The King in Yellow

So I've jumped on the bandwagon for this 19th century collection of short stories along with the hordes of other True Detective fans. Passing references to dim Carcosa and the Yellow King had me eager to dissect the text for clues to decipher this Lovecraftian police procedural. The finale came halfway through reading the book and suddenly it felt like all of us “had been studying for a test that never came.” The book isn't relevant to the show.

So we're left with the text. And while I liked the idea of the several of the short stories making reference to a dangerous play “The King in Yellow” which has the power to drive the reader into madness upon reading the second act, it wasn't enough. Each story felt disjointed in the telling. Many slowly built a sense of dread only to have it finish abruptly with some throwaway line. It's Horatio Caine reading Lovecraft.