The Rise of Hastur and the Decline of America

The King in Yellow by Robert Chambers is a mostly sublime text. Written during the late 1800s, the first four stories deal with the in-universe play that drives those who read it completely mad. The King himself brings dystopia and destroys the societies he influences. I shall be focusing on the stories that involve The King in Yellow and not the seemingly arbitrary romances attached to the book due to the absence of the king's namesake and themes. It’s the one thing I dislike about the collection, because I find myself disappointed by the absence of a conclusion to the King.

That’s not important though, the important thing is that this old collection of horror stories would reach the mainstream recently. Such examples would be Saros, Signalis, A Game in Yellow by Hailey Piper, that Minecraft ARG that its fans cannot help being annoying about. That doesn’t even consider the countless memes about the king. Hastur is rising in the popular cultural discourse, and I have some thoughts on why that is given the times we live in.

Yellow is the colour of decadence[1] according to such readings of The King in Yellow. Yellow in a negative sentiment is the colour of decay and sickness[2]. Yellow too can be the colour of danger, like with warning signs for example. But I think the first two are more important, Chambers could never have predicted the rise of social media nor the effects it would have on our need to consume and spend. But the ways of which we as a species can broadcast our decadence to the world is noticeable now more than other. The ultra wealthy in the grand tradition of American decadence can and indeed do shove their wealth and opulence to thousands of people. Think Jeff Bazos’[3] wedding or Kim Kardashian’s birthday party during Covid[4]. We, the middle class and downwards, are inundated by the decadence of the ultra-wealthy because America has made its business for the wealthy to show off how well they have made it.

Similarly, Looksmaxers are hyper fixated on the appearance of the optimal male, the right word here is appearance. For all the fast cars, the vast amounts of money, the beautiful women, the changing of the looks is all decadent towards the shallowness of looking as the peak of human aspiration. There is nothing outside the ongoing fight to appear to be at the top of the food chain. There is almost always an excess of drugs, be they steroids or meth.

Chambers alludes to drugs as well in The King in Yellow, primarily in The Yellow Sign[5].  The book itself becomes a metaphor for opium[6], something that would have been fresh in the memory of the American cultural discourse. This cursed play not only brings the decay of American society, but it numbs the people to its influences.

This deluges the wealthy showing off their opulence, their shallow pursuits which they try to sell to you, forever are at odds with what many ordinary Americans experience. That being struggles with wage stagnations, rising prices and unstable job opportunities. The dystopia creeping into America through its decline of the American dream harkens back to Chamber’s own stories. Repairer of Reparations for example, explores the subtle ways of which dystopia replaces Utopia with the casual inclusion of suicide chambers.[7] Nobody bats an eye at such an inclusion similarly how many just shrug off the inability to get a house.

Chamber’s comment on the impossibility of utopia is obvious[8]. It also becomes a recurring theme in some of the media involving the entity. Signalis follows a similar pattern with how the protagonist can never find a happily ever after with her wife/girlfriend due to Hastur, indeed her entire civilization is trapped within an endless nightmare because of his meddling. Saros tells a tale of a fallen civilization and eldritch gods that might have been responsible for its destruction.

This anxiety over the decline of America, the slip towards dystopia, in my opinion, could be seen in the media made about Hastur. What with growing wealth disparities, rising inflation and increased obvious influence of billionaires over daily life, how can you not fear that? Coupled with the endless advertising for luxury brands, endless consumerism for the latest overpriced product and you have a constant stream of decadence.

But surely such displays of decadence are a sign of decay? Surely things go yellow when such affluence shows their avarice, coupled with the disregard of tactfulness as they hawk their scam coins and their endless trips to Equinox?

Maybe that is why Hastur is becoming a more mainstream entity? On some level, readers can see the anxiety Chambers expressed within The King in Yellow.

Perhaps it’s also the notion of performance within The King in Yellow? The play is cursed after all. The play is the catalyst for Hastur’s influence over his subjects.[9] The performance, indeed, the reading of his play, inspires decadence within the reader/viewer. As mentioned previously, this can be anything from madness to drugs. The internet, in this instance, becomes a stage, a performance that mimics authenticity.

Reality blurs online, doesn’t it? Truth is a slippery concept, rabbit holes cause people to spiral into radical political identities that can be seen from the outside, as madness. Icons, much like the yellow sign, become harbingers of that madness. The signified beliefs and ideas that spread like The King in Yellow signifies Hastur’s influence.[10]

Reality blurs as authenticity becomes a brand rather than a factor of reality. Youtubers go from simply being people in their bedrooms to people behaving like they are recording in their bedrooms. Remember lonelygirl15? She performed the image of a real woman, but it was in the end, a performance.[11] The notion of being the underdog, or being of a lower class becomes more important, then actually being those things. The performance creates the pseudo reality that the viewer wants rather than what it might otherwise be.

This anxiety over the intangible reality of truth and authenticity also creates distortions in the perception of the viewer. The Marxist reads theory and dreams of revolution but is ultimately passive against the action of doing so. MAGA worships golden statues of Trump while proclaiming to be Christians.[12] The conspiracy theorist is divorced from reality depending on the severity of his or her delusions. The performance of authenticity influences the reality of the viewer, which then drives them to a form of madness. Chambers never would have been able to consider social media and the madness that comes with it. But his use of popular creative mediums at the time (plays) allows transition towards the new popular entertainment medium of social media. In both cases, the influence of popular entertainment is the way of which debauchery is delivered and how society slowly unravels through its influence.

I should say that this isn’t me saying that social media is bad, social media is neutral in the same way the arts aren’t bad by default. Chamber’s choice of a play that Hastur takes advantage of to deliver eldritch truth doesn’t mean that the medium of the play is bad. The medium is used through bad agents that cause the destruction. The medium is natural, the messenger isn’t. And those messengers were able to get into the American White House. Those messengers are part of the preferred media apparatus by the White House that spreads the information.

One cannot help but notice the use of information as the driving force of madness upon its exposure by the beholder. In The King in Yellow, the second act will drive the viewer mad. Brief exposure to the play will cause elation akin to a high, as seen in A Game in Yellow[13]. Information is like a drug, a hallucination that changes the way we see the world forever.

Similarly, if you believed that some shadowy people were having a child trafficking sex ring under a pizzeria, wouldn’t you want to go and save them? Wouldn’t you want to shoot up those satanic cabalists, kill the child predators? [14]

I probably would too.

But it wasn’t real.

The real predators, quite ironically, are ignored by these so-called saviours.

The information however, delivered through the apostles of our Hastur equivalent, upon its exposure, drives the madness of the receiver. It also fuels the euphoria of their ego, only they know how the world truly works, indeed they are the saviours of the west. Much like The King in Yellow play, the information deludes the beholder and creates euphoria. The ways in which social media mimics what Chambers expresses is through the dissemination of self-serving populist narratives that create both instances of the outcomes described in The King in Yellow.

The long-standing results in both The King in Yellow and in modern life is the slow, gradual decline into dystopia. Repairer of Reparations is the most blatant with this particular aspect, what with its suicide chambers and all. Carcosa’s brief but unsettling mentions allude to the destruction of its civilisation[15], one made more explicit in Saros. The debauchery of drug use[16], gambling and unregulated capitalism[17] sees the very real decline of morality and loss of ecology in favour of endless profit[18] and people getting deluded through ChatGPT.[19]

The pursuit of easy thrills, ones that numb as opposed to inspire, coupled with the need for short term profit at the expense of humanity will cause the decline that we see now in America. The rejection of education’s importance in society, indeed the destruction of educational standards[20] by the current government in favour of greater ‘freedom’ yields nothing but the illusion of freedom at the expense of the upcoming generation.[21] The King in Yellow’s insidious influence examines such a decline, as quiet and gradual as the destruction of the department of education, or the rejection of the humanities. The decline is so quiet, so slow, that you wouldn’t even realise the dystopic elements in your society. You will ignore it; you get high on the latest cognihazard and never think about why there are now suicide chambers in your city or town.

Until you lose access to clean water. And you can’t pay for your mom’s cancer, and you cannot get a job that will get you out of your parent’s house.

Perhaps that is why Hastur is becoming mainstream?

Bibliography

Chambers W. Roberts, The King in Yellow ( New York: Amazon 2019)

Dr Ragy Girgis ‘What is AI Psychosis A Conversation on Chatbots and Mental Health',National Academy of Medicine, 10 March 2026,<https://nam.edu/news-and-insights/what-is-ai-psychosis/> [accessed 10/06/2026]

Elena Cresci Lonelygirl15: how one mysterious vlogger changed the internet', New Yorker, 16 June 2016,<https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jun/16/lonelygirl15-bree-video-blog-youtube> [accessed 10/06/2026] para 5-87

Glselda Vagnonl, Sara Rossi, Yara Nardl, 'Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez Venice wedding in facts and figures', Reuters, 28 June 2025,<https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/jeff-bezos-lauren-sanchezs-celebrity-venice-wedding-facts-figures-2025-06-24> [accessed 10/06/2026]

Joe Hernandez ‘Sports betting ads are everywhere. Some worry gamblers will pay a steed price', NPR, 18 June 2022,<https://www.npr.org/2022/06/18/1104952410/sports-betting-ads-sports-gambling>[accessed 10/06/2026] para 14-58

Jessica Gresko‘Pizzagate gunman in D.C. sentence to four years in prison', PBS, 22 June 2017,<https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/pizzagate-gunman-d-c-sentenced-four-years-prison>

[accessed 10/06/2026] para 1-9

Ledger, Sally. "Wilde Women and The Yellow Book: The Sexual Politics of Aestheticism and Decadence." English Literature in Transition, 1880-1920, vol. 50 no. 1, 2007, p. 5-26.

Isaac Chatiner ‘Why Trump Spiritual Adviser Dedicated A Golden Statue to the President', New Yorker, 12 May 2026,<https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/why-trumps-spiritual-adviser-dedicated-a-golden-statue-to-the-president> [accessed 10/06/2026] para para 1-39

Piper Hillary A Game in Yellow ( New York: Simon & Schuster 2025)

Rob Picheta, 'Kim Kardashian West humbly threw a party on a private island during a pandemic, and the internet isn’t letting it go’, CNN, 28 October 2020,<https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/kim-kardashian-birthday-party-island-scli-intl > [accessed 10/06/2026]

Staff writer ‘Understanding the Opioid Overdose Epidemic', CDC, 09 June 2025, <https://www.cdc.gov/overdose-prevention/about/understanding-the-opioid-overdose-epidemic.html> [accessed 10/06/2026] para 7-15

Staff writer ‘Improving Education Outcomes by Empowering Parents, States, and Communities',White House, 20 March 2025 ,<https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/improving-education-outcomes-by-empowering-parents-states-and-communities/> [accessed 10/06/2026] para 4-10

Scott D. Emmert ‘A Jaundiced View of America: Robert W. Chambers and The King in Yellow’ Journal of American Culture, 1999, .22 (2)

Staff Writer ‘Opium', Alcohol and Drug Foundation, 06 June 2026,< https://adf.org.au/drug-facts/opium/ > [accessed 15/06/2026]

Tony Carnie 'The hidden impacts of AI data centres on water, climate and future power costs',Daily Maverick, 10 Febuary 2026,<https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-02-10-the-hidden-impacts-of-ai-data-centres-on-water-climate-and-future-power-costs/> [accessed 10/06/2026]

William Brangham, Thomas Kane, 'What’s behind the decade long ‘learning recession for American students',PBS News Hour, 22 May 2026,<https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/whats-behind-the-decade-long-learning-recession-for-american-students> [accessed 10/06/2026], para 14 of 47

[1] Ledger, Sally. "Wilde Women and The Yellow Book: The Sexual Politics of Aestheticism and Decadence." English Literature in Transition, 1880-1920, vol. 50 no. 1, 2007, pp. 5-26. P7

[2] Scott D. Emmert ‘A Jaundiced View of America: Robert W. Chambers and The King in Yellow’ Journal of American Culture, 1999, .22 (2), pp.39-44 p40

[3] Glselda Vagnonl, Sara Rossi, Yara Nardl, 'Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez Venice wedding in facts and figures', Reuters, 28 June 2025,<https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/jeff-bezos-lauren-sanchezs-celebrity-venice-wedding-facts-figures-2025-06-24> [accessed 10/06/2026], para 5 of 9

[4] Rob Picheta, 'Kim Kardashian West humbly threw a party on a private island during a pandemic, and the internet isn’t letting it go’, CNN, 28 October 2020,<https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/kim-kardashian-birthday-party-island-scli-intl > [accessed 10/06/2026], para 1 of 16

[5] Chambers W. R. The King in Yellow ( New York: Amazon 2019) p100

[6] Staff Writer ‘Opium', Alcohol and Drug Foundation, 06 June 2026,< https://adf.org.au/drug-facts/opium/ > [accessed 15/06/2026] para 8-24

[7] Chambers W. R. p10

[8] Scott D. Emmert p40

[9] Chambers W. R p60

[10] Chambers W. R p11

[11] Elena Cresci Lonelygirl15: how one mysterious vlogger changed the internet', New Yorker, 16 June 2016,<https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jun/16/lonelygirl15-bree-video-blog-youtube> [accessed 10/06/2026] para 5-87

[12] Isaac Chatiner ‘Why Trump Spiritual Adviser Dedicated A Golden Statue to the President', New Yorker, 12 May 2026,<https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/why-trumps-spiritual-adviser-dedicated-a-golden-statue-to-the-president> [accessed 10/06/2026] para para 1-39

[13] Piper Hillary A Game in Yellow ( New York: Simon & Schuster 2025) p28

[14] Jessica Gresko‘Pizzagate gunman in D.C. sentence to four years in prison', PBS, 22 June 2017,<https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/pizzagate-gunman-d-c-sentenced-four-years-prison>

[accessed 10/06/2026] para 1-9

[15] Chambers W. R p 7 lines 15-16

[16] Staff writer ‘Understanding the Opioid Overdose Epidemic', CDC, 09 June 2025, <https://www.cdc.gov/overdose-prevention/about/understanding-the-opioid-overdose-epidemic.html> [accessed 10/06/2026] para 7-15

[17] Joe Hernandez ‘Sports betting ads are everywhere. Some worry gamblers will pay a steed price', NPR, 18 June 2022,<https://www.npr.org/2022/06/18/1104952410/sports-betting-ads-sports-gambling>[accessed 10/06/2026] para 14-58

[18] Tony Carnie 'The hidden impacts of AI data centres on water, climate and future power costs',Daily Maverick, 10 Febuary 2026,<https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-02-10-the-hidden-impacts-of-ai-data-centres-on-water-climate-and-future-power-costs/> [accessed 10/06/2026] para 10 of 37

[19] Dr Ragy Girgis ‘What is AI Psychosis A Conversation on Chatbots and Mental Health',National Academy of Medicine, 10 March 2026,<https://nam.edu/news-and-insights/what-is-ai-psychosis/> [accessed 10/06/2026] para 23- 47

[20] Staff writer ‘Improving Education Outcomes by Empowering Parents, States, and Communities',White House, 20 March 2025 ,<https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/improving-education-outcomes-by-empowering-parents-states-and-communities/> [accessed 10/06/2026] para 4-10

[21] William Brangham, Thomas Kane, 'What’s behind the decade long ‘learning recession for American students',PBS News Hour, 22 May 2026,<https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/whats-behind-the-decade-long-learning-recession-for-american-students> [accessed 10/06/2026], para 14 of 47