The American Robert W. Chambers was a pioneer writer of weird, fantasy and supernatural tales, whose seminal collection of stories ‘The King in Yellow’ has had a lasting influence on the horror genre. 
The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers
… It is well known how the book spread like an infectious disease, from city to city, from continent to continent, barred out here, confiscated there, denounced by Press and pulpit, censured by even the most advanced of literary anarchists… It could not be judged by any known standard, yet, although it was acknowledged that the supreme note of art had been struck in The King in Yellow, all felt that human nature could not bear the strain, nor thrive on the words in which the essence of purest poison lurked.
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Thanks, Kat, great input!
Marion, thanks for the audiobook article! Interestingly, they list All Systems Red by Martha Wells. Here's part of my review…
And, oh...as to that 2.5-star rating: I think I gave Damon Knight's "Beyond the Barrier" a similar halfhearted rating earlier…
And speaking of mixed, that's how the book left me...mixed! As in MIXED UP!
[…] marketing materials for itself, the ultimate cargo cult, dedicated to spam, stranded on the terminal beach at time’s end.…