A Parade of Horribles

Hardcover, 624 pages

English language

Published May 26, 2026 by Ace.

ISBN:: 9798217190065

(1 review)

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 …

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.

3 editions

Richard M. reviewed A Parade of Horribles by Matt Dinniman

I just want it to be over

2 stars

I really think these could be edited down by half and still retain the core story. The play by play battles feel like they're getting longer and longer and then there's One Neat Trick that Carl springs on the reader at the end, though all the characters are in on the plan. Feels like a weird choice for a first person narrative.

It's a fun series, but could definitely use a harsh editor. I read it mostly because I used to be a Dungeon Master with a taste for evil plots, wishes and magic that backfire, funny stories and general silliness. Novel solutions that beat me at my game are especially fun, and that's what I like with Carl. I do wish that the narrator would include the reader in what's happening upfront without trying to force suspense.

I will finish the series because I do want to see how …

I really think these could be edited down by half and still retain the core story. The play by play battles feel like they're getting longer and longer and then there's One Neat Trick that Carl springs on the reader at the end, though all the characters are in on the plan. Feels like a weird choice for a first person narrative.

It's a fun series, but could definitely use a harsh editor. I read it mostly because I used to be a Dungeon Master with a taste for evil plots, wishes and magic that backfire, funny stories and general silliness. Novel solutions that beat me at my game are especially fun, and that's what I like with Carl. I do wish that the narrator would include the reader in what's happening upfront without trying to force suspense.

I will finish the series because I do want to see how it resolves, but audio book on 1.5x and likely a bit of skipping.