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'Dungeon Crawler Carl' author Matt Dinniman talks inspirations, success, and the upcoming Peacock TV series (interview)
'Luckily I’m still in love with this story, and I am in love with writing it.'
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Fall has officially arrived, and as autumn leaves blaze in vivid colors, there is no better time to plunge into the imaginative world of New York Times best-selling author Matt Dinniman's "Dungeon Crawler Carl", the wildly addictive science fantasy book series that's taking the world by storm.
Even if you haven't read them, you've probably seen folks carrying these books, emblazoned with their loud, neon-colored covers, at your neighborhood coffee house. You'll see it even more in the future, too, as a streaming adaptation of the novels is coming to Peacock, with Seth MacFarlane's Fuzzy Door and co-showrunners Eric Heisserer and Chris Yost at the helm.
The eighth book in the series, "A Parade of Horribles," dropped in May of 2026 and continues the story of Carl and his ex-girlfriend’s precocious pussy cat named Princess Donut as they try to navigate the dangerously daunting levels of a lethal doomsday dungeon for an intergalactic television show deciding the fate of humanity and the planet Earth.
Think Douglas Adams's "The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy" meets "The Running Man" and "Ready Player One" in the "Dungeons & Dragons" RPG realm, and you've got a pretty good idea of the stylistic narrative you'll soon discover when you dare to enter Dinniman's slightly demented literary world.
"The genesis is that I’ve been writing my whole life, and I have a thousand story ideas," Dinniman tells Space on the origins of his sci-fi sensation. "I’ve kept a running list of ideas since childhood, and this one had been on there for some time. The line in my list for this particular one was 'Alien' game show.'"
With over 14 million copies of the "Dungeon Crawler Carl" series sold to date, spooky season is the ideal jumping-on moment so you can share your favorite sadistic dungeon level kill next time you're at a cool cocktail party or fun family function!
"The success is a whole other question. I think I just happened to hit the right story at the right time," admits Dinniman. "It's about a man pushing back against impossible odds. The antagonist isn't just a single person or entity, but an entire system designed to crush any life out of him, all for the entertainment of the masses. That sort of story seems to really be resonating right now. Plus there's a talking cat in it."
Dinniman has described the most recently-released sequel as "the Carl and Donut version of Mariokart—only deadlier," with the cruel dungeon architects tightening their brutal grip. As the current king of LitRPG titles in circulation, "Dungeon Crawler Carl" is the next best thing to a living video game.