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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: April 2026
Quick Answer
What order should I read the The Dark Descent series? Start with "Orbit 11" (1972) and follow publication order through all 100 books.
The complete The Dark Descent reading order is listed below in publication sequence.
Publication Order
Orbit 11
1972
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, May 1974
1974
Nebula Awards 10
1975
Nebula Award Stories Ten
1976
The Year's Best Horror Stories: Series IV
1976
Graven Images: Three Original Novellas Of Science Fiction
1977
Whispers
1977
The Year's Best Horror Stories: Series V
1977
Chrysalis 1
1977
Nebula Awards 12
1978
Shadows
1978
The Year's Best Horror Stories: Series VI
1978
Chrysalis 3
1978
Shadows 2
1979
Nightmares
1979
The Year's Best Horror Stories Series VII
1979
Chrysalis 4
1979
Chrysalis 5
1979
Shadows 3
1980
Mummy!
1980
Shadows 4
1981
Fear Itself: The Horror Fiction of Stephen King
1982
Nebula Awards 16
1982
Shadows 5
1982
Perpetual Light
1982
The Dodd, Mead Gallery of Horror
1983
Fears
1983
Shadows 7
1984
Masques
1984
Shadows 8
1985
Midnight
1985
The First Chronicles of Greystone Bay
1985
The Year's Best Horror Stories
1985
Twilight Zone Magazine, December 1985
1985
Shadows 9
1986
The Years Best Horror Stories XIV
1986
Halloween Horrors
1986
Terrors
1986
Horrors
1986
Shadows 6
1986
The Dark Descent
1987
Shadows 10
1987
In the Field of Fire
1987
Volume I: The Color of Evil
1987
The Year's Best Horror Stories XV
1987
Doom City
1987
The Best of Shadows
1988
Masters of Darkness II
1988
Gaslight & Ghosts
1988
The Best Horror Stories from the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
1988
Prime Evil
1988
The Year's Best Horror Stories XVI
1988
Ghosts
1988
Post Mortem: New Tales of Ghostly Horror
1989
Second Annual Collection
1989
Borderlands 1
1990
The Year's Best Fantasy 2 / Demons and Dreams
1990
The Seaharp Hotel
1990
Night Terrors
1990
The Horror Hall of Fame
1991
The Architecture of Fear
1991
Final Shadows
1991
Cut! Horror Writers on Horror Film
1992
Best New Horror 3
1992
After Midnight
1992
Monsters in Our Midst
1993
The Giant Book of Zombies
1993
Deathport
1993
In the Fog
1993
The Giant Book of Best New Horror
1993
100 Hair-Raising Little Horror Stories
1993
The Mammoth Book of Zombies
1993
Grails
1994
Best New Horror 5
1994
Best New Horror 6
1995
Giant Book of Fantasy Tales
1996
Gallery of Horror
1996
Robert Bloch's Psychos
1997
Millenium
1997
Gothic Ghosts
1997
Eleventh Annual Collection
1998
In the Shadow of the Gargoyle
1998
Horror at Halloween
1999
Phantoms and Fiends
2000
October Dreams
2000
The Museum of Horrors
2001
Dark Masques
2001
Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 13
2002
13 Horrors
2003
The Dark: New Ghost Stories
2003
The Mammoth Book of New Terror
2004
Horrorscape
2005
The Best Of Borderlands, Vols. 1-5
2005
Dark Territories
2008
Classic Tales of Horror
2009
Horror at Halloween: Part Five
2011
Bad Seeds: Evil Progeny
2013
Blurring the Line
2015
Terrifying Tales to Tell at Night
2019
Tomes of Terror
2020
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