Pulp International - Vintage cover for Five Sinister Characters by Raymond Chandler

Nov 18 2016

Long live the King—in Yellow, that is.

The interesting cover above for Five Sinister Characters was painted by Paul Stahr and fronts a Raymond Chandler short story collection that appeared as an edition of Avon Publications' Murder Mystery Monthly series in 1945. The book is composed of Chandler's "Trouble Is My Business,” “Pearls Are a Nuisance,” “I'll Be Waiting,” “The Red Wind,” and “The King in Yellow.” H.P. Lovecraft fans probably know that last title. The King in Yellow is an avatar of one of Lovecraft's terrible gods Hastur, aka The Unspeakable One. Lovecraft in turn lifted it from Robert W. Chambers' 1895 collection of weird stories The King in Yellow, which you see below.

However, Chandler's “The King in Yellow” is unrelated to Lovecraft and Chambers. Chandler's tale is a detective yarn, while Chambers' collection is, well, very weird, and within that weirdness The King in Yellow is a fictional play that drives those who it read it insane, or at least deeply despondent. Midway through Chandler's story a character says, “'The King in Yellow.' I read a book with that title once.” A clear nod to Chambers' work.

But as we said, Chandler's “The King in Yellow” is a crime story. It follows hotel detective Steve Grayce, who evicts jazz trumpetist and lover of yellow clothing King Leopardi for unruly late night conduct. The King later ends up shot to death in a woman's bedroom across town, and Grayce—fired for tossing a famous client—tries to figure out why the murder happened, and to get the woman off the hook in whose bed the King bled out. It's an excellent story, as are the others. But you already know that. It's Chandler.

Avon Publications Murder Mystery Monthly Raymond Chandler Paul Stahr Robert W. Chambers cover art literature