Theory on The King in Yellow

I skipped the last four stories in The King in Yellow because they were romances instead of horror. The book that inspired the Necronomicon, the lynchpin of the Cthulhu universe, is an essential read. But the stories at the end were so boring and did not make any sense. There's a lot of mystery behind the book such as why it takes place in a dystopian United States and what the King represents. But I have a qustion, why does the book transition from horror to romance? One theory or mine is that the author was trying to work out some kind of issue in his head and this was therapy. It's also possible that he collected what stories he had into one book. I've seen posts that say that his publishers didn't think that four or five stories would be enough for one book so he threw in a few romance stories. It's possible that the romantic and horror stories have few or no connections. Like two books shoved into one. 

I found this note on Reddit:

The transition from horror to romance in "The King in Yellow" is attributed to the author Robert W. Chambers' creative choices and the thematic evolution of the stories. Chambers' first few stories were connected and connected to a supernatural horror theme, while later stories transitioned towards a more light-hearted tone, ending with romantic stories devoid of horror or supernatural elements. This shift allowed Chambers to explore different genres and themes, including romantic fiction, which diverged from the horror theme established in the earlier tales. The transition is also influenced by the fictional play "The King in Yellow," which recurs as a motif through the first four stories, a forbidden play that induces madness in those who read it. This play serves as a central motif that drives the horror and macabre character away from the initial stories and towards the romantic fiction style common to Chambers' later work.


I don't know how real that is but maybe it was a transition piece. After the King in Yellow, Chambers went on to make his career on romance instead of horror. 

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