John Langan Reading Order
7 series · 128 books
John Langan is an American writer renowned for his contributions to contemporary horror. With an impressive catalog of 128 works spanning seven series, including standalone novels, short story collections, and graphic novels, his most acclaimed title is the Bram Stoker Award-winning novel The Fisherman. Active from 1842 to 2026, Langan's diverse portfolio also features works in the Bluford High series and The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror anthologies.
Anthologies Series
Ongoing61 books (1996–2026)
Start with Classic Victorian & Edwardian Ghost Stories, the first of 61 books in the Anthologies series.
| # | Title |
|---|---|
| 1 |  Classic Victorian & Edwardian Ghost Stories 1996Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 2 |  Fantasy: The Best of 2002 2003Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 3 |  Poe: 19 New Tales of Suspense, Dark Fantasy, and Horror Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe 2008Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 4 |  The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Two 2010Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 5 | The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, 2010 Edition 2010Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 6 |  Best New Horror 22 2011Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 7 |  Creatures: Thirty Years of Monsters 2011Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 8 |  Ghosts by Gaslight 2011Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 9 | New Cthulhu: The Recent Weird 2011Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 10 |  Supernatural Noir 2011Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 11 | The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Three 2011Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 12 |  The Book of Cthulhu 2011Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 13 |  The Recent Weird 2011Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 14 | A Season in Carcosa 2012Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 15 | Ghosts: Recent Hauntings 2012Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 16 | Mammoth Books presents Monsters in Our Midst 2012Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 17 |  The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Four 2012Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 18 |  After Death... 2013Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 19 | Chewing the Page: The Mourning Goats Interviews 2013Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 20 |  Lovecraft and Influence: His Predecessors and Successors 2013Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 21 |  Shadows Edge 2013Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 22 |  The Grimscribe's Puppets 2013Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 23 | The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, 2013 Edition 2013Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 24 |  Fearful Symmetries 2014Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 25 | Shock Totem 9.5: Holiday Tales of the Macabre and Twisted - Halloween 2014 2014Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 26 |  The Children of Old Leech 2014Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 27 |  The Starry Wisdom Library 2014Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 28 | Aickman's Heirs 2015Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 29 |  Giallo Fantastique 2015Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 30 |  New Cthulhu 2: More Recent Weird 2015Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 31 |  The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Seven 2015Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 32 | The Monstrous 2015Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 33 |  The Power of Love 2015Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 34 |  Children of Lovecraft 2016Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 35 |  Swords v. Cthulhu 2016Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 36 |  The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Eight 2016Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 37 |  The Madness of Dr. Caligari 2016Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 38 | The Mammoth Book of Cthulhu 2016Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 39 | Behold! Oddities, Curiosities and Undefinable Wonders 2017Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 40 |  Best New Horror 27 2017Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 41 | The Beauty of Death, Vol. 2 2017Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 42 | Nightmare Magazine, Issue 73 2018Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 43 | The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Ten 2018Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 44 | The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Eleven 2019Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 45 |  Best New Horror #30 2020Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 46 | Edited By 2020Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 47 | Oculus Sinister 2020Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 48 |  Weird World War III 2020Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 49 | The Bad Book 2021Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 50 | Under Twin Suns 2021Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 51 |  When Things Get Dark 2021Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 52 | Chiral Mad 5 2022Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 53 |  Dark Stars: New Tales of Darkest Horror 2022Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 54 |  Revelations 2022Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 55 |  Screams from the Dark 2022Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 56 | Christmas and Other Horrors 2023Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 57 |  Heartwood 2024Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 58 |  The Best Horror of the Year, Volume Fifteen 2024Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 59 | The Rack II 2025Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 60 | Where the Silent Ones Watch 2025Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 61 |  All Hallows Eve 2026Buy 🇺🇸 |
Best Horror of the Year Series
Ongoing18 books (2009–2025)
Start with The Best Horror of the Year: Volume One, the first of 18 books in the Best Horror of the Year series.
| # | Title |
|---|---|
| 1 |  The Best Horror of the Year: Volume One 2009Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 2 | The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Two 2010Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 3 | The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Three 2011Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 4 | The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Four 2012Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 5 | The Best Horror of the Year Volume Five 2013Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 6 |  The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Six 2014Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 7 | The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Seven 2015Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 8 | The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Eight 2016Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 9 |  The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Nine 2017Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 10 | The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Ten 2018Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 11 | The Best of the Best Horror of the Year: 10 Years of Essential Short Horror Fiction 2018Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 12 | The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Eleven 2019Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 13 | The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Twelve 2020Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 14 | The Best Horror of the Year Volume Thirteen 2021Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 15 | The Best Horror of the Year, Volume Fourteen 2022Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 16 | The Best Horror of the Year, Volume Fifteen 2024Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 17 |  The Best Horror of the Year, Volume Sixteen 2024Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 18 |  The Best Horror of the Year, Volume Seventeen 2025Buy 🇺🇸 |
Bluford High Series
Ongoing25 books (2002–2025)
Start with A Matter of Trust(By: Anne Schraff), the first of 25 books in the Bluford High series.
| # | Title |
|---|---|
| 1 | A Matter of Trust(By: Anne Schraff) 2002Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 2 | Lost and Found(By: Anne Schraff) 2002Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 3 | Secrets in the Shadows(By: Anne Schraff) 2002Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 4 | Someone to Love Me(By: Anne Schraff) 2002Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 5 | The Bully(By: Paul Langan) 2002Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 6 | The Gun(By: Paul Langan) 2002Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 7 | Until We Meet Again(By: Anne Schraff) 2002Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 8 | Blood Is Thicker(By: Paul Langan,D.M. Blackwell) 2004Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 9 | Brothers in Arms(By: Paul Langan,Ben Alirez) 2004Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 10 | Summer of Secrets(By: Paul Langan) 2004Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 11 |  Search for Safety 2006Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 12 | Search for Safety(By: John Langan) 2006Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 13 | Shattered(By: Paul Langan) 2006Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 14 | The Fallen(By: Paul Langan) 2006Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 15 | No Way Out(By: Peggy Kern) 2008Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 16 | Schooled(By: Paul Langan) 2008Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 17 | Breaking Point(By: Paul Langan,Karyn Langhorne Folan) 2010Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 18 | Pretty Ugly(By: Karyn Langhorne Folan) 2010Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 19 | The Test(By: Peggy Kern) 2010Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 20 | Promises to Keep(By: Paul Langan) 2013Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 21 | Survivor(By: Paul Langan) 2013Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 22 | Girls Like Me(By: Tanya Savory) 2015Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 23 | The Chosen(By: Paul Langan,Karyn Langhorne Folan) 2020Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 24 | Alone(With: Tanya Savory) 2021Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 25 | On the Run(By: Karyn Langhorne Folan) 2025Buy 🇺🇸 |
Graphic Novels Series
Complete1 book (1842–1842)
| # | Title |
|---|---|
| 1 | The Masque of the Red Death: Fine Art Edition(With: Steven Archer) 1842Buy 🇺🇸 |
Short Story Collections Series
Ongoing5 books (2008–2025)
Start with Mr. Gaunt and Other Uneasy Encounters, the first of 5 books in the Short Story Collections series.
Standalone Novels Series
Complete3 books (2009–2020)
Start with House of Windows and read in order.
The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror Series
Ongoing15 books (2010–2024)
Start with The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, 2010 Edition, the first of 15 books in the The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror series.
| # | Title |
|---|---|
| 1 | The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, 2010 Edition 2010Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 2 | The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, 2011 Edition 2011Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 3 | The Year's Best Dark Fantasy and Horror, 2012 Edition 2012Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 4 | The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, 2013 Edition 2013Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 5 |  The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, 2014 Edition 2014Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 6 |  The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, 2015 Edition 2015Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 7 | The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, 2016 Edition 2016Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 8 | The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, 2017 Edition 2017Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 9 | The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, 2018 Edition 2018Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 10 | The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, 2019 Edition 2020Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 11 | The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, Volume 1 2020Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 12 | The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, Volume 2 2021Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 13 | The Year's Best Dark Fantasy and Horror, Volume 3 2022Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 14 | The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, Volume 4 2023Buy 🇺🇸 |
| 15 | The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, Volume 5 2024Buy 🇺🇸 |
Frequently Asked Questions
- How many books has John Langan written?
- John Langan has written 128 books across 7 series. Their published works span from 1842 to 2026.
- What is the first book in each John Langan series?
- Here are the first books in John Langan's series: Anthologies: Classic Victorian & Edwardian Ghost Stories; Best Horror of the Year: The Best Horror of the Year: Volume One; Bluford High: A Matter of Trust(By: Anne Schraff); Short Story Collections: Mr. Gaunt and Other Uneasy Encounters; The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror: The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, 2010 Edition.
- What order should I read John Langan's books?
- We recommend reading John Langan's series in publication order. Each series can be read independently.
- Is John Langan still writing new books?
- Yes, John Langan has 5 ongoing series: Anthologies, Best Horror of the Year, Bluford High, Short Story Collections, The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror.