
A striking mix of early‑twentieth‑century satire and uncanny imagination, this collection opens with a vivid portrait of a nation convinced it has entered an age of peace and progress. The prose sketches a bustling United States, its streets widened, its coastlines fortified, and its cultural institutions humming with optimism. Yet beneath that veneer of order, a subtle unease creeps in, hinting at forces that do not belong to ordinary politics or engineering.
The heart of the book is a mysterious, forbidden play that whispers of a lost city called Carcosa, where twin suns set over a lake and strange moons circle the sky. Readers who hear its verses feel an inexplicable chill, as the words seem to unravel the sanity of anyone who reads too deeply. The stories weave together art, madness, and the thin line between reality and a haunting, otherworldly realm, inviting listeners to linger on the edge of what is known and what is forever beyond comprehension.
Language
en
Duration
~6 hours (396K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Suzanne Shell, Beth Trapaga, Charles Franks, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. HTML version by Chuck Greif.
Release date
2005-07-01
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1865–1933
Best known for the eerie cult classic The King in Yellow, this American writer moved easily between horror, historical fiction, romance, and adventure. Before becoming a prolific novelist, he trained as an artist in New York and Paris.
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