Before the King in Yellow there was An Inhabitant of Carcosa by Ambrose Bierce

[@Rossweise]

We are at a point where "He was dead all along" is a well worn cliche, but the story, through its name and character, leans less on "Oh no, I am dead" and more into "Not only are you dead, but so is your civilization. Your city, the place you called home, is now long forgotten as well, an ancient ruin with a grave that only survived because a tree preserved it". There is something so beautiful and melancholy on only Aldebaran being recognizable; the stars, more ancient and long lasting than anything we can build, still hovers above, the only piece of home left beyond some ruins and scattered, broken graves... Horrifying and beautiful...

[@patreekotime4578]

That aspect of it has shades of Shelley's Ozymandias to me.

[@LiminalSpaces03]

Well said!

[@LiminalSpaces03]

Absolutely!

[@davebrzeski]

I picked up an old hardcover of the Bierce collection, 'Can Such Things Be?' about 50 something years ago. I think 'The Inhabitant of Carcosa' is the first story. I read that before I read Chambers. I still have it on a shelf somewhere.

[@LiminalSpaces03]

I'm waiting for my copy in the mail!

[@lsu1992]

So, Chambers was the first "mythos" author by sharing Bierce's universe? Long before Russ, Berleth, and Howard shared HPL's. Fascinating stuff, Man.

[@patreekotime4578]

Chambers' mythos is different in many ways, but Lovecraft borrowed ideas from him, and IMO flat out took two of his stories and merged them to make one of his own.

[@goodnightvienna8511]

I guess that's true.

[@teucer915]

Bierce is also where we get "Hastur", who Derleth decided to conflate with the King in Yellow.

[@Nyctophora]

I think Ambrose Bierce was a uniquely gifted man. Thank you for sharing!

[@maggot1111666]

i am coincidentally reading the king in yellow right now. I never knew about these details about the land of carcosa. awesome stuff!

[@LiminalSpaces03]

Perfect timing! Thanks for watching!

[@kufujitsu]

I've got two short story collections by Ambrose Bierce. His stories are quite short, & yet he seemed to have the gift of making the reader hang onto his every word - there's never been anyone quite like him IMO.

[@maxelldenomie6131]

One of my favs is, "A Strange Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge".

[@LiminalSpaces03]

Agreed! Powerful prose!

[@eraofmoop]

Love delving into the bio of the authors you talk about too! definitely hope you do that more in future videos!

[@salty-walt]

I love that you're exploring the basics, the foundations!

[@nuada1470]

I’ve heard it speculated that the name itself was inspired by the ancient French city of Carcassonne, which also figures into a story by Lord Dunsany, although I think that was written after this.

[@goodnightvienna8511]

Lord Dunsany is an important part of the weird fiction canon , God's of Pagania and 50 Strange Tales (?) are great 👍

[@neuromantic4313]

a poem called carcassone, by gustav nadaud, is thought to have influenced bierce.

[@LiminalSpaces03]

Awesome info, thanks!

[@pninnan]

Bierce is incredible. His short stories are some of the best I’ve read.

[@guignolfest]

Wrote a paper about Ambrose in the 80s. Fascinating man.

[@Kleshumara]

How fitting it should be found in a “forgotten tome”…

[@YouTubdotCub]

I'm going through a Bierce collection at the moment and I absolutely love his prose in every genre of story he puts his hand to.

[@LiminalSpaces03]

Agreed! Incredible writer!

[@psychonaut5921]

Horror`s not really my thing, but I`ve always been interested in Bierce. Didn`t know he was connected with the Carcosa mythos. Fascinating stuff!

[@GeoffreyMcKinney]

I first read Ambrose Bierce's "An Inhabitant of Carcosa" in The Hastur Cycle published by Chaosium in 1993.

[@sarat6488]

i had never gotten around to reading Ambrose Bierce until your suggestion to pause the video and read the story, and I'm glad I did. thank you!

[@LiminalSpaces03]

Thanks for watching!

[@apokalupsishistoria]

Yes! Bierce and Harte need more love. We did an episode talking about the literary origins of the HBO show True Detective, from Jim Thompson to Bret Harte. Good stuff!

[@ColonelPanic007]

Bierce's stories can really get under your skin. I read "An Incident at Owl Creek Bridge" when in high school. It is such a bleak story. 😳

[@genehetzel2036]

Greatest short ever written.

[@LiminalSpaces03]

Incredible story!

[@mcrumph]

I can't speak to his popularity during his lifetime, though he certainly had quite a number of things published, but when I was in jr high we did read 'Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge'. & I did have a copy of the Devil's Dictionary (I think by Dover?). But, while perusing the books in a library book sale, I found a Collected Works by him (with a library binding). The interesting thing was, there were two signatures in the book that were upside down. One of the stories in the upside down bit was 'An Inhabitant of Carcosa'. I bought it, of course, for 2$. I have always wondered how those pages were inverted...

[@patreekotime4578]

Its really funny... I just picked up my copy of Bierce's Can Such Things Be? today and was thinking about bringing it with me, but I left it at home when I left town for a few weeks. You also need to read Haita the Shepherd. IMO there are many indications that the god Hastur and the King in Yellow may be related to, or based on Pan, the pastoral god who dwells in caves and encites madness. The lynx seen in Carcosa is another symbol of Pan. Carcosa also reminds me of Shelley's Ozymandias... a message from a curs'd ancient crumbled civilization. When you get around to finishing The King in Yellow, be sure to read the whole book, alot of people seem to just read the main story and skip the rest, but I think you will appreciate how many stories in the book are similar to Lovecraft stories. Its also worth mentioning that Aldabaran, the Hyades, and Orion are associated with one of two 'gates' in the sky, called the 'gate of man' or 'golden gate'. The other 'gate' is called the 'gate of god' or 'silver gate' and is marked by stars in Scorpio and Sagittarius. These gates are actually the points where the ecliptic... the equator of the solar system, crosses the milky way, aka the galactic equator. Similar to the idea of the nodes of the moon, these points are the nodes of the solar system and represent cosmic alignments like the ones Lovecraft often wrote about. Edit: Also forgot to mention that the name Hastur could been seen as related to Castor... with the twin stars Castor and Pollox being also near to the cosmic 'Gate of Man'.

[@LiminalSpaces03]

So many good connections in this comment! I like the idea of connections to Pan, that really makes sense!

[@christophernixonart]

I just wanted to say that I’m really enjoying these videos. Thanks!

[@LiminalSpaces03]

Thanks for watching!

[@Eldagusto]

Ambrose was so damn ahead of his time. Like I looked at Lovecraft and think he is ahead of his time but Lovecraft looked at Ambrose and Dunsany

[@papanomidokoro]

Anything we look for, it is always in the last place we look, because after we find it we stop looking. ;)

[@chasebase76]

It's always in the last place you *look*. In your case it was in the last place you *had to look*.

[@LiminalSpaces03]

I was trying to make a funny, but it did not work.

[@goodnightvienna8511]

Arthur Machen needs to be considered too. His story " N" is an early version of Lovecrafts' "He". Well worth a read, there is akso a great audio version on KZbin. Chambers' The King in Yellow is a very strange book. Way out there. Lord Dunsany also. 👍...almost forgot, M P Shiels' House of Sounds is a real weird one...but yes i agree Poe is due massive respect

[@LiminalSpaces03]

Well said and thanks for the great list!

[@DeadInside-ew8qb]

Always loved “The Devil’s Dictionary”

[@gordonburchell4337]

If you have not seen it check out a part from a old Japanese anime called Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust the Carcosa scene is pretty wild

[@qew_Nemo]

I highly recommend checking out the Impossible Landscapes campaign for Delta Green tabletop roleplaying game. It puts its own twist on the King in Yellow / Carcosa mythos and elaborates on it greatly. Even if you're not interested in actually playing through it, the campaign book is an incredibly compelling piece of supernatural / weird fiction. The elaborate worldbuilding and the cosmic-scale twists it pulls off are second to none. (You can also find videos of people on KZbin playing through the campaign as well.)

[@LiminalSpaces03]

Sounds awesome! I'm going to look into it!

[@meesalikeu]

btw if anyone hasnt read or watched the classic video of bierce’s occurance at owl creek definitely do so. its similar to the carcosa story finale. 🎉

[@literallybooks]

This is hilarious because I was researching Beirce for a recording on “Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”. I mean I literally switched from a tab on Beirce to YT and this was the first thing on my screen 😆😆😆 I haven’t even watched this yet so hopefully I don’t get flagged for spam when I try to reply to myself.

[@literallybooks]

Great stuff! There are a considerable number of interesting things about Beirce. He seemed to have seen considerable action during the civil war and had a strong anti-war stance (or at least the glorification of war).

[@LiminalSpaces03]

I think this story and Owl Creek Bridge are kinda similar!

[@MasterShake9000]

I've always assumed "Carcosa" was just a play on "carcass", although I vaguely recall some speculation that it's a reference to the French town of Carcassonne (which the famous boardgame is named after). Also, it's interesting to me that nobody seems to make the connection between this story and Ambrose Bierce's more famous story, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge. (spoiler alert) That short story is about a Confederate slave owner being captured while trying to sabotage a Union-held bridge. The story opens with him being hung from the bridge, but the rope breaks and he flees for his life. The plot twist at the very end of the story is that the rope never broke, and his neck snaps as the reader realizes the entire story has been a desperate fantasy in the character's mind in the half second between he was dropped and the noose breaks his neck. It's not a horror or speculative fiction story, but it's striking how Bierce used the same basic plot twist of "the main character was already dead" in both stories and seemingly nobody either notices or thinks much of it. Even the wiki entries for him and both works don't reference the parallel.

[@LiminalSpaces03]

Fantastic comment, thanks so much!

[@TheChimp-kn2qe]

In my french edition of the "King in Yellow", this short story from Bierce is included and in the introduction it is said that the name Carcosa is very likely derived form Carcoso which was indeed the latin name of Carcassonne.

[@CthuluWalkingBackwards]

Did thunder seriously ring out in the background at 7:02 when you said the title "The Damned Thing"? It's like a scene from a movie lol

[@LiminalSpaces03]

It was a dark and stormy day...

[@stevedavenport2975]

Poe an Bierce cud of been bipolar but didn't know it, that's where horror an weird stuff comes from

[@spanglestein66]

Carcosa ……sounds a bit like Walthamstow in February 😂

[@stevedavenport2975]

Sounds like Manchester in autumn

[@carltaylor6452]

Bierce manages to suggest so much - as you say - with few words. The implication of Carcosa being an ancient city, and yet 'prehistoric'-seeming men are wondering through it, is that civilisation on earth has ended. In that sense, the story is also a post-apocalyptic, time-travel SF tale - perhaps one of the earliest in fiction?

[@LiminalSpaces03]

Great comment!

[@gunlovingliberal1706]

If I recall correctly Carcosa is a city not a country. Thank you for bringing Bierce to people's attention. He could be called the founder of cosmic horror. In addition he wrote other significant non horror works and was a journalist. He disappeared in Mexio during their revolution.

[@LiminalSpaces03]

Thanks for pointing that out! I absolutely meant city.

[@meesalikeu]

very timely, i’m reading the king in yellow currently, about halfway now. are the apprantly unrelated stories that follow the king in yellow stories worthwhile? also, i stopped when you suggested and read an inhabitant of carcosa. you can easily find it online. its very short and i hope everyone reads it. definitely sets a mood and is great for halloween season. 🎉

[@princeofcupspoc9073]

It's a group of not really connected stories. Some are better than others. In total, definitely worth reading.

[@patreekotime4578]

@@meesalikeu Some seem to be thematically linked. Others don't seem to be linked. They are all worth reading because IMO Lovecraft definitely read them all and took pieces for his own stories. Its a short enough book.

[@JohnDoe-nq4du]

Where'd you get that shirt? I have a niece who needs a copy of that shirt.

[@LiminalSpaces03]

My daughter got it for me for Father's Day! Unfortunately, I'm not sure where she ordered it.

[@karlez7664]

3:30 So basically Britain?

[@genehetzel2036]

Was this before Incident?

[@DæmonV86]

You must have an unholie amount of books. I envy thee.

[@LiminalSpaces03]

I really do. But I keep them all nice and neat, so they don't take over my space!

[@michaelsmyth3935]

Funny isn't it. I visited Caracosa in 1977.

[@troumer]

New to your channel. I'm not sure why, but this Bierce story always reminds me of Robert Howard's excellent story "The Black Stone." They have little in common, (except for the sleeping narrator shifting in time). but I always read one within a few days of reading the other. Howard is insanely underrated as a weird fiction writer. Like Stephen King, I don't like RH's fantasy stories, and I wonder if they are why his horror work is underappreciated. I'm guessing you've read RH's horror stuff. If not, he also wrote the first Haunted House tale I know of that feels uniquely American. IOW, earlier haunted house stories written by Americans could easily be reimagined as taking place in the UK or Ireland; this one could not. Sadly, it also has one of the dumbest titles in weird fiction history, "Pigeons from Hell." Sorry to ramble so; I'm avoiding work. Somewhere in here could be a future video topic, tho? I look forward to watching some of your old vids; I love that you have several on We Have Always Lived in the Castle.

[@princeofcupspoc9073]

No, they have EVERYTHING IN COMMON. As I said above: Dunsany, Chambers, Bierce, Lovecraft, Lieber, Howard, Poe

[@LiminalSpaces03]

Great comment! I'm looking up "Pigeons from Hell" now!

[@LiminalSpaces03]

You spelled Leiber wrong again.

[@maxelldenomie6131]

He disappeared down into Mexico

[@geordiedog1749]

True Detective SI was the bests 5ing to ever be on the TV. Am I right?

[@LiminalSpaces03]

I really enjoyed it!

[@aplatin3094]

A youtuber named Still Flicks uploaded an excellent documentary called " The Life & Various Deaths of Ambrose Bierce." The link is kzbin.info/www/bejne/lV6nnqCnfNCfnpI Ambrose Bierce and Poe are among my favorite writers. In my opinion, their Library of America editions are the best collections of their works. For ebooks, the Delphi collections of their works are available for just a few dollars, and those are even more comprehensive than the books and include biographical material. Bierce has many incredible stories. My personal favorite is Chickamauga.

[@CROWOLF87]

F the "yellow king" in Carcosa

[@timmy18135]

7:58

[@princeofcupspoc9073]

Dunsany, Chambers, Bierce, Lovecraft, Lieber, Howard, Poe ALL borrowed themes and names from each other to build a tapestry of imagery. Now, go actually read their works before trying to explain them.

[@LiminalSpaces03]

I'm wondering if you would take a moment to clarify your comment for me. first, a glance over the content of my channel shows that I have read and made content for every author you listed above, except Robert Chambers, who I read before Bierce and then decided to do Bierce first because he is the first to mention Carcosa. I love Leiber (you misspelled his name, a mistake I have made in the past as well) and have made a couple of videos on him. Dunsany's The Gods of Pegāna is one of my all time favorites. I read a bunch of Lovecraft in my younger years and some recently for the channel. But all that aside, even if I hadn't read the authors you listed, are you saying that people shouldn't be able to talk about their interpretations of a piece of literature without having read a predetermined list of writers that inspired them? That seems like serious gatekeeping to me. Second, you accuse me of trying to explain these stories, but of course, any time we talk about art we are talking about our own interpretation of it, so all of this comes across as you denying me a voice in the discussion of Bierce while accusing me of not having read a list of authors (which I have read) and also accusing me of explaining it wrong. If I have it explained anything wrong, please let me know, I don't mind owning up to mistakes and being corrected. If I have misunderstood this, please let me know!

[@dirtyd7931]

Don’t read any of these books.

[@franklintownsend7228]

How can you like something so much but know so little about it? Read HP Lovecraft's "Supernatural Horror in Literature".

[@espenstormcrow8950]

12 min, to 15 minutes is where he speaks of Ambrose story, the rest he just keeps repeating the same few facts about his life and that he was the first to use Carcosa

[@sweetviolents29]

Wow! I thought I’d read everything of Bierce’s. Great detective work!!

[@LiminalSpaces03]

Thanks for watching!