How did this book become so influential than “The King in Yellow” is so commonly referenced in subsequent cosmic horror shows, books, and movies?

I read it and it completely catfished me. Only the first few stories are even actually horror and the King in Yellow is only referenced in a couple opening lines to some of the stories. After that fully 50% of the book is just love stories about upper class Anglo Americans from New England falling in love with French girls from the rural countryside.

Also weirdly like most of the love stories the French girls are massive whores and start sobbing to the New England WASP about how they don’t deserve them because they’re such sluts and the New Englander tells them they don’t care, they love them anyways, and then they embrace. This happened like 3 times back to back when I was expecting Lovecraftian horror it was surreal

>>24550288 (OP)
it still is a comfy book

god fucking damn me I will never experience bohemian Paris in my life, now it's an n-word infested hellhole

It's basically a commentary/satire on the "yellow books" and the decadent movement at the time. The eponymous king in yellow and the first few stories are obviously just a play on the yellow book which was a real literary publication in the decadent/aesthetic vein. the stories in chambers king in yellow progress from decadent to normal sappy love stories. the focus on france is because the decadent movement was very popular in france
but the average "lovecraft fan" doesn't know anything about this and focus on le book that makes you go mad instead of reading the king in yellow as a reaction and condemnational satire on the decadents

>>24550288 (OP)
Borges has an essay about how Kafka "created" his predecessors by creating the quality we call Kafkaesque, which then could be found in previous writers.
Similar thing here, it was an inspiration to Lovecraft and now we see Lovecraftian qualities in some of the stories, so it becomes part of the Lovecraftian canon. It's not super brilliant but it was innovative.
Btw, the story that stuck most in my mind is the one about the falconer lady. Not Lovecraftian at all but kino.

>>24550288 (OP)
It's really only influential because Lovecraft mentioned it and introduced some elements into his canon. That's it.

State instituted suicide pods are the best part of the book

>>24550288 (OP)
Chambers can really write though.
I legitimately love reading his prose, including his romantic fiction.

>>24550602
They aren't really suicide pods thoughbeit.