New Depictions of Carcosa's King

The internet is abuzz with some stirring new art projects featuring Robert W. Chambers' ever bizarre King in Yellow. As with Lovecraftian creations, they range from humorous to deadly serious. Lost Carcosa's chief sovereign of toxic nonsense is alive and well across the web, and perhaps gaining popularity through images like these, which could raise the profile of Chambers in weird fiction and beyond. This is accompanied by a rise in spin off fiction about Carcosa, such as Rehearsals for Oblivion by Elder Signs Press.


This painting culled from Deviant Art was fashioned by the artist as part of a Call of Cthulhu card game. It takes a pretty traditional view of the King, but with an added flair that seems almost Oriental. The rich colors suggest the majesty in the madness that is part of the King in Yellow's draw for readers.


This one was done as fan art for the H.P. Lovecraft driven "Vault of Unspeakable Doom" web comic. The stylistic similarity to its source of inspiration is obvious. Given the enduring horror of Burger King's plastic headed mascot, it's fairly predictable that some fan of the weird would knit together the two Kings in a freakish union. Still, there's a lot of laughs gained from this lighthearted take on Carcosa's reign of terror.


The golden sculpture featured here is perhaps the most impressive piece of Yellow fan art I've ever seen. Chambers now joins the ranks of Lovecraft in the hall of weird writers whose fiction has inspired diverse artistic mediums. The creator should consider producing more of these, since the burgeoning popularity of Chambers' monarch implies a market for weird consumers who would relish putting a plaque like this near their library of strange stories.

-Grim Blogger