HOME | DD

Snipetracker β€” Inktober: Robert W. Chambers

#robertwchambers #inktober
Published: 2018-10-30 15:00:07 +0000 UTC; Views: 988; Favourites: 29; Downloads: 0
Redirect to original
Description Author and Art Nouveau artist Robert W. Chambers (1865-1933) was a French-influenced Gothamite and part of a wave of American writers, including Ambrose Bierce and Clark Ashton Smith, who carried elements of 19th-century gothic fiction into the realm of science-fiction horror in the 20th century. Undoubtedly the most famous of Chambers’ oeuvre is The King in Yellow (1895), an anthology of eerie tales framed by a recurring play of the same title. Although it is never fully explained what the eponymous play is about, being referenced by characters in the dialogue and by passages being quoted to introduce the stories, The King in Yellow is said to drive readers mad by Act II. Like his contemporary H.G. Wells, Chambers had incredible foresight for the events that were to transpire in the modern era; and like another contemporary, H.P. Lovecraft, Chambers is being rediscovered by contemporary readers and it is probably only a matter of time before Hollywood takes notice.
Related content
Comments: 7

Cosmic--Chaos [2019-02-16 05:15:32 +0000 UTC]

Chambers' King in Yellow is one of my favorite short story collections of all, and I love your art style depicting this.

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 1

Snipetracker In reply to Cosmic--Chaos [2019-02-16 15:52:24 +0000 UTC]

Thank you!

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0

perfesser-bear [2018-10-31 15:33:22 +0000 UTC]

I read Chambers' The King in Yellow when I was a Senior in High School, at the recommendation of one of the underclassmen. Even with full-blown ADD, I finished it and was awed. I don't remember a lot of it today, 40-odd years later, but it's available in several formats on Gutenberg.org -- free for the downloading.


I also have heard that someone was going to attempt to write the play -- but I imagine it will be a pale reflection of what the real thing would have been.

πŸ‘: 1 ⏩: 1

Snipetracker In reply to perfesser-bear [2018-10-31 16:02:08 +0000 UTC]

It would be fun to pick Chambers' brain if he were alive today.

πŸ‘: 1 ⏩: 1

perfesser-bear In reply to Snipetracker [2018-10-31 18:31:48 +0000 UTC]

I think having the play at hand -- by any author -- would drain it of its mystery. Like the folks who, over the years, tried to craft a completion of Charles Dickens' The Mystery of Edwin Drood, the results ran the gamut from bad to odious and didn't illuminate the situation much.

πŸ‘: 1 ⏩: 0

kitgryph [2018-10-31 04:02:34 +0000 UTC]

Β  Ooohh, I know the reference indeed! Actually heard that somebody was going to try to write a play or novel based on The King In Yellow. I'm crazy enough to watch.
Β  So much more suspense in NOT knowing the details.

πŸ‘: 1 ⏩: 1

Snipetracker In reply to kitgryph [2018-10-31 16:01:19 +0000 UTC]

I agree, the less we know the better.

πŸ‘: 0 ⏩: 0