True Detective is an HBO anthology series in the hard-boiled detective genre. Its first season, which aired in 2014, contained references to the King in Yellow stories of Robert W. Chambers. The character of Rustin Cohle, played by Matthew McConaughey, is based in part on the philosophies of Thomas Ligotti.
Mythos Connections[]
Although the majority of the first season is dominated by Southern Gothic and Southern Noir elements, a continuing theme is references by the main antagonist in his writings and "decorations" to appropriations from The King In Yellow. Carcosa is mentioned, and there's some writing referring to it, as well as to the Yellow King, King in Yellow, and a general air of malaise and evil associated with it. The ritualistic sexual abuse and murder of a young woman has pagan overtones which in this show are tied to the Carcosa mythos created by the show. Later seasons don't really return to this subject at all, and it seems to have been, within the universe of the show, something arising from the madness of the first antagonist in the series rather than an overarching theme - other than the sense of a decayed world in a more general context.