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Standalone Books in Order
Below you'll find the complete list of Standalone 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 Standalone series? Start with "The Halloween Man" (1988) and follow publication order through all 42 books.
The complete Standalone reading order is listed below in publication sequence.
Publication Order
The Halloween Man
1988
Goat Dance
1989
Breeder
1990
Neverland
1991
Dark of the Eye
1994
The Children's Hour
1995
You Come When I Call You
1996
Naomi
1998
The Hour Before Dark
2002
Afterlife
2004
The Nightmare Chronicles
1999
The Machinery of Night
2004
Wild Things
2006
Coming of Age
2012
Night Asylum: Tales of Mystery & Horror
2012
Lights Out
2014
I Am Infinite, I Contain Multitudes
2017
The Dark Game
2017
The Poisoner's Garden and Others: Selected Poems
2019
A Madness of Starlings
2004
The Stain
2012
Funerary Rites
2015
Dinner with the Cannibal Sisters
2019
Belinda in the Pool: A Short Story
2019
The Faces
2019
Dante's Disciples
1991
Best New Horror 3
1992
The Giant Book of Best New Horror
1993
Love in Vein
1994
Year's Best Fantasy & Horror: Tenth Annual Collection
1996
The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 8
1997
Eleventh Annual Collection
1998
Dark Whispers
1998
October Dreams
2000
Queer Fear
2000
Shivers
2002
Four Dark Nights
2002
Tales from a Darker State
2003
Shivers II
2003
Shivers III
2004
The Best of Cemetery Dance II
2008
The Big Book of NECON
2009
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