#58 in Fantasy
New out May 11, 2026
A Parade of Horribles
- 705
- Pages
- about 13 h
- Reading time
- NYT bestseller · 2 weeks on the list, peaked at #1
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Our view
The eighth Dungeon Crawler Carl book sends Carl and Donut to a floor built around vehicle races, a simpler setup than the series usually offers. Opinion divides on it: some readers find the racing rushed or thin on plot and character progress, though the opening and a run of late twists win them back. At 705 pages it still reads quickly, but it is strictly for those who have followed the series.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
It’s off to the races in the explosive eighth book in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series—featuring bonus material exclusive to this print edition. As chaos and mass panic spread outside the dungeon in the wake of Faction Wars, Carl and Donut find themselves on the tenth floor, where they’re forced to compete in a surprisingly normal set of tasks. Well, normal for the dungeon. Races. Get from point A to point B, and don’t come in last. After each race, they pick an upgrade for their vehicle and the track gets more challenging. It all seems a little too normal, a little too simple. Ignore those strange glitches that are occurring with increasing frequency. Don’t listen to those whispers about what’s happening on the mysterious eleventh floor, something the system AI calls A Parade of Horribles. Nobody, not even the showrunners, knows what that means. Just that the AI has ominously dubbed it “a coming-out party for the ages.” Everything is fine, Crawler. I repeat, everything is fine. Carl hates that it’s business as usual. The rules of this floor have taken away his agency. That just will not do. So Carl is planning a party of his own. It’s a plan so dangerous, so insane, he can’t even consult his friends lest the AI put a stop to it. Because if it goes wrong, it’s not just the end of Carl and Donut. No. The stakes are higher than they’ve ever been. Includes part eight of the exclusive bonus story “Backstage at the Pineapple Cabaret.”
Reading order · Dungeon Crawler Carl
Full order & progress →- Dungeon Crawler CarlStart here
8.78.7 / 10 - Carl's Doomsday Scenario
8.78.7 / 10 - The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook
8.58.5 / 10 - The Gate of the Feral Gods
8.88.8 / 10 - The Butcher's Masquerade
9.09.0 / 10 - The Eye of the Bedlam Bride
8.98.9 / 10 - This Inevitable Ruin
9.09.0 / 10 - A Parade of HorriblesThis book
8.78.7 / 10
Where the score comes from
The sources average 8.9 across 945 ratings. With that many, the reader vote carries 87% of the weight and the score stays at 8.7 — the Fantasy average of 8.0 barely moves it.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardcover | 8.9 | 945 | 100% |
Frequently asked
How long is A Parade of Horribles?
It has 705 pages — longer than 73% of the ranked books in Fantasy.
More new books
You will also find this book on the New books page, with the other titles of the last twelve months.
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In this book
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