saving a world that doesn't exist

Series Metadata

Creator:
Series Begun:
2026-03-31
Series Updated:
2026-06-17
Description:

Derek survives his encounter with the King in Yellow. So does Avery. Together, they navigate the aftermath.

Notes:

Instead of Lovecraft, I've drawn on a lot of older "weird fiction" to inspire these stories and give them their titles. All of the stories I've used predate Lovecraft's work, with his first short story published in 1916 (though he did publish occasionally-strange poetry before that). The current list is as follows:
• stars in absence of the darkness: "An Inhabitant of Carcosa" by Ambrose Bierce, one of the stories that originally inspired Robert Chambers' "The King in Yellow." A work of grim time-travel and cosmic dread. First published 1886.
• light from infinite depths: "The Mask" by Robert Chambers, one of the original King in Yellow short stories. Featuring a sculptor who makes some very, very bad decisions and mad science that all ends in tragedy. First published 1895.
• following a rainbow: "The Novel of the Black Seal" by Arthur Machen, a tale of mayhem and madness in rural England where the Fair Folk are revealed to be something much worse than expected. First published 1895.
• alone on an empty planet: "The Willows" by Algernon Blackwood, where two boaters are trapped on an island in a river in flood and discover that the island is a thin place between this reality and another. First published 1907.
• eternities came and went stealthily: "The House on the Borderland" by William Hope Hodgson, a tale of mystery and apocalyptic visions in a strange house. First published 1908.
• an innumerable host of stars: "Under the Knife" by HG Wells, a tale of a man who has a cosmically spectacular out-of-body experience during a surgery gone wrong. First published 1896.
• hands upon forbidden mysteries: "The Ray of Displacement" by Harriet Spofford, the story of a scientist who discovers a method to phase through solid objects and become invisible, only to discover the horrible consequences for messing with fundamental laws. First published 1903.

Stats:
Words:
15,591
Works:
7
Complete:
Yes
Bookmarks:
149

Listing Series