Spoiler Alert: This column will reveal the solution to a famous Mystery story. If you haven’t read it (shame on you!), I apologize in advance. – GW
First off, let’s be clear. The Father Brown stories were largely written by the time H.P. Lovecraft was penning his brand of cosmic horror. That’s why this is called “Goes Mythos” rather than “Goes Lovecraft”. The story in question is G. K. Chesterton’s “The Blast of the Book” from Brown’s final collection, The Scandal of Father Brown (1935).
The story that gave Chesterton his inspiration was Robert W. Chamber’s The King in Yellow (1895), a collection of stories revolving around an evil book containing a play of that title. This book was one of the many influences on H.P. Lovecraft as he created his series of inter-connected horror tales, in particular, the story “The Yellow Sign”. Chambers’ book was well-known at the turn of the century and into the 1930s, when Raymond Chandler wrote a story called “The King In Yellow” (Dime Detective, March 1938), about a champion boxer who wore a yellow cape. (This is wrong. The King in Yellow is a jazz trumpet player who wears gold pajamas. How I wish I could edit these old pieces…) The detective Steve Grayce says: “The King in Yellow. I read a book with that title once. He liked yellow, I guess….” It is a fleeting nod to Chambers.
Read the rest:
I have a YouTube channel where, among other things, I post performances of classic poetry and discussions with friends of those poems. I also have occasional special guests join us to talk about a poem. I’ve done poems by both Lovecraft and Chesterton. Do you think you’d be interested in joining us sometime to talk about a poem?
I watched your video on REH’s “To Moderns” and really wished I could put my two cents in…so I guess that’s a yes.
Cool. Do you see my e-mail address? If so, just go ahead and e-mail me and we’ll plan out what you’d like to cover and when. I’ve got a couple by Howard that we’ve not discussed yet and there will, of course, be more coming up by the Pulp poets.
If you can’t see my e-mail, I’ll post it, but I’m reluctant to just throw it out when not necessary.
Got it.