app01 Sat, 27 Jun 2026 07:20:49 +0000 Fireside (https://fireside.fm) Weird Studies - Episodes Tagged with “Cosmic Horror” https://www.weirdstudies.com/tags/cosmic%20horror Wed, 20 Mar 2024 10:30:00 -0400 Professor Phil Ford and writer J. F. Martel host a series of conversations on art and philosophy, dwelling on ideas that are hard to think and art that opens up rifts in what we are pleased to call "reality." en-us episodic Art and philosophy at the limits of the thinkable Phil Ford and J. F. Martel Professor Phil Ford and writer J. F. Martel host a series of conversations on art and philosophy, dwelling on ideas that are hard to think and art that opens up rifts in what we are pleased to call "reality." yes weird, art, philosophy Phil Ford and J. F. Martel admin@weirdstudies.com Episode 165: Tatters of the King: On Robert Chambers' 'The King in Yellow' https://www.weirdstudies.com/165 09c11bb2-37a3-43c8-9cd8-03a5e9b6d719 Wed, 20 Mar 2024 10:30:00 -0400 Phil Ford and J. F. Martel 165 Tatters of the King: On Robert Chambers' 'The King in Yellow' full Phil Ford and J. F. Martel Phil and JF discuss four stories from Robert W. Chambers' pioneering work of weird fiction. 1:26:54 yes <p>"Let the red dawn surmise / What we shall do, / When the blue starlight dies / And all is through." This short poem, an epigraph to "The Yellow Sign," arguably the most memorable tale in Robert W. Chambers' 1895 collection <em>The King in Yellow</em>, encapsulates in four brief lines the affect that drives cosmic horror: the fearful sense of imminent annihilation. In the four stories JF and Phil discuss in this episode, this affect, which would inspire a thousand works of fiction in the twentieth century, emerges fully formed, dripping with the xanthous milk of Decadence. What’s more, it is here given a symbol, a face, and a home in the Yellow Sign, the Pallid Mask of the Yellow King, and the lost land of Carcosa. Come one, come all.</p> <p>Join JF's <a href="https://mutations.blog/kubrick" rel="nofollow noopener">upcoming course </a>on the films of Stanley Kubrick, starting March 28, 2024.<br> Support us on <a href="https://www.patreon.com/weirdstudies" rel="nofollow noopener">Patreon</a>.<br> Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes <a href="https://pierre-yvesmartel.bandcamp.com/album/weird-studies-music-from-the-podcast-vol-1" rel="nofollow noopener">1</a> and <a href="https://pierre-yvesmartel.bandcamp.com/album/weird-studies-music-from-the-podcast-vol-2" rel="nofollow noopener">2</a>, on Pierre-Yves Martel's <a href="https://pierre-yvesmartel.bandcamp.com" rel="nofollow noopener">Bandcamp</a> page.<br> Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, <em><a href="https://cosmophonia.podbean.com/" rel="nofollow noopener">Cosmophonia</a></em>.<br> Visit the Weird Studies <a href="https://bookshop.org/shop/weirdstudies" rel="nofollow noopener">Bookshop</a><br> Find us on <a href="https://discord.com/invite/Jw22CHfGwp" rel="nofollow noopener">Discord</a><br> Get the T-shirt design from <a href="https://cottonbureau.com/products/can-o-content#/13435958/tee-men-standard-tee-vintage-black-tri-blend-s" rel="nofollow noopener">Cotton Bureau</a>!</p> <p><strong>REFERENCES</strong></p> <p>Robert W. Chambers, <em><a href="https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9781840226447" rel="nofollow noopener">The King in Yellow</a></em> <br> Weird Studies, <a href="https://www.weirdstudies.com/100" rel="nofollow noopener">Episode 100 on John Carpenter films</a> <br> Algernon Blackwood, <a href="https://algernonblackwood.org/Z-files/The%20Man%20Who%20Found%20Out.pdf" rel="nofollow noopener">“The Man Who Found Out”</a> <br> Susannah Clarke, <em><a href="https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9781635576726" rel="nofollow noopener">Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell</a></em> <br> Walter Benjamin, <a href="https://web.mit.edu/allanmc/www/benjamin.pdf" rel="nofollow noopener">“The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”</a> <br> Annie Besant and Charles Leadbeater, <em><a href="https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9781909735996" rel="nofollow noopener">Thought Forms</a></em> <br> Weird Studies, <a href="https://www.weirdstudies.com/140" rel="nofollow noopener">Episode 140 on “Spirited Away”</a> <br> Vladimir Nabokov, <em><a href="https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9781101873700" rel="nofollow noopener">Think, Write, Speak</a></em> <br> Charles Taylor, <em><a href="https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780674986916" rel="nofollow noopener">A Secular Age</a></em> <br> David Bentley Hart, <a href="https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2017/10/angelic-monster" rel="nofollow noopener">“Angelic Monster”</a> <br> M. R. James, <a href="https://gutenberg.ca/ebooks/jamesmr-ohwhistle/jamesmr-ohwhistle-00-h.html" rel="nofollow noopener">Oh, Whistle and I’ll Come to you my Lad”</a> <br> William Carlos Williams, <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45502/the-red-wheelbarrow" rel="nofollow noopener">The Red Wheelbarrow</a> </p> Carcosa, analysis, meaning, symbolism, decadence, chambers, king in yellow, weird fiction, catholicism "Let the red dawn surmise / What we shall do, / When the blue starlight dies / And all is through." This short poem, an epigraph to "The Yellow Sign," arguably the most memorable tale in Robert W. Chambers' 1895 collection The King in Yellow, encapsulates in four brief lines the affect that drives cosmic horror: the fearful sense of imminent annihilation. In the four stories JF and Phil discuss in this episode, this affect, which would inspire a thousand works of fiction in the twentieth century, emerges fully formed, dripping with the xanthous milk of Decadence. What’s more, it is here given a symbol, a face, and a home in the Yellow Sign, the Pallid Mask of the Yellow King, and the lost land of Carcosa. Come one, come all.

Join JF's upcoming course on the films of Stanley Kubrick, starting March 28, 2024.
Support us on Patreon.
Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page.
Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia.
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Find us on Discord
Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!

REFERENCES

Robert W. Chambers, The King in Yellow
Weird Studies, Episode 100 on John Carpenter films
Algernon Blackwood, “The Man Who Found Out”
Susannah Clarke, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell
Walter Benjamin, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”
Annie Besant and Charles Leadbeater, Thought Forms
Weird Studies, Episode 140 on “Spirited Away”
Vladimir Nabokov, Think, Write, Speak
Charles Taylor, A Secular Age
David Bentley Hart, “Angelic Monster”
M. R. James, Oh, Whistle and I’ll Come to you my Lad”
William Carlos Williams, The Red Wheelbarrow

]]> "Let the red dawn surmise / What we shall do, / When the blue starlight dies / And all is through." This short poem, an epigraph to "The Yellow Sign," arguably the most memorable tale in Robert W. Chambers' 1895 collection The King in Yellow, encapsulates in four brief lines the affect that drives cosmic horror: the fearful sense of imminent annihilation. In the four stories JF and Phil discuss in this episode, this affect, which would inspire a thousand works of fiction in the twentieth century, emerges fully formed, dripping with the xanthous milk of Decadence. What’s more, it is here given a symbol, a face, and a home in the Yellow Sign, the Pallid Mask of the Yellow King, and the lost land of Carcosa. Come one, come all.

Join JF's upcoming course on the films of Stanley Kubrick, starting March 28, 2024.
Support us on Patreon.
Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page.
Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia.
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Find us on Discord
Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!

REFERENCES

Robert W. Chambers, The King in Yellow
Weird Studies, Episode 100 on John Carpenter films
Algernon Blackwood, “The Man Who Found Out”
Susannah Clarke, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell
Walter Benjamin, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”
Annie Besant and Charles Leadbeater, Thought Forms
Weird Studies, Episode 140 on “Spirited Away”
Vladimir Nabokov, Think, Write, Speak
Charles Taylor, A Secular Age
David Bentley Hart, “Angelic Monster”
M. R. James, Oh, Whistle and I’ll Come to you my Lad”
William Carlos Williams, The Red Wheelbarrow

]]>