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The King in Yellow
The King in Yellow | Robert Chambers
The King in Yeellow is a book of short stories by American writer Robert W. Chambers, first published by F. Tennyson Neely in 1895. The book is named after a play with the same title which recurs as a motif through some of the stories. The first half of the book features highly esteemed weird stories, and the book 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. There are ten stories, the first four of which ("The Repairer of Reputations", "The Mask", "In the Court of the Dragon", and "The Yellow Sign") mention The King in Yellow, a forbidden play which induces despair or madness in those who read it. "The Yellow Sign" inspired a film of the same name released in 2001.
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review
mindduckbooks
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Mehso-so

This was a really well written, easy to read series of stories with creative world building and intriguing ideas. However, it left me wanting more. My co-host on the other hand had a completely opposite opinion. Check out our discussion about it on episode 42 of the Mind Duck Books Podcast: https://bit.ly/3HM5w5h

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Naz786
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Mehso-so

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

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night_shift
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Mehso-so

I really loved The Mask. I'm still thinking about it. 🤯 The first 4 stories are the only ones about the king in yellow and are the strongest, but I did enjoy Demoiselle d'Ys, The Streets of the Four Winds, and Rue Barrée.

This worked for 6 readathons, which I'll list in the comments, for #WinterGames2021 and was a TBR read. #MistletoeManiacs @Clwojick

🎄🎄

316pts.

night_shift #WinterCosy @puddlejumper (1/20) 🎄 #HolidayHorrors @patchshank (1/10) 🎄 #LittenListen @aperfectmjk (a library loan) 🎄 #AVeryMerryBingo @Jadams1776 (Feliz Navidad - set mostly in France) 🎄 #BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks (space #1) 🎄 #BFC21 @wanderinglynn (1/20) 🎄 2y
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 2y
Jadams89 🎅🏻🎄🎉👍🏻🎁 2y
34 likes3 comments
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CJRwriting
Mehso-so

I wrote a considered review of this but Litsy crashed. Didn't enjoy it enough to bother writing it up again- it's OK, nothing special though.

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TH3F4LC0N
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Pickpick

This was a neat little book! Really showcased a decidedly Lovecraftian bent before Lovecraft even got going. My biggest complaint is that he just abandons the weird, macabre “King in Yellow” motif halfway thru, so it feels ultimately disjointed; like he was originally writing something akin to a mosaic novel but then just lost interest and padded it out with unrelated material. Still, it‘s all well-written and I enjoyed it. Would recommend. 👍

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Oblomov26
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Mehso-so

Hmmm okay. I know Cthulhu, I have seen the first series of True Detectives so it only made sense I would get to this. And I was slightly disappointed. Chambers wrote gothic horror and romance and in this book came up with fascinating idea of a play about the lost city of Carcosa ruled by the eponymous king which drove many who read it insane. And if this was a core of the book I would be happy, but rather it is an idea mentioned and the forgotten.

Bookwomble I found the vagueness and sense of things almost, but not quite, defined one of the attractive features of Chambers' stories. 3y
46 likes1 comment
review
DollyDeez
The King in Yellow | Robert William Chambers
Pickpick

Not perfect, but definitely an enjoyable read. The Mask is a fantastic story which everyone should at least give a read. My thoughts as I finished the book were how customs change over time and locale, but humans are humans all the same.

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DollyDeez
The King in Yellow | Robert William Chambers
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Excellent way to start a day!

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DollyDeez
The King in Yellow | Robert Chambers

I've just started reading it, and the age of the book (first published in 1895) is throwing me in weird ways. The first story is set in the 1920s and mentions a war with Germany and it took me a second to realize that was just a reasonable assumption lol it also mentions a character using brandy as a chest rub and I can't tell if that was actually a thing people did

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Michael_Gee

It is possible that his curiosity was piqued, for with the exception of a hen-turkey, a boy of nineteen is the most openly curious biped alive.

7 likes1 stack add
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Michael_Gee

Whatever it was about the man that repelled me I did not know, but the impression of a plump white grave-worm was so intense and nauseating that I must have shown it in my expression, for he turned his puffy face away with a movement which made me think of a disturbed grub in a chestnut.

Michael_Gee 🤢 This book is amazing. 3y
Reggie Lol 3y
7 likes2 comments
review
NeonKnight
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Pickpick

Some great unsettling fiction. Because they‘re short stories, I would have liked to see some things expanded on, but it didn‘t ruin my enjoyment. I have seen the yellow sign and I have committed the greatest error, and read act 2.

#thekinginyellow

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NeonKnight
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The king in orange brushes up on The King in Yellow.
#onecattorulethemall

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NeonKnight
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The king in yellow is really making me want to go and play Cultist Simulator again. Wouldn‘t be shocked at all if it had served as inspiration.

#thekinginyellow
#cultistsimulator

1 like1 stack add
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NeonKnight
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Even with everything going on I still have ONE shred of sanity left. Let‘s do something about that.
#thekinginyellow
#hellodarknessmyoldfriend

Bookwomble Goodbye last marble 👋 4y
5 likes1 comment
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NeonKnight
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Got some christmas gifts!

#thekinginyellow
#chambers
#weirdlit

review
Verba Docent
The King in Yellow | Robert Chambers
Mehso-so

Most people will be introduced to this through Lovecraft. A strange collection of short stories & poems. The first 4 stories are excellent weird tales. The 5th, The Demoiselle d'Ys (my fav), is a supernatural tale of a different kind than the preceding. The rest is a collection of bizarre poems & some short stories mostly about artists & romance with no (or few) elements that link them to the earlier works. Overall worth reading, but a mixed bag.

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Dyslexicon13
The King in Yellow | Robert William Chambers
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Oh the sin of writing such words, words which are clear as crystal limpid and musical as bubbling springs words which sparkle and glow like the poisoned diamonds of the Medicis! Oh the wickedness the hopeless damnation of a soul who could fascinate and paralyze human creatures with such words words understood by the ignorant and wise alike , words which are more precious than jewels more soothing than Heavenly music, more awful than death itself.

4 likes1 stack add
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JillyMann
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My next venture.... has anyone read it?

review
Bookwomble
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Pickpick

This book is chiefly known for its opening quartet of stories of eldritch horrors and macabre dystopias. Some works contain only those four, which may well satisfy the majority of readers who (like myself) are drawn to it due to the thread it weaves through the works of others, most famously H.P. Lovecraft. However that does the author a disservice. Chambers collected these stories together and intended them to be read as a complete work. 👇👇

Bookwomble Doing that, you appreciate the arc he takes from the futurist dystopia of The Repairer of Reputations, with its claustrophobic feeling of paranoia, through the subsequent alchemical and supernatural tales, onto the fifth story, a folkloric fairytale, a short set of prose poems, and so gradually into the historical world of everyday reality, with its wars and romance, comedy and pathos. An expert writer who deserves recognition for more than horror 6y
8 likes1 comment
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Bookwomble
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A previous owner, not before 9 Nov 79 according to the bus ticket bookmark, appears to have got to the penultimate story, "The Street of Our Lady of the Fields", and then put the book aside, not to finish it. I wonder if something happened on that bus journey? Did they meet some old friend or lover and forget the book? Did the preceding story of war trigger a trauma memory in a veteran, who felt unable to read further? The mysteries of old books!

Centique Excellent post! You‘ve got me feeling all whimsical about it now 😊 Really cool little bit of history you found. 6y
BookaholicNatty Love this!!!! 6y
saresmoore 🧐 6y
See All 12 Comments
Bookwomble @Centique @BookaholicNatty I like it when I find little tokens like this, inscriptions, newspaper clippings and, occasionally, notes and letters. It gives a sense of how other lives might have been touched by an author, and ties a thread, even if tenuous, between me and them. 6y
BookaholicNatty @Bookwomble that is like an amazing thing to be in there for thhhattt long 1976!!!! Craziness! 6y
Bookwomble @BookaholicNatty This is my second bus ticket find. My other one is dated late '50s- early '60s, and had th e bus company infield on so they I could identity it as a Liverpool company which ceased trading in the mid-60s. I got a very different vibe off that ticket. 6y
Bookwomble @BookaholicNatty I pulled the other books and see I got my dates wrong! The book was published '56 and the bus company folded '69, so the previous owner probably read it between those two dates. Interestingly (I realise I may be stretching the definition of that word by now), flipping the pages I found a second set of tickets indicating they gave up 2/3 of the way through. 6y
saresmoore That is so intriguing. It makes me want to read a short story collection inspired by real-life book ephemera. 6y
Bookwomble @saresmoore I've had that thought, too ☺ 6y
saresmoore *whispers* Open a Word document/blank journal and just start typing/writing... 😬 6y
Bookwomble @saresmoore Ha, ha! 😂 6y
15 likes12 comments
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Bookwomble
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My late afternoon: Books, music, cocktails and nibbles 📖🎶🍸🍡😊

MrsLee One needs to know, what is in that beautiful cocktail ? 6y
Bookwomble @MrsLee It was (past tense!) A gimlet: two thirds gin, one third Rose's lime cordial, slice of lime 🍸 Nibbles: silverskin onions 😊 6y
14 likes1 stack add2 comments
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Bookwomble
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Reading the non- horror stories in the King in Yellow in the garden while eating my breakfast (tea, and toast and Marmite) when I was joined by a mother blackbird preparing breakfast (worms) for her children ☺

saresmoore I love the morning birds! I confess, though, since I‘ve never eaten or even seen Marmite, I may now associate it with worms... 6y
Bookwomble @saresmoore Ha,ha! Many people would associate Marmite with worms! ? Their marketing is all about "love it/hate it" - obviously, I'm in the love camp ? 6y
18 likes2 comments
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TrishB
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#bodakyellow #aprella
I‘m taking @Cathythoughts definition of ‘undead creature‘ and this cover for the tagged book!
It is true, you learn something new every day!

Cathythoughts Nice one 👍🏻😱💛💛 ( there‘s something about being “ yellow bellied “ too. Isn‘t there ! This is getting very interesting...) or else I‘m getting carried away , ( has been known to happen ) 😬🤦🏻‍♀️ (edited) 6y
Reviewsbylola Love it! 💛💛 6y
RohitSawant I was about to post this, too! 🙌🏻 6y
See All 13 Comments
Cinfhen Interesting thought @Cathythoughts I guess your name really suits you 😘😘 6y
TrishB @rohit-sawant how weird is that! 6y
emilyhaldi 🙌🏻🙌🏻dying to know if you've given the song a listen yet?? 🙃 6y
TrishB @emilyhaldi no, been in work all day and my head phones were in another bag! 6y
Kalalalatja What a creepy cover! 6y
TrishB @emilyhaldi my daughter just played me it.....I can honestly say it‘s not my thing...... 6y
Aleida Love this cover 6y
emilyhaldi Lol @TrishB it's definitely not for everyone 🙃 but now you know!! 6y
TrishB @emilyhaldi she laughed when I said play it for me! 6y
Mdargusch Great cover! I‘m with you- this song 🙉 6y
96 likes13 comments
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Bookwomble
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"The Demoiselle d'Ys" is tangentially connected to Chambers' King in Yellow stories by the character names Hastur and Jeanne d'Ys ('jaundice'). Otherwise, it's a modern folktale styled somewhat after the Breton laïs, and which put me in mind of both Dunsany's "The Curse of the Wise Woman" and Warner's "Kingdoms of Elfin".

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Bookwomble
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There are three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not:
The way of the eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid.

- "The Demoiselle D'Ys"

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Bookwomble
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Litsy doesn't hold the edition I have, the Ace 1965 edition pictured here. In addition to the macabre stories featuring the mysterious play, "The King in Yellow", it contains several non-genre stories.
Contents:
The Repairer of Reputations
The Mask
The Court of the Dragon
The Yellow Sign
The Demoiselle d'Ys
The Prophets' Paradise
The Street of the Four Winds
The Street of the First Shell
The Street of Our Lady of the Fields Rue Barrée

StillLookingForCarmenSanDiego Welcome to Litsy 🥂 6y
10 likes1 stack add2 comments
review
Anton
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Pickpick

The first and last stories in this collection were the strongest (the first was particularly unnerving) but they were all good. I can definitely see why Lovecraft was inspired by them — the idea of a work of literature (in this case a play) that drives its reader insane is right up his alley. I‘m glad the references to the Yellow King and Carcosa in True Detective put this book on my radar, even if the result was a few sleepless nights. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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Anton
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After finishing a re-watch of True Detective season one, I decided it was time to finally read The King In Yellow. My version only has the four stories that have the King as a recurring theme (there are copies that have a few more) but that‘s what really interested me anyway. First story was really good, second was okay, hoping to finish the others this week.

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PaulaCappaAuthor
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Chambers short story The Messenger is a FREE read, audio too, at Reading Fiction Blog. What an exciting shortie by a master writer of mystery/suspense. This is literary horror, also known as quiet horror, at its finest. PaulaCappa.wordpress.com #readingfiction #bookaddict #reading addict #bookclubs #backtoreading #gothic #gothicfiction.

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catsuit_mango
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Breakfast tea number two because I was not feeling so well after breakfast and ended up having a nap on the sofa. Starting the day over with #bookandtea

11 likes1 stack add
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PagesOfKate
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Hello, my name is Kate and I like to buy cheap books. It's been 3 hours since my last purchase.
#bookaholicsanonymous #badcovers #Riotgrams

Cathythoughts 😀👍🏻 6y
Jess7 This cover is haunting! Haha! I have to stop looking at it. 🤣 6y
56 likes1 stack add2 comments
blurb
kylienoele
King in Yellow | Robert W Chambers
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K: (The) King in Yellow- Robert Chambers

Y: (The) Yellow Wallpaper- Charlotte Perkins

L: (The) Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe- C. S. Lewis

I: IT- Stephen King

E: Eleanor & Park- Rainbow Rowell

This was more difficult than I thought it would be. I know The Yellow Wallpaper is technically a short story, but apparently I haven't read too many books that start with 'Y' 🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️

RohitSawant The King in Yellow! 😍 6y
45 likes1 comment
review
Josh_G
The King in Yellow | Robert William Chambers
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Mehso-so

This starts off strong and then peters out about halfway through.

review
Leannr
The King in Yellow | Robert William Chambers
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Mehso-so

Started this little number on a dreary day in Dublin. The cover looks almost like a sun, hopefully it will bring a bit of sunshine!

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PirateJenny
King in Yellow | Robert W Chambers
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The entire premise of this collection is that there is a #cursedbook so terrible it drives anyone who reads it to commit terrible acts. It's wonderful and creepy and somewhat pulpy. #PiratesLife #WhatAWayToLive

CrowCAH What a neat concept! Love the cover art, too; really eerie and moody. 7y
4 likes1 comment
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AdaChivers
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Not really Spring here, autumn (not really), and hot af but I'm joining the #springcleaningreadathon because of reasons!

Mdargusch That candy looks good. 😋 7y
AdaChivers @Mdargusch it's a brazilian milky chocolate that I eat since childhood and is really good! 7y
29 likes2 comments
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AdaChivers
The King in Yellow | Robert William Chambers
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I couldn't afford the gorgeous book sleeves I ser here and on Instagram, with shipping costs and custom taxes... So, I asked a friend to make me some! And I love them! #booksleeves

LeahBergen Those are great! 7y
elkeOriginal Love the interior colors and the roll-over tops! Cute! 7y
AdaChivers @elkeo she made the tops like that so I can put longer books inside the sleeve un rolling them! Great idea, right? 7y
See All 7 Comments
elkeOriginal Yes! The one I recently bought was too short, so it's brilliant! (edited) 7y
BooksTeasAndBookishThings Beautiful ❤️❤️❤️ #ProtectYourBooks 7y
elkeOriginal @AdaChivers Your friend may need to go into business - we all want taller #booksleeves! Tagging some gals @LectricSheep @tpixie I was chatting with about sleeves and forgot yours were custom-made 🙁 7y
AdaChivers @elkeo she has a little online shop, but as me, she livros in Brazil! I'll try to get her to join litsy! 7y
37 likes7 comments
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AdaChivers
The King in Yellow | Robert William Chambers
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Not really a party, because I forgot to get prepared, again, but a #litsypartyofone anyway...

Lmstraubie If you have a book and a comfortable place to read it's a party! 7y
29 likes1 comment
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Camsmom2010
The King in Yellow | Robert William Chambers
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Snow Day today means reading and some baking! ❄📚🎂

review
reader_of_the_pack
Der Knig in Gelb | Robert W. Chambers
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Pickpick

Ein mysteriös-schauerlicher Band in der Romantik verwurzelter Erzählungen. In der Nachrecherche zur Serie "True Detective" entdeckt, frage ich mich, wie mir dieser moderne Klassiker der Gothic Novel entgehen konnte.

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DuckOfDoom
The King in Yellow | Robert William Chambers
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Mehso-so

The first stories were all about the Yellow Sign, and always the "King in Yellow", a book that was forbidden and said to make people who read it go mad, had a part in it.
The last three stories did not, and I do not understand why they are part of the book. They bored me, and it was difficult to hold my attention, as I am often #serialreading in the train to university

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DuckOfDoom
The King in Yellow | Robert William Chambers

A #litsyconfession: I have a problem with scary stuff. It freaks me out.
And now I need your advice: for an #AllHallowsRead, can you recommend something mild, maybe more on the mystery side?

Maike Mh maybe sth like 7y
jpmcwisemorgan I'm not a big fan of scary. There are a lot of paranormal romance/mystery. Charlaine Harris, the author of series True Blood is based on, has a series with a psychic and Victoria Laurie has at least one paranormal series. This way you get some mystery and something "spooky" without the scary. 7y
Varshitha Me too.. but I am diving right in.. Started Shining.. my first horror book😉 7y
See All 15 Comments
I-read-and-eat I love Karen Maitland's medieval mysteries. They are not very scary but just a little spooky. I am not good with scary either. My personal favourite of her is 7y
Foxyfictionista What about something enchanted? Like The Night Circus? 7y
DuckOfDoom @Maike @jpmcwisemorgan @I-read-and-eat @Foxyfictionista Thanks for the suggestions. I will look what the bookstore has to offer, or order all of them 📚 7y
jpmcwisemorgan @DuckOfDoom There are a lot of cozy mysteries out there, some with a paranormal bent. If you're ok with ebooks you might be able to find some for free or cheap. That way you can test them out for not a lot of money. 7y
DuckOfDoom @jpmcwisemorgan I think my mother has a lot of them, i tried the true blood series for my self, so maybe i will raid her bookshelf. 7y
Libby1 Maybe something just a bit creepy like We Have Always Lived in a Castle? Or Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None? I can't read scary stuff either but I enjoyed both of these books. 7y
Kirstin Have you read The Thirteenth Tale? A little spooky but more mysterious than anything. 7y
Bookworm54 You could maybe go with the classics? They aren't scary in the way modern horrors are. Frankenstein and Dracula are both great, and then there are things like Carmilla. You can sometimes get Penny Dreadful volumes very cheap on kindle (they have several classic stories in each volume) so they might be a place to start ☺️ 7y
silverlocusts A good collection of Poe, Washington Irving, or Hawthorne might do the trick 7y
moranadatter Heather Blake writes cozy mysteries about witches. They're seasonally appropriate, but not scary. 7y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa How about youngish and odd, but only a tiny scary. Something like 7y
37 likes15 comments
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Larkken
The King in Yellow | Robert William Chambers
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I dunno about the rest of you, but Matthew McConaughey never did anything for me before he played fragmented, pessimistic, intense Rust Cohle. Maybe it's that Texas is growing on me, but he's totally my #mancrush in all his flawed glory. #octphotochallenge (image is a gif from deviantart that I love: http://www.deviantart.com/art/True-Detective-Rust-Cohle-Gif-Animation-448578006)

Texreader That art nails him! 7y
9 likes1 comment
review
kylienoele
The King in Yellow | Robert William Chambers
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Pickpick

This was an excellent read! #booktober
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 🌝

Kirstin Yes! Loved this too! 👍 7y
33 likes3 stack adds1 comment
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DuckOfDoom
The King in Yellow | Robert William Chambers
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So thanks to Litsy i dowloaded the #serialreader app. I think it is a cool concept because classics are often not easy to read and one issue ist just long enough that i can read it in the bus in one day!
I choose to read the King in Yellow because it is referenced in one of my favourite board games, Arkham Horror and i just stumbled upon the title 😀

17 likes1 stack add
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ElizaTodd
The King in Yellow | Robert William Chambers
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A collection of short stories I own! I personally recommend The King in Yellow to everyone, it's so good! #shortstories #day29 #septphotochallenge #somethingforsept

[DELETED] 1418060470 I adore The King in Yellow. Decadence at its best. 7y
37 likes3 stack adds1 comment