what better way to begin this list than with, of course, the first entry in Chamber’s
titular short story collection--and the first ever glimpse that we catch of that mysterious
and terrifying fictional play of the same name, The King In Yellow.
In many ways, The Repairer of Reputations was *so* ahead of its time that by its own
accord, it’s perhaps one of the finest, yet lesser known examples of speculative fiction
ever seen in the late 19th century.
Written in 1895, yet set in the year 1920 in downtown New York City--The Repairer of
Reputations tells the tale of a young man named Hildred Castaigne, a wealthy and affable
man-about-town whose personality drastically changes after suffering a head injury following
a horse riding accident.
Subsequently, Hildred is committed to an asylum for treatment of his alleged insanity by the
vague and mysterious Dr. Archer.
In the meantime though, in this brave new world of 1920--the United States has prospered
to incredible economic heights.
So much so, that a new, ruling class of the aristocratic elite flourish in their shuttered
off sovereignty.
Oh, and also--suicide has been completely legalized--made generally and readily accesisble
in what the story refers to as Government Lethal Chambers--rapidly rolled out suicide
booths across America’s towns and cities.
Yeah, Futurama we're fans of Chambers.
However, whilst still recovering from his accident--Hildred Castaigne comes into possession
of a document known as The King In Yellow--a mysterious and universally censored play which
deeply affects his mental state.
Slowly, and gradually, as the King In Yellow wraps its tendrils into Hildred’s mind--what
was once a bright member of the gentry, eventually descends into an eccentric recluse who spends
his days poring over old books, maps and forgotten scrolls--whispering about the King In Yellow,
and the equally mysterious Mr. Wilde--the Repairer of Reputations.
Really, suspension of disbelief is the very nature of this short story--and all is not
as it may seem.
This one is certainly one of Chamber’s finest.
Swinging in at Number 4--The Yellow Sign
Tell Me, Have you Seen the Yellow Sign?
You see, we couldn’t talk about the specific kind of eldritch dread culminated in the Yellow
King without talking about his sigil and also, you know, the first time we’re informed
of its existence.
What’s interesting, is that in the opening short story, the Repairer of Reputations--were
informed of the yellow sign, a strange, off the cuff reference of its existence uttered
by the eventually mad Hildred Castaigne--but it’s not until several stories later that
it’s actually described to us.
A curious symbol--or a strange letter in gold.
The Sigil of the Yellow King himself.
What’s brilliant about the fourth story in the collection though, aptly titled The
Yellow Sign, is the method that Chambers uses in leading us toward an all too familiar destination.
You see, the tale begins with a particular quote from a poet that Chambers admired, the
Canadian writer Bliss Carman.
Let the Red Dawn Surmise--that would go on to form a portion of the Yellow King Play.
Let the Red Dawn Surmise.
What we shall do--when this blue starlight dies, and all is through.
Now, whilst we’ve spoken about the way that The Yellow Sign and the King In Yellow have
subsequently been passed from pillar to post throughout art and literature, The Yellow
Sign *begins* with such a literary device.
And not only that, but Chambers goes on to use that as the internal narrative of this
short story--narrated by Mr. Scott--who is more than likely Jack Scott, a character that
features in The Mask.
As he begins--there are so many things which are impossible to explain.
Why should certain chords in music make me think of the brown and golden tints of autumn
foliage?
Why should the Mass of Saint Cecile send my thoughts wandering among caverns whose walls
blaze with ragged masses of virgin silver?
You see, as if by design--Chambers always intended for the King in Yellow to be a strange
vessel for nostalgia.
His sign is one that we’ve seen before, but we can’t quite place it.
After all, isn’t that the point?
Next up at Number 3--In The Court of the Dragon
Which is perhaps the most mysterious entries in the collection, and one that hinges itself
on the more traditional aspects of horror fiction that we expect.
In many ways, The Court of the Dragon sticks out like a sore thumb in the confines of the
collection--but that’s exactly how and why it becomes so impactful.
You see, just as we think that we’re on to some kind of inexplicably tied-together
narrative, we’re thrown off course by the ambiguity of The Court of the Dragon.
Unlike any other story in the King in Yellow--it follows an unnamed narrator, a man--who one
night visits the Church of St. Barnaby in repentance for something that he can't quite
yet explain--mentally disturbed by reading the play the King In Yellow..
As he stares in awe at the majesty of the Churches architecture, he is suddenly encountered
by a strange and primal fear--one that is foreign to him yet familiar--which he manages
to explain away as an effect of being in the Church, under the influence of the Divine.
However, as he sits between the pews--he notices that the man playing the organ at the back
of the pulpit--there’s something off about him.
Something quite strange that again, we can’t quite place--and the inability to explain
this bizarre phenomenon angers him.
You see, the strangest part of In The Court of the Dragon is the familiarity it has to
another direct inspiration for Chambers work, the original prose of Ambrose Bierce in his
1886 short story, An Inhabitant of Carcosa.
In the narrative of that particular piece, a strange man from the unknown city of Carcosa
is confronted with his own death--and yet much like the unnamed narrator of Chambers
work, he can’t quite explain how or why he is experiencing what he is experiencing.
Obviously, trying to do this without spoilers is a little bit of a challenge in itself,
but the most brilliant part of both tales is that their destination is ultimately the
same.
Where that destination is… well, you’ll have to find that out for yourself.
Coming in at Number 2--The Mask
The next flagpost in the continued mystery that is The King In Yellow, and perhaps one
particular short story that leads the way in more ways than one.
After all, what happens once the Mask has slipped?
You see, what is most important for us to note, is that throughout the collection--the
same fictional play is referenced, through tiny fragments of prose and poetry.
The Yellow Sign is the first clear example of that.
One that lets us know there’s something a little… off, about this story.
It’s not quite right.
In terms of framing, you have to remember that for a collection of Short Stories written
in 1895, stringing them together within a meta thread of a narrative wasn’t exactly
the most common of literary tropes--particularly when it comes to horror.
The Yellow Sign ties all of these together.
It makes us feel Odd, and in many ways it’s sums up exactly why The King In Yellow has
maintained itself as such a prominent theme in cosmic horror.
You see, The Mask is the first introduction of the actual prosaic evidence of the King
In Yellow play--one that forms at the opening of the story, and then culminates in a particularly
unnerving moment in the stories collection, known as the Unmasking.
You see, The Mask isn’t terrifying in the conventional sense--it’s just straight up
weird.
Reading it--is weird, and it’s a style of horror that sets itself apart from the rest.
Told from the perspective of a painter named Alec, the story is told verbatim about a famed
sculptor, Boris Yvain--a man who has devised a means of transforming objects into marble.
Alongside his lover, Genevieve, and his friends Alex and Jack--it is alleged that Boris discovered
this intriguing technique through anomalous means as detailed somewhere in The King In
Yellow.
Now, in many ways, this entry is perhaps one of the most violent of short stories in the
collection, but yet--the framing behind it turns our attention away from the macabre
at toward the unknown measure of the cost of creation.
Yeah.
The Mask is weird, but it’s also brilliant.
And finally, coming in at our Number 1 spot--The King In Yellow
Alright, we’re kind of cheating here, in the sense that this story isn’t exactly
a story in the truest sense of the word--but instead, the strange, titular yet fictional
play that is found in fragments throughout the collection.
This is the scariest of them all--because as we peel back the pages, we know that ultimately,
somewhere, all of the horrors found in this collection are a result of the sinister, eldritch
work of literature.
I mean, it kind of goes without saying--but the fact that a *fictional* play has managed
to create so much dread throughout the history of horror literature kind of says something
about the ultimate goal that Chambers had in mind.
And that’s given the fact that it’s only ever mentioned a handful of times throughout
all ten stories.
We’re given a brief fragment of Act 1, Scene 2--we’re given reverence to the mysterious
Cassilda’s Song--as well as an even smaller reference of a quote in the bitter cry of
Cassilda and the closing last lines of Act One.
And that’s it.
That’s all we’re given.
And yet still, over nearly 130 years later, we’re still disturbed by it’s fictional
message.
So what *do* we know about the play in question?
Well, we know that although it’s author is never named--during the events of The Repairer
of Reputations, the narrator Hildred Castaigne believes them to still be alive--alluding
to the design of the King in Yellow himself, and the ultimate meaning of what the play’s
purpose is on the mortal world.
You see, we’re given enough pieces to paint some form of a picture.
The Play itself concerns the final days of a dynasty--fictional or otherwise--or a distance
world.
Whether the characters Camilla and Cassilda are part of that dynasty remains to be seen--but
one day, a Stranger arrives in this distant world, heralding something, or someone--and
then, after a masked ball where the Pallid Mask slips--The King In Yellow arrives and
disaster follows.
You see, what’s so incredible about this story, is how many interpretations it has
now faced from various other authors--throughout the past century, the King In Yellow has been
redefined and redefined--guesses poking holes into who or what it is.
One thing remains the same.
Have you seen the Yellow Sign?
Well, there we have it folks, our list for the Top 5 Scary King In Yellow Stories That
Will Terrify You.
What do you guys think?
Do you agree?
Disagree?
Have any more to add to this list?
Then let us know your thoughts down in the comment section below.
Before we depart from today’s video though, let’s first take a quick look at some of
your more creative comments from over the past few days.
First up, Amon Giger says
-- Beside your little jumps, you look like a smelly norwegian fisherman.
Cosmic fishy.
-- Thank you so much.
I’ve been trying to channel that vibe for so long, and finally, someone gets it.
And finally, JB Robertson says---
I dare you to say that all again!!
--- Wellllll…..
Since you asked.
Nah, I’m just kidding, I wouldn’t do that to you guys.
Well, unfortunately on that note that’s all we’ve got time for in todays video,
cheers for sticking around all the way until the end.