The Dungeon Crawler Carl series has been seeing a lot of momentum this year with no signs of slowing down. It has been officially confirmed that a live-action series is happening at Peacock and the most recent Dungeon Crawler Carl RPG crowdfunding campaign has already blown through its fundraising goals. It’s almost hard to believe the meteoric rise that the franchise is experiencing ahead of book nine.
IGN had the chance to interview Matt Dinniman about his upcoming Dungeon Crawler Carl book, A Parade of Horribles. When we asked him for his thoughts on the recent surge of interest in his LitRPG series, he pointed out the two major turning points: “It’s been absolutely surreal. I was writing the climax of book 3 when book 1 came out on Amazon. I was well into book 4 when the book 1 audio came out, so it’s relatively new for me to be writing while also seeing such a surge of fans. Honestly, it’s a little intimidating.”
For those not familiar with the timeline of Dinniman’s series, he’s referring to the beginnings of Dungeon Crawler Carl on Royal Road before self-publishing on Amazon in 2020. The series was later adapted into audiobooks by Soundbooth Theater in early 2021.
While the written versions were what drove the initial popularity, many fans have been absolutely captivated by the audiobooks. Even now, the first Dungeon Crawler Carl book is near the top of Audible’s bestseller list more than five years after its initial release. This can at least partially be attributed to Jeff Hays’ incredible work doing the narration and voices, with Matt Dinniman himself praising his performances.
“Jeff Hays here is one of the few people that’s really started leaning into the voices and a little bit of sound effects, and I really like that,” Dinniman said in a 2025 interview at SDCC, “I’m very happy that more and more narrators are embracing that.”
The next entry in Dungeon Crawler Carl is currently to release as an ebook, hardcover, and audiobook simultaneously on May 12, 2026. You can check out an exclusive excerpt from the book on IGN for more info about what’s next for the series. For new fans, there’s never a wrong time to dive in for a listen to see what’s made it one of the best audiobooks right now. You can check it out for free by signing up for a 30-day free trial of audible.
Jacob Kienlen is a Senior Audience Development Strategist and Writer for IGN. Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, he has considered the Northwest his home for his entire life. With a bachelor’s degree in communication and 10 years of professional writing experience, his expertise is spread across a variety of different pop culture topics — from TV series to books and the latest Pokémon games.
