Robert William Chambers (1865-1933) was an American illustrator and writer, best known for The King in Yellow , his influential and odd collection of ten macabre and French short stories first published in 1895. The title refers to a fictional play featured in four of the stories, and to a mysterious and malevolent supernatural entity within that play who may very well exist outside of it . . . It is whispered that the play leaves only insanity and sorrow in its wake; it tempts those who read it, bringing upon them hallucinations and madness . . . Influencing the works of H.P. Lovecraft, Raymond Chandler, George R.R. Martin, Neil Gaiman, and Nic Pizzolato (creator of HBO's True Detective ), and described by critics as a classic in the field of the supernatural, The King in Yellow - with its dashes of fantasy, mystery, mythology, romance, and science fiction - is a staple of the early gothic and Victorian horror genres.