A Season in Carcosa is an anthology that Pizzolatto has cited as inspiration . The short stories each feature The King in Yellow in some way , and like Chambers ' stories they all feature madness . The stories in Season are hit or miss . The good ones are pretty damn unnerving and creative , so I ' d recommend it . TKIY was a fictional play conceived by Chambers . In his anthology of the same name , he barely reveals any plot details , leaving other authors freedom to add their own mythology . Interestingly , there ' s a recurring symbol throughout Season and Chambers ' anthology a rotting corpse clothed in a yellow , tattered mantle . We also see this image in the finale of TD season 1 the giant skeleton sculpture in the center of Errol ' s maze , and the production designer has confirmed that this statue is in fact the Yellow King a monstrous deity from the fictional play . Anyway , TD is very distinct from most these weird short stories which are fullblown fantasy , but if you ' re a big fan of the show ' s occult shit like myself , I ' d definitely recommend A Season in Carcosa as well as the work of HP Lovecraft to better understand the cult ' s complex mythology .