InCryptid Reading Order: All 15 Books and Where Stories Fit

The InCryptid reading order is simple: start with Discount Armageddon (2012) and read Seanan McGuire’s novels in publication order, because her own series FAQ says each book builds on the one before it. As of October 2026, the series has 15 novels published from 2012 to 2026, and Tor has announced a 16th, Pride and Poltergeists, for March 2, 2027. The short stories are extras that fit around the novels, and several novels carry a bonus novella at the back.

InCryptid series in order

Years are first US publication. DAW Books published books 1 to 13, and Tor took over the series with book 14. The narrator column follows the author’s and publisher’s descriptions of each book’s lead, plus a published review for book 15.

What InCryptid is about

In InCryptid, the monsters of folklore are real, and a cryptid is any creature science has not yet proven exists. The Covenant of St. George hunts them down. Alexander and Enid Healy broke away from the Covenant and set out to protect cryptids from people who would harm them, and their descendants, the Prices, still do that work in the present day: guarding cryptids from humanity and humanity from cryptids, while staying off the Covenant’s radar. Colonies of talking mice, the Aeslin mice, live alongside the family.

McGuire describes the series as multi-generational, with narrators who change according to the time period and the story. InCryptid was a Hugo Award finalist for Best Series in 2018, 2020 and 2025.

Seanan McGuire’s InCryptid books in order, by narrator

Premises stop at each book’s opening setup, though later books cannot help referring to earlier ones.

Verity Price: books 1, 2 and 5

• Discount Armageddon (2012): Verity, a cryptozoologist trained from birth who would rather be a professional ballroom dancer, is spending a year in Manhattan when local cryptids start disappearing and the Covenant sends an operative named Dominic De Luca.
• Midnight Blue-Light Special (2013): The Covenant is coming to judge whether Manhattan is ready for a purge. More on this one below.
• Chaos Choreography (2016): Verity is lured back to Dance or Die, the reality show she almost won, for one more shot in Los Angeles, and then two contestants turn up dead.

Alexander Price: books 3 and 4

• Half-Off Ragnarok (2014): Verity’s older brother, a specialist in reptiles, runs a basilisk breeding program at a Columbus, Ohio zoo until people start turning to stone.
• Pocket Apocalypse (2015): Alex follows his girlfriend, Australian zookeeper Shelby Tanner, home to Australia, where werewolves threaten to take over the continent.

Antimony Price: books 6 to 8

• Magic for Nothing (2017): Annie, the youngest Price sibling and a roller derby player, is sent to London to infiltrate the Covenant from the inside.
• Tricks for Free (2018): On the run, Annie hides by working at Lowryland, a huge Florida theme park run behind the scenes by a secret group of magic users. It includes a bonus Aeslin mice novella.
• That Ain’t Witchcraft (2019): The crossroads call in a debt and send Annie to New Gravesend, Maine, to kill a stranger named James Smith. A bonus novella, “The Measure of a Monster,” follows the novel.

Sarah Zellaby: books 9, 10 and 15

• Imaginary Numbers (2020): Sarah, the Prices’ adopted cousin and a telepathic “cuckoo,” is ready to leave Ohio and visit family in Portland, but the cuckoos who abandoned her at birth have other plans. Bonus story: “Follow the Lady.”
• Calculated Risks (2021): The direct sequel to Imaginary Numbers puts Sarah in another dimension, among cuckoos with good reason to want her dead. Bonus novella: “Singing the Comic-Con Blues.”
• Butterfly Effects (2026): Sarah is taken to Johrlar, the cuckoo homeworld, to stand trial, and her family has to cross dimensions to bring her back.

Alice Price-Healy: books 11 and 12

• Spelunking Through Hell (2022): The family’s often-missing grandmother pushes on with her fifty-year, dimension-hopping search for her husband, Thomas Price.
• Backpacking Through Bedlam (2023): Alice heads home to Buckley Township, Michigan, only to be called to New York as the war with the Covenant heats up. ISFDB lists a bonus novella, “The Mysteries of the Stolen God and Where His Waffles Went,” in the ebook and later paperback.

Mary Dunlavy: books 13 and 14

• Aftermarket Afterlife (2024): Mary, a ghost who has babysat the family for four generations, oversees a chaotic family reunion just as the Covenant launches a full-scale strike on the cryptids of Manhattan. ISFDB lists the bonus novella “Dreaming of You in Freefall” in the ebook.
• Installment Immortality (2025): The anima mundi, Earth’s living soul, sends Mary to stop Covenant agents from imprisoning America’s ghosts, on a road trip that leads to Worcester, Massachusetts. Bonus novelette: “Mourner’s Waltz.”

Book 16 (announced)

• Pride and Poltergeists (March 2, 2027): Tor’s description involves poachers, poltergeists and an old family mystery. The publisher’s listing names the lead, but it contains spoilers for earlier books.

Midnight Blue-Light Special: book 2 without spoilers

Midnight Blue-Light Special came out from DAW on March 5, 2013, and it returns to Manhattan, where Verity Price is finishing her journeyman assignment. She is still trying to decide whether she is a dancer, a cryptozoologist or something else, and her complicated relationship with Dominic De Luca, a Covenant operative, raises its own questions about her future. Then Dominic warns her that a Covenant team is coming to judge whether the city should be purged.

That forces a hard decision: Verity can stay in the city at serious risk to her own life, or leave and abandon New York’s cryptids to the Covenant. Her cousin and close friend Sarah Zellaby, who later narrates her own books, also features. Read it straight after Discount Armageddon, since it builds directly on the first book.

Where the short stories and novellas fit

InCryptid short fiction reaches readers in several ways. McGuire’s FAQ says that, for the most part, she has kept the stories from being required reading, though she recommends them, especially the free ones.

• Bonus novellas in the novels. From Tricks for Free onward, several novels carry an extra story at the back, including those noted above, and a review of Butterfly Effects reports a closing novella there too, “We Sing It Anyway.” Each sits at the back of its novel, so read it once the novel is finished.
• Free stories on the author’s site. The InCryptid short fiction page offers free ebook downloads, grouped by generation and lead characters and arranged in story chronology rather than publication order. The groups cover Jonathan Healy and Frances Brown (around 1928 to 1945), Alice Healy and Thomas Price, Verity and Dominic, Antimony, Sarah and Arthur Harrington, and others such as the waheela Istas. The site marks “The Ghosts of Bourbon Street” and “IM” as best read after Half-Off Ragnarok, and warns that “IM” spoils Midnight Blue-Light Special.
• Patreon. The author’s site says the majority of the stories have appeared on her Patreon, where supporters can read past fiction.
• Anthology stories. Some stories first appeared in anthologies, including “The Flower of Arizona” in DAW’s Westward Weird (2012) and “Bad Dream Girl” in Glitter and Mayhem (2013), which McGuire’s bibliography calls Antimony’s first appearance.

As of October 2026, ISFDB lists no story collection devoted to InCryptid; the free stories exist as standalone ebooks. A practical approach is to read the novels in order first, then pick up the stories one group at a time, following any “best read after” notes on the site. The ISFDB InCryptid series page keeps a running list.

Where InCryptid sits among McGuire’s other series

McGuire’s first novel, Rosemary and Rue (2009), launched the October Daye series, and InCryptid followed three years later. The two are separate series, so no October Daye reading is needed before Discount Armageddon, which introduces the Price family. Both moved from DAW to Tor in a deal announced in April 2024. The Wayward Children series, which began with Every Heart a Doorway in 2016, is another separate one. The closest relative is the Ghost Roads series that began with Sparrow Hill Road (2014). McGuire’s InCryptid FAQ says Sparrow Hill Road takes place in the same universe, and later InCryptid books draw on that world, including its routewitches. For other series, browse more reading orders.

Frequently asked questions

What is the correct InCryptid reading order?

Read the novels in publication order, starting with Discount Armageddon (2012) and ending, as of October 2026, with Butterfly Effects (2026). McGuire’s FAQ warns that reading out of order risks confusion and spoilers for earlier books.

How many InCryptid books are there?

As of October 2026, there are 15 InCryptid novels. A 16th, Pride and Poltergeists, is listed by Tor for March 2, 2027, and dozens of short stories and novellas sit alongside the novels.

Do the InCryptid short stories need to be read?

No. McGuire’s FAQ says the stories enhance the novels but are not vital to understanding them. The bonus novellas bound into later books sit at the back of their novel, and many of the shorter stories are free to download from her website.

Can InCryptid be read without reading October Daye first?

Yes. InCryptid is a separate series from October Daye, and Discount Armageddon introduces the Price family and its world. The one connection McGuire’s InCryptid FAQ points to is Sparrow Hill Road, the first Ghost Roads book, which shares the InCryptid universe.

Who publishes the InCryptid books?

DAW Books published the first 13 novels, from 2012 to 2024. Tor Books has published the series since Installment Immortality in 2025 and is publishing book 16.

Lead photo: Seanan McGuire speaking at the 2019 Library of Congress National Book Festival. Photo: Library of Congress Life, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped).