The Dark Descent Books in Order
140
Books
1956
First Book
2024
Latest Book
69
Years
Below you'll find the complete list of The Dark Descent books in publication order. This is generally the recommended reading order for the series.
Reading order verified: January 2026
Publication Order
1
Points of View
Buy on Amazon1956
2
The Best American Short Stories 1964
Buy on Amazon1964
3
Prize Stories 1970: The O. Henry Awards
Buy on Amazon1970
4
Anti-Story: An Anthology of Experimental Fiction
Buy on Amazon1971
5
Scenes From American Life: Contemporary Short Fiction
Buy on Amazon1973
6
Prize Stories 1973: The O. Henry Awards
Buy on Amazon1973
7
Fiction International, No.1, Fall 1973
Buy on Amazon1973
8
Women and Fiction
Buy on Amazon1975
9
Banquet: Five Short Stories
Buy on Amazon1978
10
New American Writing
Buy on Amazon1979
11
The Best American Short Stories 1979
Buy on Amazon1979
12
Dark Forces: New Stories of Suspense and Supernatural Horror
Buy on Amazon1980
13
Night Walks
Buy on Amazon1982
14
The Web She Weaves
Buy on Amazon1983
15
Witches' Brew
Buy on Amazon1984
16
Fiction International 15.1: Writing and Politics
Buy on Amazon1984
17
The Dark Descent
Buy on Amazon1987
18
The Norton Anthology of Contemporary Fiction
Buy on Amazon1987
19
First Annual Collection
Buy on Amazon1988
20
Demons & Dreams: The Best Fantasy and Horror 1
Buy on Amazon1988
21
Third Annual Collection
Buy on Amazon1989
22
Women Writers at Work
Buy on Amazon1989
23
Among Sisters: Short Stories by Women Writers
Buy on Amazon1989
24
Colors of a New Day
Buy on Amazon1990
25
Volume III:A Fabulous, Formless Darkness
Buy on Amazon1991
26
The Picador Book of the New Gothic
Buy on Amazon1991
27
Cries of the Spirit
Buy on Amazon1991
28
The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror Fourth Annual Collection
Buy on Amazon1991
29
Fourth Annual Collection
Buy on Amazon1991
30
The Architecture of Fear
Buy on Amazon1991
31
The Best American Short Stories 1991
Buy on Amazon1991
32
The Oxford Book of American Short Stories
Buy on Amazon1992
33
The Short Story: 30 Masterpieces
Buy on Amazon1992
34
Flash Fiction: 72 Very Short Stories
Buy on Amazon1992
35
Sisters In Crime 5
Buy on Amazon1992
36
Fiction International 22
Buy on Amazon1992
37
Ploughshares Winter 1993-94
Buy on Amazon1993
38
God: An Anthology of Fiction
Buy on Amazon1993
39
Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine: November 1994
Buy on Amazon1994
40
First Fiction: An Anthology of the First Published Stories by Famous Writers
Buy on Amazon1994
41
Deadly Sins
Buy on Amazon1994
42
Obsession
Buy on Amazon1995
43
Bad Behavior
Buy on Amazon1995
44
The Penguin Book of Modern Fantasy by Women
Buy on Amazon1995
45
Ruby Slippers, Golden Tears
Buy on Amazon1995
46
Murder For Love
Buy on Amazon1996
47
American Gothic Tales
Buy on Amazon1996
48
Granta 58: Ambition
Buy on Amazon1997
49
Black Swan, White Raven
Buy on Amazon1997
50
Crimes of Passion
Buy on Amazon1997
51
American Fiction
Buy on Amazon1997
52
Telling Stories
Buy on Amazon1997
53
The Best American Mystery Stories 1997
Buy on Amazon1997
54
Sirens and Other Daemon Lovers
Buy on Amazon1998
55
The Best of the Best
Buy on Amazon1998
56
Murder for Revenge
Buy on Amazon1998
57
Mirror, Mirror on the Wall
Buy on Amazon1998
58
Eleventh Annual Collection
Buy on Amazon1998
59
Sex, Drugs, Rock'n'Roll: Stories to End the Century
Buy on Amazon1998
60
The Best American Mystery Stories 1999
Buy on Amazon1999
61
The Scribner Anthology of Contemporary Short Fiction
Buy on Amazon1999
62
Irreconcilable Differences
Buy on Amazon1999
63
Ovid Metamorphosed
Buy on Amazon2000
64
The Good Parts
Buy on Amazon2000
65
Master's Choice: Mystery Stories by Today's Top Writers and the Masters Who Inspired Them
Buy on Amazon2000
66
The Best American Mystery Stories of the Century
Buy on Amazon2000
67
Here to Stay: Five Plays from the Women's Project
Buy on Amazon2000
68
Black Heart, Ivory Bones
Buy on Amazon2000
69
Mr. Simonelli or the Fairy Widower
Buy on Amazon2000
70
The Best American Short Stories of the Century
Buy on Amazon2000
71
The Best American Essays of the Century
Buy on Amazon2000
72
The World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 2
Buy on Amazon2000
73
40 Short Stories: A Portable Anthology
Buy on Amazon2000
74
The Best American Mystery Stories 2001
Buy on Amazon2001
75
Writers on Writing
Buy on Amazon2001
76
Opening Shots, Vol. II
Buy on Amazon2001
77
Tails of Wonder and Imagination
Buy on Amazon2001
78
Redshift
Buy on Amazon2001
79
The World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 3
Buy on Amazon2002
80
The Dark: New Ghost Stories
Buy on Amazon2003
81
The Best American Mystery Stories 2003
Buy on Amazon2003
82
More Stories We Tell
Buy on Amazon2004
83
The Future Dictionary of America
Buy on Amazon2004
84
The World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 5
Buy on Amazon2004
85
The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror, Vol. 15
Buy on Amazon2004
86
Writers on Writers
Buy on Amazon2005
87
Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules
Buy on Amazon2005
88
Dangerous Women
Buy on Amazon2005
89
Transgressions
Buy on Amazon2005
90
Becoming Myself: Reflections on Growing Up Female
Buy on Amazon2006
91
TwentiethAnnual Collection
Buy on Amazon2007
92
The Best American Mystery Stories 2007
Buy on Amazon2007
93
The New Granta Book of the American Short Story
Buy on Amazon2007
94
Unforgettable Ghost Stories by Women Writers
Buy on Amazon2008
95
Twenty-First Annual Collection
Buy on Amazon2008
96
Freedom
Buy on Amazon2009
97
First Words: Earliest Writing from Favorite Contemporary Authors
Buy on Amazon2009
98
Half-Minute Horrors
Buy on Amazon2009
99
The Best American Mystery Stories 2009
Buy on Amazon2009
100
What's Your Exit?: A Literary Detour Through New Jersey
Buy on Amazon2010
101
L.A. Noire: The Collected Stories
Buy on Amazon2010
102
Darkness: Two Decades of Modern Horror
Buy on Amazon2010
103
My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me
Buy on Amazon2010
104
Hint Fiction
Buy on Amazon2010
105
The Mammoth Book of Angels and Demons
Buy on Amazon2011
106
What You Wish For
Buy on Amazon2011
107
Better Than Fiction: True Travel Tales From Great Fiction Writers
Buy on Amazon2012
108
The Interrogator and Other Criminally Good Fiction
Buy on Amazon2012
109
What My Mother Gave Me
Buy on Amazon2013
110
Ploughshares Spring 1988
Buy on Amazon2013
111
Boulevard No. 87
Buy on Amazon2014
112
Boulevard 88
Buy on Amazon2014
113
The Doll Collection
Buy on Amazon2015
114
Choose Wisely: 35 Women Up To No Good
Buy on Amazon2015
115
The Best Stories from Boulevard, 1985-2015
Buy on Amazon2015
116
Taking Aim: Power and Pain, Teens and Guns
Buy on Amazon2015
117
The Best American Mystery Stories 2015
Buy on Amazon2015
118
Sleights of Hand: The Deception Issue
Buy on Amazon2016
119
Unloaded
Buy on Amazon2016
120
In Sunlight or In Shadow
Buy on Amazon2016
121
Boulevard Nos. 95 & 96
Buy on Amazon2017
122
Tales of Two Americas
Buy on Amazon2017
123
The Best American Mystery Stories 2017
Buy on Amazon2017
124
Shadows Over Main Street Volume 2
Buy on Amazon2017
125
Alive in Shape and Color
Buy on Amazon2017
126
Uncertainties Volume III
Buy on Amazon2018
127
Simpsonistas, Vol. 1
Buy on Amazon2018
128
Cutting Edge: New Stories of Mystery and Crime by Women Writers
Buy on Amazon2019
129
Simpsonistas, Vol. 2
Buy on Amazon2019
130
Drawing Lines
Buy on Amazon2021
131
Five Short Stories by Women
Buy on Amazon2021
132
When Things Get Dark
Buy on Amazon2021
133
The Best Horror of the Year Volume Thirteen
Buy on Amazon2021
134
Screams from the Dark
Buy on Amazon2022
135
CVC10 Carter V Cooper Short Fiction Anthology: Book Ten
Buy on Amazon2022
136
The Mysterious Bookshop Presents the Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2022
Buy on Amazon2022
137
Simpsonistas Vol. 4: Tales from the New Literary Project
Buy on Amazon2022
138
Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, September-October 2023
Buy on Amazon2023
139
A Darker Shade of Noir: New Stories of Body Horror by Women Writers
Buy on Amazon2023
140
Fears: Tales of Psychological Horror
Buy on Amazon2024
Frequently Asked Questions
The recommended reading order for the The Dark Descent series is publication order: 1. Points of View (1956), 2. The Best American Short Stories 1964 (1964), 3. Prize Stories 1970: The O. Henry Awards (1970), 4. Anti-Story: An Anthology of Experimental Fiction (1971), 5. Scenes From American Life: Contemporary Short Fiction (1973), and 135 more. This is generally the best way to experience the story as the author intended.
The The Dark Descent series by Joyce Carol Oates contains 140 books. The series began in 1956 and continues to be a popular choice for readers.
The The Dark Descent series is written by Joyce Carol Oates. You can find more books and series by this author on our website.
Reader Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!
Be the first to leave a review!