Carcosa is a fictional city in Ambrose Bierce 's short story " An Inhabitant of Carcosa " (1886). The ancient and mysterious city is barely described and is viewed only in hindsight (after its destruction) by a character who once lived there.
43-529: (Redirected from The Yellow King ) Yellow King can refer to: The King in Yellow , an anthology of short stories by Robert W. Chambers The Yellow King, a figure referenced in True Detective (season 1) Yellow Emperor , a legendary emperor of China Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with
86-626: A fuzz pedal called the Carcosa. The pedal featured two modes, named "Hali" and "Demhe". In the Mass Effect 3 video game, there is a planet named Carcosa. In the Elite Dangerous video game, there is an inhabited star system named Carcosa. In 2001, the Belgian black metal band Ancient Rites released the album Dim Carcosa . The title track's lyrics consist of excerpts from "Cassilda's Song". In
129-594: A copy of the original newspaper appearance of the novel Edison's Conquest of Mars by Garrett P. Serviss which he wished to publish. Shroyer talked Hodgkins and Skeeters into going in on shares to form the publisher which issued the Serviss book in 1947. Dikty offered advice, and William L. Crawford of F.P.C.I. helped with production and distribution. Carcosa House announced one other book, Enter Ghost: A Study in Weird Fiction , by Sam Russell, but due to slow sales of
172-429: A group of wealthy Louisiana politicians and church leaders. The main characters, Rust Cohle and Marty Hart, storm the temple in the final episode of the season, where they confront a serial killer, who is the most active member of the cult. It is understood that the cult worships the "Yellow King", to whom an effigy is dedicated in the main chamber of 'Carcosa'. The series hints at a larger conspiracy that continues beyond
215-471: A more light-hearted tone, ending with romantic stories devoid of horror or supernatural elements. The horror stories are highly esteemed, and it has been described by critics such as E. F. Bleiler , S. T. Joshi , and T. E. D. Klein as a classic in the field of the supernatural . Lin Carter called it "an absolute masterpiece, probably the single greatest book of weird fantasy written in this country between
258-438: A thematic signature that signifies insanity and decadence. Scandinavian rap artist Yung Lean references Carcosa in his song Yellowman on the album Stranger released in 2017. Carcosa American writer Robert W. Chambers borrowed the name "Carcosa" for several of his short stories featured in the 1895 book The King in Yellow , inspiring generations of authors to similarly use Carcosa in their own works. The city
301-415: Is a book of short stories by American writer Robert W. Chambers , first published by F. Tennyson Neely in 1895. The British first edition was published by Chatto & Windus in 1895 (316 pages). The book contains nine short stories and a sequence of poems; while the first stories belong to the genres of supernatural horror and weird fiction , The King in Yellow progressively transitions towards
344-411: Is also stated, in " The Repairer of Reputations ", that the final moment of the first act involves the character Camilla's "agonized scream and [...] awful words echoing through the dim streets of Carcosa". All of the excerpts come from Act I. The stories describe Act I as quite ordinary, but reading Act II drives the reader mad with the "irresistible" revealed truths: "The very banality and innocence of
387-490: Is mentioned in the song "Strange and Eternal" of the 2022 album Netherheaven by the American technical death metal band Revocation . Two different publishers have used the name Carcosa. Carcosa House was a science fiction specialty publishing firm formed in 1947 by Frederick B. Shroyer, a boyhood friend of T. E. Dikty , and two Los Angeles science fiction fans , Russell Hodgkins and Paul Skeeters. Shroyer had secured
430-773: Is not known what exactly "Demhe" is. Marion Zimmer Bradley (and Diana L. Paxson since Bradley's death) also used the names "Hali" and "Lake of Hali" in her Darkover series. Later writers, including H. P. Lovecraft and his many admirers, became admirers of Chambers' work and incorporated the names used by Chambers into their own stories, set in the Cthulhu Mythos. The King in Yellow and Carcosa have inspired many modern authors, including Karl Edward Wagner ("The River of Night's Dreaming"), Joseph S. Pulver ("Carl Lee & Cassilda"), Lin Carter , James Blish , Michael Cisco ("He Will Be There"), Ann K. Schwader , Robert M. Price , Galad Elflandsson , Simon Strantzas ("Beyond
473-461: Is the shores of Lake Hali, either on another planet, or in another universe. For instance: Along the shore the cloud waves break, The twin suns sink behind the lake, The shadows lengthen In Carcosa. Strange is the night where black stars rise, And strange moons circle through the skies, But stranger still is Lost Carcosa. Songs that the Hyades shall sing, Where flap the tatters of
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#1732872992329516-539: The Gobi Desert , destroyed when the Illuminati arrived on Earth via flying saucers from the planet Vulcan . In maps of the world of George R. R. Martin 's A Song of Ice and Fire , a city named Carcosa is labeled on the easternmost edge of the map along the coast of a large lake, near other magical cities such as Asshai. In The World of Ice and Fire , it is mentioned that a sorcerer lord lives there who claims to be
559-488: The 1991 EP Passage to Arcturo by Rotting Christ , the song "Inside The Eye of Algond" nominates the Mystical Carcosa as part of the singer's journey. The second song of the 2015 album Luminiferous by the American metal band High on Fire is named Carcosa. Swedish rapper Yung Lean 's third album Stranger features the closing track "Yellowman". Carcosa is mentioned in the song. In 2016, DigiTech released
602-697: The Banks of the River Seine"), Charles Stross (in the Laundry Files series), Anders Fager and S. M. Stirling (in the Emberverse series). Joseph S. Pulver has written nearly 30 tales and poems that are based on and/or include Carcosa, The King in Yellow, or other elements from Robert W. Chambers. Pulver also edited an anthology A Season in Carcosa of new tales based upon The King in Yellow, released by Miskatonic River Press in 2012. John Scott Tynes contributed to
645-665: The Carcosa mansion was built as the official residence of the Resident-General of the Federated Malay States for the first holder of that office, Sir Frank Swettenham . It was in use as a luxury hotel, the Carcosa Seri Negara , from 1989 to 2015 and has been abandoned since then. Swettenham took the name from The King in Yellow . In the Quebec-based geopolitical/live-action role-play game Bicolline , Carcosa
688-550: The Cthulhu Mythos alongside the Necronomicon and others. The first season of True Detective , a 2014 American anthology crime drama television series created by Nic Pizzolatto , references a figure called "the Yellow King". Allusions to The King in Yellow can be observed in the show's dark philosophy, its recurring use of "Carcosa" and "The Yellow King" as motifs throughout the series, and its symbolic use of yellow as
731-622: The Hyades and Aldebaran. The Mask that the Stranger is instructed to remove but turns out not to exist at all in the excerpt from The King in Yellow play (in Chambers' short story "The Mask") evokes the scene in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death" where Prince Prospero demands that the stranger dressed as the Red Death should remove his mask and robes, only to find nothing underneath. Given
774-661: The Isles series, Carcosa is the name of the ancient capital of the old kingdom, which collapsed a thousand years before the events of the series. In S.M. Stirling 's Emberverse series, Carcosa is the name of a South Pacific city inhabited by evil people led by the Yellow Raja and the Pallid Mask. In Lawrence Watt-Evans ' The Lords of Dûs series, a character known as the Forgotten King, who dresses in yellow rags, reveals that he
817-579: The King, Must die unheard in Dim Carcosa. Song of my soul, my voice is dead, Die thou, unsung, as tears unshed Shall dry and die in Lost Carcosa. Lake Hali is a misty lake found near the city of Hastur. In the fictional play The King in Yellow (obliquely described by author Robert W. Chambers in the collection of short stories of the same title), the mysterious cities of Alar and Carcosa stand beside
860-463: The Serviss book, it was never published. Carcosa was a specialty publishing firm formed by David Drake , Karl Edward Wagner , and Jim Groce, who were concerned that Arkham House would cease publication after the death of its founder, August Derleth . Carcosa was founded in North Carolina in 1973 and put out four collections of pulp horror stories, all edited by Wagner. Their first book
903-612: The book—such as the Lake of Hali and the Yellow Sign—in " The Whisperer in Darkness " (1931), one of his main Cthulhu Mythos stories. Lovecraft borrowed Chambers' method of only vaguely referring to supernatural events, entities, and places, thereby allowing his readers to imagine the horror for themselves. The play The King in Yellow effectively became another piece of occult literature in
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#1732872992329946-503: The cloud waves roll and break on the shores of Hali. Chambers borrowed the names Carcosa, Hali and Hastur from Ambrose Bierce : specifically, his short stories " An Inhabitant of Carcosa " and "Haïta the Shepherd". There is no strong indication that Chambers was influenced beyond liking the names. For example, Hastur is a god of shepherds in "Haïta the Shepherd", but is implicitly a location in "The Repairer of Reputations", listed alongside
989-413: The death of Poe and the rise of Lovecraft ", and it was an influence on Lovecraft himself. The book is named for the eponymous play within the stories which recurs as a motif through the first four stories, a forbidden play which induces madness in those who read it. The first four stories are loosely connected by three main devices: These stories are macabre in tone, centering, in keeping with
1032-563: The early 2000s, a Mysterious Package Company experience called The King in Yellow was introduced, heavily inspired by story and title. Later, a sequel experience entitled Carcosa: Rise of the Cult was created, obviously connected to this shared universe and connected to the original The King in Yellow. In 2017, Fantasy Flight Games released an expansion for Arkham Horror: The Card Game titled "The Path to Carcosa" in which players investigate occurrences based on The King in Yellow . Carcosa
1075-688: The establishment of the Dynasty in Carcosa, the lakes which connected Hastur, Aldebaran and the mystery of the Hyades. He spoke of Cassilda and Camilla, and sounded the cloudy depths of Demhe, and the Lake of Hali. "The scolloped tatters of the King in Yellow must hide Yhtill forever", he muttered, but I do not believe Vance heard him. Then by degrees he led Vance along the ramifications of the Imperial family, to Uoht and Thale, from Naotalba and Phantom of Truth, to Aldones, and then tossing aside his manuscript and notes, he began
1118-442: The first act only allowed the blow to fall afterward with more awful effect". Even seeing the first page of the second act is enough to draw the reader in: "If I had not caught a glimpse of the opening words in the second act I should never have finished it" ("The Repairer of Reputations"). Chambers usually gives only scattered hints of the contents of the full play, as in this extract from "The Repairer of Reputations": He mentioned
1161-591: The lake. Like Carcosa, it is referenced in the Cthulhu Mythos stories of H.P. Lovecraft and the authors who followed him. The name Hali originated in Ambrose Bierce's " An Inhabitant of Carcosa " (1886) in which Hali is the author of a quote which prefaces the story. The narrator of the story implies that the person named Hali is now dead (at least in the timeline of the story). Several other nearly undescribed places are alluded to in Chambers' writing, among them Hastur, Yhtill, and Aldebaran. "Aldebaran" may refer to
1204-590: The mythology of Chambers' Carcosa in a series of novellas, "Broadalbin", "Ambrose", and "Sosostris", and essays in issue #1 of The Unspeakable Oath and in Delta Green . In Paul Edwin Zimmer's Dark Border series, Carcosa is a city where humans mingle with their nearly immortal allies, the Hastur. In Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson 's The Illuminatus! Trilogy , Carcosa is connected with an ancient civilization in
1247-659: The other tales, on characters who are often artists or decadents , inhabitants of the demi-monde . The first and fourth stories, "The Repairer of Reputations" and "The Yellow Sign", are set in an imagined future 1920s America, whereas the second and third stories, "The Mask" and "In the Court of the Dragon", are set in Paris. These stories are haunted by the theme: "Have you found the Yellow Sign?" The macabre character gradually fades away during
1290-490: The recognition of that short story, this might be an inspiration or even a tribute from Chambers to Poe. Brian Stableford has pointed out that the story "The Demoiselle d'Ys" was influenced by the stories of Théophile Gautier , such as "Arria Marcella" (1852); both Gautier and Chambers' stories feature a love affair enabled by a supernatural time slip . H. P. Lovecraft read The King in Yellow in early 1927 and included passing references to various things and places from
1333-405: The remaining stories, and the last three are written in the romantic fiction style common to Chambers' later work. They are all linked to the preceding stories by their Parisian setting and their artistic protagonists. The stories in the book are: The fictional play The King in Yellow has at least two acts and at least three characters: Cassilda, Camilla and "the Stranger", who may or may not be
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1376-468: The show, which is in line with Lovecraftian horror , as is a vision experienced by one character that underscores Lovecraftian themes like cosmic indifference . In Part 3 of the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina , the barker of the traveling amusement park and carnival is named Carcosa, and the carnival in turn named, presumably, after him. Throughout the season of the show, it becomes apparent that
1419-466: The sixty-ninth Yellow Emperor, from a dynasty fallen for a thousand years. In the satirical novel Kamus of Kadizhar: The Black Hole of Carcosa by John Shirley (St. Martin's Press, 1988), Carcosa is the name of a planet whose weird black hole physics figures in the story. Swedish writer Anders Fager 's "Miss Witt's Great Work of Art" features a Stockholm-based coterie known as "The Carcosa Foundation" that worships Hastur. In David Drake 's Lord of
1462-640: The skies, But stranger still is Lost Carcosa. Songs that the Hyades shall sing, Where flap the tatters of the King, Must die unheard in Dim Carcosa. Song of my soul, my voice is dead, Die thou, unsung, as tears unshed Shall dry and die in Lost Carcosa. The short story "The Mask" is introduced by an excerpt from Act 1, Scene 2d: Camilla: You, sir, should unmask. Stranger: Indeed? Cassilda: Indeed it's time. We have all laid aside disguise but you. Stranger: I wear no mask. Camilla: (Terrified, aside to Cassilda) No mask? No mask! It
1505-419: The star Aldebaran , likely as it is also associated with the mention of the Hyades star cluster, with which it shares space in the night sky. The Yellow Sign, described as a symbol, not of any human script, is supposed to originate from the same place as Carcosa. One other name associated is "Demhe" and its "cloudy depths" − this has never been explained either by Chambers or any famous pastiche-writer and so it
1548-537: The title Yellow King . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yellow_King&oldid=893339663 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages The King in Yellow The King in Yellow
1591-419: The titular character. Chambers' story collection excerpts some sections from the play to introduce the book as a whole, or individual stories. For example, "Cassilda's Song" comes from Act 1, Scene 2 of the play: Along the shore the cloud waves break, The twin suns sink behind the lake, The shadows lengthen In Carcosa . Strange is the night where black stars rise, And strange moons circle through
1634-470: The wonderful story of the Last King. A similar passage occurs in "The Yellow Sign", in which two protagonists have read The King in Yellow : Night fell and the hours dragged on, but still we murmured to each other of the King and the Pallid Mask, and midnight sounded from the misty spires in the fog-wrapped city. We spoke of Hastur and of Cassilda, while outside the fog rolled against the blank window-panes as
1677-438: The workers at the carnival are all mythological beings of old, with Carcosa himself being the god Pan , his true form being that of a satyr , in the show understood to be the god of madness . The arc of the season revolves partially around the attempts of the carnival workers to resurrect an older deity identified as The Green Man . Themes of madness, death, and resurrection parallel the works of Robert W. Chambers et al. In
1720-469: Was a huge omnibus volume of the best non-series weird fiction by Manly Wade Wellman. It was enhanced by a group of chilling illustrations by noted fantasy artist Lee Brown Coye . Their other three volumes were also giant omnibus collections (of work by Hugh B. Cave , E. Hoffman Price , and again by Manly Wade Wellman ). A fifth collection was planned, Death Stalks the Night , by Hugh B. Cave ; Lee Brown Coye
1763-458: Was exiled from Carcosa. In writer Alan Moore 's Neonomicon , drawn by artist Jacen Burrowes , the character Johnny Carcosa is the key to a mystical Lovecraftian universe. In the HBO original series True Detective , 'Carcosa' is presented as a man-made temple. Located in the backwoods of Louisiana, the temple serves as a place of ritualistic sexual abuse of children and child murder organized by
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1806-538: Was later used more extensively in Robert W. Chambers ' book of short stories published in 1895, titled The King in Yellow . Chambers had read Bierce's work and borrowed a few additional names from his work, including Hali and Hastur . In Chambers' stories, and within the apocryphal play titled The King in Yellow , which is mentioned several times within them, the city of Carcosa is a mysterious, ancient, and possibly cursed place. The most precise description of its location
1849-451: Was working on illustrating it when he suffered a crippling stroke in 1977 and eventually died, causing Carcosa to abandon the project. The book was eventually published by Fedogan & Bremer . Carcosa also had plans to issue volumes by Leigh Brackett , H. Warner Munn , and Jack Williamson ; however, none of the projected volumes appeared. The Carcosa colophon depicts the silhouette of a towered city in front of three moons. In 1896–7,
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