Anita Blake Series in Order: Books, Stories & Chronology

By Anna Marie CarrollFantasy

If you’re trying to read the Anita Blake series in order, I’d start with publication order for the main novels. Laurell K. Hamilton builds Anita’s world book by book, especially around Jean-Claude, Richard, Micah, Nathaniel, Edward, and the supernatural politics around St. Louis.

The Anita Blake series order gets a little trickier once you add the short stories, novellas, and excerpt pieces. So I’ve included both the publication order and the chronological reading order below. The novels stay in the same order either way, but some of the shorter works move around.

The graphic novels are adaptations and extra material, so you don’t need them for the main Anita Blake series order. They’re worth knowing about, but I’d save them until after you’ve started the novels.

Jump to:

Anita Blake Series in Publication Order

This is the best Anita Blake series order for most first-time readers. It keeps the novels in the order Hamilton published them and places the shorter works by release date.

  1. Guilty Pleasures (1993)
  2. The Laughing Corpse (1994)
  3. Circus of the Damned (1995)
  4. The Lunatic Cafe (1996)
  5. Bloody Bones (1996)
  6. The Killing Dance (1997)
  7. Burnt Offerings (1998)
  8. Blue Moon (1998)
  9. Obsidian Butterfly (2000)
  10. Magic Like Heat Across My Skin (Excerpt, in Out of This World) (2001)
  11. Narcissus in Chains (2001)
  12. Cerulean Sins (2003)
  13. The Girl Who Was Infatuated with Death (Short Story, in Bite and Strange Candy) (2004)
  14. Blood Upon My Lips (Excerpt, in Cravings) (2004)
  15. Incubus Dreams (2004)
  16. Micah (2006)
  17. Danse Macabre (2006)
  18. Those Who Seek Forgiveness (Short Story, in Strange Candy) (2006)
  19. Selling Houses (Anitaverse Short Story, in Strange Candy) (2006)
  20. The Harlequin (2007)
  21. Blood Noir (2008)
  22. Skin Trade (2009)
  23. Flirt (2010)
  24. Bullet (2010)
  25. Hit List (2011)
  26. Beauty (Short Story) (2012)
  27. Kiss the Dead (2012)
  28. Affliction (2013)
  29. Dancing (Novella) (2013)
  30. Shutdown (Short Story, no longer available) (2013)
  31. Jason (2014)
  32. Dead Ice (2015)
  33. Wounded (Short Story) (2016)
  34. Crimson Death (2016)
  35. A Girl, a Goat, and a Zombie (Short Story, no longer available) (2016)
  36. Serpentine (2018)
  37. Sweet Seduction (Short Story, in Noir Fatale) (2019)
  38. Zombie Dearest (Short Story, in Fantastic Hope) (2020)
  39. Sucker Punch (2020)
  40. Rafael (2021)
  41. Smolder (2023)
  42. Slay (2023)

Anita Blake Series in Chronological Order

The chronological Anita Blake series order mostly matters for the short stories and excerpt pieces. If you only care about the novels, the order does not change.

  1. Those Who Seek Forgiveness (Short Story)
  2. Selling Houses (Anitaverse Short Story)
  3. Guilty Pleasures
  4. The Laughing Corpse
  5. Circus of the Damned
  6. The Lunatic Cafe
  7. Bloody Bones
  8. The Killing Dance
  9. Burnt Offerings
  10. Blue Moon
  11. The Girl Who Was Infatuated with Death (Short Story)
  12. Obsidian Butterfly
  13. Magic Like Heat Across My Skin (Excerpt)
  14. Narcissus in Chains
  15. Cerulean Sins
  16. Blood Upon My Lips (Excerpt)
  17. Incubus Dreams
  18. Micah
  19. Danse Macabre
  20. The Harlequin
  21. Blood Noir
  22. Skin Trade
  23. Flirt
  24. Bullet
  25. Hit List
  26. Beauty (Short Story)
  27. Kiss the Dead
  28. Affliction
  29. Dancing (Novella)
  30. Shutdown (Short Story, no longer available)
  31. Jason
  32. Dead Ice
  33. Wounded (Short Story)
  34. Crimson Death
  35. A Girl, a Goat, and a Zombie (Short Story, no longer available)
  36. Serpentine
  37. Sweet Seduction (Short Story)
  38. Zombie Dearest (Short Story)
  39. Sucker Punch
  40. Rafael
  41. Smolder
  42. Slay

For a first read, I’d still use publication order. For a complete reread, the chronological list is the better choice because it places the short works closer to where they fit in Anita’s timeline.

Either way, the main Anita Blake series starts with Guilty Pleasures. That’s the book to begin with if you’re new to Anita, Jean-Claude, and Hamilton’s vampire hunter world.

Should You Read the Anita Blake Short Stories?

The short stories are optional, but I’d include them if you want the full Anita Blake series experience. Some are quick bonus reads. Others sit close enough to the novels that they’re worth placing in order.

The Girl Who Was Infatuated with Death fits between Blue Moon and Obsidian Butterfly. Beauty fits around Kiss the Dead. Dancing and Shutdown come after Affliction. Wounded comes after Dead Ice.

Magic Like Heat Across My Skin and Blood Upon My Lips are excerpt pieces rather than full standalone Anita cases. They’re included here for completeness, but the main novels cover that material.

Selling Houses is set in Anita’s world, but Anita herself does not appear in the story. I still include it for readers who want the full Anitaverse order.

Do You Need the Anita Blake Graphic Novels?

No. The Anita Blake graphic novels adapt the early books instead of continuing the prose series. They’re extra material, not required reading.

The graphic novels cover material from Guilty Pleasures, The Laughing Corpse, and Circus of the Damned. There is also The First Death, a prequel graphic story set before Guilty Pleasures. I’d treat all of them as optional after you’ve started the novels.

What Is the Anita Blake Series About?

Anita Blake is a professional zombie animator, legal vampire executioner, and supernatural consultant in St. Louis. In her world, vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters, zombies, and other supernatural beings are public knowledge.

The early books lean into urban fantasy, horror, and mystery. Anita investigates supernatural crimes, deals with vampire politics, and tries to survive in a world where monsters have legal rights and deadly enemies.

As the series goes on, the tone shifts. The books become much more focused on relationships, sexuality, power, and Anita’s growing place in the supernatural community. That shift is one of the biggest things readers talk about with this series, so it’s worth knowing before you start.

For the simplest entry point into the Anita Blake series, start with Guilty Pleasures. If you enjoy Anita’s voice and the supernatural crime setup, keep going in order from there.

Looking for similar books in order?

If you want more fantasy and urban fantasy reading-order guides like this one, start with my Fantasy Books in Order index.

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