The King in Yellow was first published in 1895 as a slim anthology of short stories that hid a truly cursed play within its pages. That play features a horrific "Yellow Sign," the blasted city of Carcosa, and an entity known only as "the Stranger," who come together to infect other characters with forbidden knowledge that breaks their minds.

The book was published well over a 100 years ago, but it has found new life in a surprising media form called Minecraft "Alternate Reality Games," or ARGs. It's where people tell a tale entirely through a Minecraft world they created, like in YouTuber Wifies' wildly popular video, "Searching For A World That Doesn't Exist," which set off a flurry of fan art online this past month.

What's the Origin of the 'King in Yellow' Story?

Robert W. Chambers published "weird-horror" short story collection The King in Yellow in 1895. The book starts off as a collection of short horror stories that meander off into the romance genre, but it's the fictitious play about the "King in Yellow" that runs across the first few spooky tales that most people best remember the book by.

The eerie atmosphere of the book and its "cosmic horror" is known to have inspired legendary horror writers like H.P. Lovecraft and his tales about Cthulu, as well as more modern adaptations. Most notably, the "King in Yellow" and Carcosa were evoked in HBO's _True Detective" to signal decay, moral collapse, and the fear of the unknowable.

What's the 'Minecraft ARG' Version of 'The King in Yellow'?

In late October 2025, YouTuber AverytheMayo posted a very brief, 3-minute video showing his Minecraft character running around a mine he discovered in a version of the game he found in an unknown person's laptop from a storage unit. In it, Avery talks about finding a chest with a book that has a line warning, "Whatever you do, at the crossroads, don’t turn left."

YouTuber Wifies took inspiration from the previous video and launched a sprawling 40-minute ARG-style video called, "Searching for a World that Doesn't Exist." The video followed a character named Avery through a tunnel into an impossible Minecraft world, where he encounters a knight named D3lord3, who warns him about a being more intelligent and powerful than Avery could ever comprehend.

The video became massively popular, accruing over 15 million views in a month, and inspiring a slew of fan art and fan fiction online. On November 4th, TikToker @voidslurper posted a video titled, "First time doing doordash, where tf am I bruh," showing a clip from the "King in Yellow" Minecraft ARG. The video gathered over 1 million plays and 200,000 likes in three weeks.

@voidslurper Lmao some book tried to warn me to not go left on this crossroad 😂😂😂😂 #minecraft #doordash #searchingforaworldthatdoesntexist #kinginyellow #fyp ♬ original sound – Waber

On November 18th, 2025, X user @RachRatos tweeted a meme showing a character pointing to the shirt they are wearing that reads, "i LOVE The King in Yellow and media that references it, but i would NEVER EVER EVER finish the novel," and a ribbon that says, "lost the ability to read and now only consumes media through youtubers award." The post gathered over 40,000 likes in a week.

What Are Some More Memes and Posts About 'The King in Yellow' 'Minecraft ARG'?

@gojira_2007 #fyp #FYP #thekinginyellow #mincraft ♬ original sound – GOJIRA

@ahwry_official This took too longhhh enoughh!!!,,,Idk if people will watchthis #engagement #kinginyellow #minecraft #atthecrossroadsdontturnleft #animation ♬ original sound – Ahwry_

@ethy_51 Arguably the best Minecraft ARG I’ve watched (Artist creds: Moon.bacon- Insta, mirkofocfileart- Insta, d-rook- tumblr, Mango.may- tumblr) #d3rlord3 #Minecraft #thekinginyellow #edit #animeedits ♬ original sound – ethy_51%

@yukiuira This took WAY TOO long | Ib – @haniawooga | Art Cred – @Nor1aki , @Niyoki_Arts, trash-kidd0, on tumblr | #sfawtde #d3rlord3 #kinginyellow #minecraftarg #minecraftedit ♬ original sound – * ˚ ✦

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For the full history of The King in Yellow, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.