Now Before you ask “Wait Bailie, where are the other seven book reviews for this series?” I will tell you. I read the first 7 books in the last half of 2025, and if you look at my blog post history you will see hardly any posts during that time. I was in a writing slump. So some of my DCC series reviews are on my Bookstagram and some are not. I just honestly wanted to enjoy these books and not have to think too much about my thoughts and how they would be perceived. Lets just say this is an all time favorite series of mine and upon my re read I will post deeper reviews for the rest of the series.
I have been waiting for this book to release since early December when I finished the 7th book. I even requested May 12th off months in advanced so I could just read on release day. So lets just say I had very high expectations for this book. Did this book meet my ever growing expectations for this series? Read to find out!
“Sometimes we don’t need to know someone’s full life story to understand them.”
Matt Dinniman, A Parade of Horribles
** There Will Be SPOILERS Ahead!!**
About The Book
Author: Matt Dinniman
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Published Date: May 12th, 2026
Page Count: 704 Pages
Main Genre: Sci-fi
GoodReads Rating: 4.73
Format: E-Book
“And what about the biscuits!” “The what?” Mordecai asked. “Biscuits, Mordecai! I need to make biscuits!”
Matt Dinniman, A Parade of Horribles
Synopsis
It’s off to the races in the explosive eighth book in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series.
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.
“Sometimes there are no good choices, and we just do what we have to.”
Matt Dinniman, A Parade of Horribles
Rating
Review
** NEW ACHIEVEMENT**
“Way to go! You have officially finished 8 books in the most gut wrenching series you have ever picked up!”
REWARD
“Emotional trauma while you wait for books Nine and Ten. “
Okay but in all seriousness this one wasn’t as gut wrenching as I expected it to be. And again one finally time there will be spoilers so if you have not finished this yet DO NOT READ the rest of this!
I think I only teared up once in this whole book which is really odd for me. In the past I have sobbed my way throughout most of the books. I am not saying I hoped for some of my favorite characters to die or anything but maybe a bit more plot that tried to rip my heart out or something. I think the most I sobbed at was when Rend “Died” and literally came back to life.. Like okay not that big of a deal I suppose.
I personally thought that floor ten was quite boring compared to the rest of the floors we have seen. We hardly spent any time on the floor when you consider that each heat of the race was pretty different and the timelines were relatively short for most of the heats. My favorite parts were in between races as this is where most of the plot happened.
By no means is this me saying I hated this book. I really did have fun reading it but it did remind me why the series was so addicting at the beginning. I was missing the atmospheres of past floors, The consistent loot box opening but mostly, I have been missing the character interactions. We used to spend a lot of time with our fellow crawlers getting to know them but now everything is so high stakes that they don’t get those brief moments to breathe and develop as much with other crawlers. But that is the nature of this series and I do need to remind myself this is exactly how it is supposed to feel. Like we are in the dungeon with them not getting a second to take a break and relax. Did you notice they just didn’t even mention sleep at all? So sad that something as simple as sleep is just non existent now.
Despite me missing “simpler” days of the early dungeon, I truly did enjoy this book. We are getting so many more details into the AI and outer world that my brain feels like its swimming with nonsense. I can’t wait for all the dots to connect, even if that means the series and the crawl all come to what I assume will be a classic explosive Carl plan.
Seeing Donut drop her guard more in this book and see how the Dungeon has been affecting her has been breaking my heart. She is so strong but the strongest people tend to hold everything in till the metaphorical river overflows and everything comes streaming out. I love seeing her step up so well into a motherly role for Mongo and Rend, its the one thing outside of a performing that she can really fall back to and feel like a “normal” being.
Carl is even more Unhinged than ever. One of my favorite quotes is from Chapter 94. (see below) Somehow Carl’s chaos plans seem to always pan out, god knows why but everyone is so very thankful for them.
“Carl: Plan C. Gotta go with plan C. Donut, be ready. Elle: Of course. The Psycho Plan. Got It. Donut: It’s CALLED PLAN CARL. Florin: We really need to start making plan C the primary one.
DCC 8 Chapter 94
Imani and Chris! Enough said there, but dang, I need a side book just for their relationship. I really hope that they can reconnect soon. They both have been through enough!
Okay, Now it is time to discuss my favorite character from this floor, Drum Roll please! Prepotente (AKA Pony)!! Ugh the few background pieces we got for him were everything! Merium Dom in the apartment living a life where she never had Pony nearly Broke me! Basically all of chapter 77 had a hold of my heart,
“Carl,” Prepotente said, stopping me. He wiped his eyes again. “yeah?” “You can call me Pony if you like.”
DCC 8 Chapter 77
Now that I have discussed some of my favorite characters I would like to discuss the ending of this book. The ending was literally where I felt like all the meat and potatoes were. All shoved into the last 100 maybe 150 pages of the book.
So much was revealed on floor eleven. I can barely even process everything that happened. I am so glad that all of our main characters made it through this floor despite the craziness. I mean Carl really said “fuck it” but somehow those things work out well for him.
I am left with so many more questions than answers. Like who the heck is Samantha? What kind of Chaos is Eris going to bring? The history of the AI and how a Princess lost everything just to give the universe another chance.. Does that mean Donut will live while everyone else she loves dies? What do you mean everyone went to the 15th floor and not the Pineapple Cabaret?
Ugh so much yet to unfold and we only have two books left? I have no clue how Matt is going to pull this off but lets just say I am terrified! I can’t get all my thoughts out here but hit up my DM’s and lets chat!
Quotes
“It’s okay to forgive yourself. Sometimes there are no good choices, and we just do what we have to.”
Matt Dinniman, A Parade of Horribles
“You keep trying to divide us. Don’t you realize what you created? We have been tempered in the fires of Hell, and we are now passed the point of being broken. Your downfall has already been written in the stars. You may hurt us. You may kill us all, but it’s not going to matter. Don’t you realize? Don’t. You. Realize?”
Matt Dinniman, A Parade of Horribles
“If you go to war against drugs, drugs will always win. Drugs will win because what you’re really doing is going to war against the biological imperative all living creatures have to find comfort and happiness. And if you’re unwilling or unable to first provide that, artificial alternatives, no matter how destructive, will always prevail.”
Matt Dinniman, A Parade of Horribles
“Since you’re new to this, let me give you your first lesson on being a princess. Lesson one, don’t put yourself in situations where you’re so afraid that you piss yourself. It shows a lack of decorum.”
Matt Dinniman, A Parade of Horribles
“I don’t even know what the hell this is. This bitch is coloring outside the lines.”
Matt Dinniman, A Parade of Horribles
“We sluggalos have a code. That code is ‘unity, support, family, and kneecapping bitches.”
Matt Dinniman, A Parade of Horribles
“Elle: I’m alive. Barely. Someone help me dig me and Bodi out of this truck. It’s wrecked pretty good. I haven’t been folded like this since Brandon showed us how to use Tinder.”
DCC 8 Chapter 96
World of Bai 