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The Dark Descent Books in Order
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: March 2026
Quick Answer
What order should I read the The Dark Descent series? Start with "Tales of Unknown Horror" (1978) and follow publication order through all 125 books.
The complete The Dark Descent reading order is listed below in publication sequence.
Publication Order
Tales of Unknown Horror
1978
The Year's Finest Fantasy
1978
The Year's Best Horror Stories: Series VI
1978
The Year's Best Horror Stories Series VII
1979
More Tales of Unknown Horror
1979
The Year's Finest Fantasy 2
1979
New Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos
1980
Dark Forces: New Stories of Suspense and Supernatural Horror
1980
New Terrors II
1980
Shadows 4
1981
The Seventeenth Fontana Book of Great Ghost Stories
1981
Fantasy Annual III
1981
The Giant Book Of Horror Stories
1981
Fantasy Annual IV
1981
Modern Masters of Horror
1981
Death
1982
Fear Itself: The Horror Fiction of Stephen King
1982
65 Great Spine Chillers
1982
The Science Fiction Weight Loss Book
1983
The Year's Best Horror Stories: Series XII
1984
Realms of Darkness
1985
Great Tales of Fantasy and Science Fiction
1985
The Year's Best Horror Stories
1985
Kingdom of Fear: The World of Stephen King
1986
Horrors
1986
The Dark Descent
1987
Volume I: The Color of Evil
1987
A Treasury of American Horror Stories
1988
Horror Factor 7
1988
The Best Horror Stories from the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
1988
Prime Evil
1988
Dark Visions
1988
The Mammoth Book of Short Horror Novels
1988
Book of the Dead
1989
The Best of Modern Horror
1989
Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos
1990
Dark Voices: No. 1
1990
Volume II: The Medusa In The Shield
1990
Volume III:A Fabulous, Formless Darkness
1991
Horrorstory
1991
The Horror Hall of Fame
1991
I Shudder at Your Touch: Twenty Two Tales of Sex and Horror
1991
Midnight Graffiti
1992
Young Blood
1994
Mid-life Confidential
1994
The Puffin Book of Horror Stories
1994
Space Movies
1995
Horror Stories
1995
Pulp Frictions: Hardboiled Stories
1996
Dark Love
1996
Year's Best Fantasy & Horror: Ninth Annual Collection
1996
Twists of the Tale: An Anthology of Cat Horror
1996
American Gothic Tales
1996
Blood Thirst
1997
Robert Bloch's Psychos
1997
The Best of the Best
1998
The Playboy Book of Science Fiction
1998
Legends 1
1998
Eternal Lovecraft: The Persistence of HPL in Popular Culture
1998
Scary! Stories That Will Make You Scream!
1999
999: New Stories of Horror and Suspense
1999
Vintage Science Fiction
1999
The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Twelfth Annual Collection
1999
The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
1999
Technohorror: Inventions in Terror
1999
The Best American Mystery Stories of the Century
2000
Tails of Wonder and Imagination
2001
A Century of Great Suspense Stories
2001
Dark Masques
2001
Baseball: a Literary Anthology
2002
The Wavedancer Benefit: A Tribute to Frank Muller
2002
From the Borderlands
2003
In the Shadow of the Master
2003
Great Ghost Stories
2004
The Future Dictionary of America
2004
Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Seventeenth Annual Collection
2004
Transgressions
2005
The Campfire Collection
2005
Transgressions, Vol. 2
2006
The Best American Short Stories 2007
2007
The Living Dead
2008
The Best of Cemetery Dance II
2008
Dancing with the Dark
2009
The Big Book of NECON
2009
Zombies: Encounters with the Hungry Dead
2009
Best New Horror 20
2009
First Words: Earliest Writing from Favorite Contemporary Authors
2009
The Dead That Walk
2009
Shivers VI
2010
Darkness: Two Decades of Modern Horror
2010
Best New Horror 21
2010
The Chronicles of Harris Burdick
2011
A Book of Horrors
2011
Crucified Dreams
2011
Lightspeed: Year One
2011
Rage Against the Night
2011
The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Four
2012
The Mammoth Book of Body Horror
2012
The Year's Best Dark Fantasy and Horror, 2012 Edition
2012
Shivers VII
2013
Hard Listening: The Greatest Rock Band Ever (of Authors) Tells All
2013
Bad Seeds: Evil Progeny
2013
Selected Shorts: Behaving Badly
2013
Turn Down the Lights
2013
Woman: An Anthology
2014
Field of Fantasies
2014
Chiral Mad 3
2016
Six Scary Stories
2016
Grave Predictions
2016
The Best American Mystery Stories 2016
2016
In Sunlight or In Shadow
2016
Detours
2016
You, Human
2018
Flight or Fright
2018
It Came From The Garage!: An Anthology of Automotive Horror
2019
Terrifying Tales to Tell at Night
2019
Dark Tides
2019
Best of Best New Horror Volume 2
2020
The Pulp Horror Book of Phobias, Vol II
2020
The Best Horror of the Year Volume Thirteen
2021
Revelations
2022
Chiral Mad 5
2022
Qualia Nous: Vol. 2
2023
The Rack
2024
The End of the World As We Know It: New Tales of Stephen King's The Stand
2025
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