Posts Tagged ‘Robert W. Chambers’

Replay: PseudoPod 364: The Yellow Sign

“The Yellow Sign” was first published in the collection THE KING IN YELLOW in 1895.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 55:00 — 37.9MB)

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Show Notes

Longtime listeners or backers of our Pseudopod 10 Year anniversary will be familiar with the artistic work and madcap visions of Jonathan Chaffin of Horror In Clay.  He makes fine horror-themed tiki mugs, art, and ephemera. He made a Cthulhu tiki mug, before that was a thing, and a cask of Amontillado and an Innsmouth Fogcutter.  Now, he has a warning for you. Somewhere in the infinite multiverse, or just on the other side of this shadow, the King In Yellow awaits. “The Pallid Mask” from Horror In Clay is a 8in tiki mug inspired by love for the linked short stories of Robert W. Chambers, and every subsequent writer caught by that fateful play.

The mug is available on Kickstarter, and will ship in August. The mug is part of a collection with companion pieces like a custom-written D6 tabletop RPG module and a Mai Tai glass from the mythic “Shores of Carcosa” restaurant.  Learn more on Kickstarter by searching for “Pallid Mask” or at Horror In Clay.

If you enjoyed this replay, you should seek these out:

PseudoPod 491: The Second Act

PseudoPod 558: Toward the Banner of the King

PseudoPod 574: While the Black Stars Burn

The King in Yellow is available on Gutenberg for free download.

The Yellow Sign

by Robert W. Chambers

“Let the red dawn surmise
What we shall do,
When this blue starlight dies
And all is through.”

I

There are so many things which are impossible to explain! Why should certain chords in music make me think of the brown and golden tints of autumn foliage? Why should the Mass of Sainte Cécile bend my thoughts wandering among caverns whose walls blaze with ragged masses of virgin silver? What was it in the roar and turmoil of Broadway at six o’clock that flashed before my eyes the picture of a still Breton forest where sunlight filtered through spring foliage and Sylvia bent, half curiously, half tenderly, over a small green lizard, murmuring: “To think that this also is a little ward of God!” (Continue Reading…)

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PseudoPod 574: While the Black Stars Burn

“While the Black Stars Burn” originally appeared in the Cassilda’s Song anthology. It was reprinted in Turn To Ash, and is the title story in Lucy’s Stoker Award-winning collection While the Black Stars Burn.

Content warning:

Spoiler

Child abuse

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 37:17 — 25.7MB)

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Show Notes

I wrote “While the Black Stars Burn” while I was attending a winter MFA residency at Goddard College in Vermont. I knew I wanted to write a story evocative of both the Robert Chambers story “In the Court of the Dragon” and Lovecraft’s story “The Music of Erich Zann” but which was not a copycat pastiche of either one. The heat wasn’t working well in my dorm room, and my being profoundly cold and under-slept definitely influenced my writing!

While the Black Stars Burn

by Lucy A. Snyder

Caroline tucked an unruly strand of coarse brown hair up under her pink knit cap, shrugged the strap of her black violin case back into place over her shoulder, and hurried up the music building stairs. Her skin felt both uncomfortably greasy and itched dryly under her heavy winter clothes; it had been seven days since the water heater broke in her tiny efficiency and the landlord wasn’t answering his phone. Quick, chilly rag-baths were all she could stand, and she felt so self-conscious about the state of her hair that she kept it hidden under a hat whenever possible. She hoped that her violin professor Dr. Harroe wouldn’t make her take her cap off.

Her foot slipped on a spot of dried salt on the stairs and she grabbed the chilly brass banister with her left hand to keep from pitching forward. The sharp, cold jolt made the puckered scar in her palm sharply ache, and the old memory returned fast and unbidden:

“Why aren’t you practicing as I told you to?”

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PseudoPod 558: Toward the Banner of the King

PseudoPod 558: Toward the Banner of the King is a PseudoPod original.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 35:02 — 32.1MB)

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Show Notes

 

Thanks to our sponsor, ARCHIVOS – a Story Mapping and Development Tool for writers, gamers, and storytellers of all kinds!

Toward the Banner of the King

by T.R. North

In times past I often dreamt I was driving a carriage through the deserted streets of an alien city.  In spite of the strangeness of the city, it seemed utterly familiar to me; in spite of the utter waste it presented, whenever I paused, passengers would appear and alight.

They were all masked, as was I.  Communication between us was unnecessary, as there was only one fit destination in the whole of the city.  They were dressed in fine clothing, but it had the air of costume, and I could find nothing of their true condition in it.

No matter how many passengers I took on, the carriage never filled.

No matter how long I drove, we never drew so close as to see the crest on the yellow banners adorning the distant towers. (Continue Reading…)

PseudoPod 491: The Second Act

PseudoPod 491: The Second Act is a PseudoPod original.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:12 — 20.2MB)

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Show Notes

“It’s important to remember that not everything in life can or should be understood.”

The Second Act

by Nicolas Escobar

He was wearing a torn up jacket and soggy blue jeans. Corralled beneath a frayed baseball cap, his hair spilled out in all directions. Both arms clutched a thin yellow book to his chest. He held it tight, as if at any moment someone might snatch it from him. Wild eyed, he slammed the book down in front of me but left his hand on top.

“I’d like to exchange this please” he said.

PseudoPod 364: The Yellow Sign

“The Yellow Sign” was first published in the collection THE KING IN YELLOW in 1895.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 53:08 — 36.6MB)

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The Yellow Sign

by Robert W. Chambers

“Let the red dawn surmise
What we shall do,
When this blue starlight dies
And all is through.”

I

There are so many things which are impossible to explain! Why should certain chords in music make me think of the brown and golden tints of autumn foliage? Why should the Mass of Sainte Cécile bend my thoughts wandering among caverns whose walls blaze with ragged masses of virgin silver? What was it in the roar and turmoil of Broadway at six o’clock that flashed before my eyes the picture of a still Breton forest where sunlight filtered through spring foliage and Sylvia bent, half curiously, half tenderly, over a small green lizard, murmuring: “To think that this also is a little ward of God!” (Continue Reading…)