Joseph S. Pulver (1955–2020)

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Title: The King in Yellow Tales
Series: The King in Yellow Anthology #3
Editor: Joseph Pulver
Rating: 1 of 5 Stars
Genre: Cosmic Horror
Pages: 249 DNF/125
Words: 77.5K DNF/39K

Synopsis:

From the Publisher

Collected within this substantial volume of madness, murder, and spectral tragedy are tales of Carcosa, the characters that inhabit the KIY "Play", and Chambers’ cosmic horror. Pulver’s tales adhere to Chambers’ core ideas and themes, and they retain all the mystery of Chambers originals. Joseph S. Pulver, Sr. has been acclaimed by many notable editors, writers, and reviewers, as the contemporary heir to Robert W. Chambers’ "King in Yellow". Have you seen the Yellow Sign?

"'The King In Yellow' reigns over the labyrinthine crossroads between the grand indifference of the cosmic Outside, and the inner wasteland of the tormented mind, so it's no surprise to find Joe Pulver's saturnine face so frequently behind the Pallid Mask. Joe plies the fathomless depths of existential nightmare breathing music and poetry, and brings back strangely beautiful salvage. That he has so lovingly and deeply explored Chambers' bizarre pocket universe without destroying the merest scintilla of its mystery is ample testament to his painfully sharp craftsmanship and terrible wisdom.

My Thoughts:

It turns out this was a collection of madness in the form of frenetic poetry and fragments of prose. I thought I could make it through, surviving on the prose but at the 50% mark I simply couldn't take any more.

I was bored, confused and feeling like someone was grinding broken glass into my earlobes. Not the feeling I want when reading a book. Heck, not the feeling I want, ever.

After the previous book, this was doubly disappointing.

★☆☆☆☆… (meer)

An great anthology of stories inspired by and / or set in Robert W. Chambers 'King in Yellow' Mythos. A notable feature of this collection is the theme that each writer is a women and the focus generally leans towards Cassilda, one of the other characters in the Carcosa / KIY Mythos. Every story in this collection is good, even the least among them is still a solid tale, and a few of them rise above to the level of excellence. A definitive recommendation to fans of The King in Yellow, or anyone who enjoys weird fiction.… (meer)

Here's an intriguing premise for an anthology. This collection of jauniste tales is written by a wide assortment of contemporary authors, but they are all women, whom editor Joe Pulver calls "the Sisters of the Yellow Sign." Cassilda, Queen of Carcosa, is thus referenced in the book title and becomes or overshadows a central character in many of the stories.

The quality of the work here is consistently high. In addition to displacing perspective from Chambers' precedent masculinity, the writers often vault away from his whiteness (as in "Yellow Bird," "In the Quad of Project 327," and "Pro Patria!") and even his human species (i.e. the canine protagonist of "Old Tsah-Hov"). These are all standout contributions, and so is Selena Chambers' quasi-scholarly and meta-literary "The Neurastheniac."

In keeping with the general trends of work inspired by The King in Yellow of Robert W. Chambers, there is no narrative continuity that joins these pieces together, just themes, motives, and mechanisms. Corruption, towers, masks, artistry, compulsion, dual suns, black stars, multiple moons, the indecipherable sign, the dreadful play, the ruined city, and the fathomless king are all brought forth in passage after passage.… (meer)