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The Butcher's Masquerade
  • Published: 17 March 2026
  • ISBN: 9780241829820
  • Imprint: Michael Joseph
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 720
  • RRP: $55.00

The Butcher's Masquerade

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The fifth book in the explosive LitRPG Dungeon Crawler Carl series

Attention. The gates are down. The hunters are loose. Run.

A deadly jungle. Bloodthirsty dinosaurs. A fallen princess seeking revenge. And a mysterious celebration known as The Butcher’s Masquerade. Coast Guard veteran Carl and Princess Donut think they’ve seen everything the galaxy’s favorite game show can throw at them—until they reach the sixth floor: The Hunting Grounds.

Now, for the first time, outside tourists are allowed in, eager to stalk and kill the remaining crawlers. Among them is Vrah, a legendary hunter determined to claim her greatest trophy yet. But this season, the prey is fighting back.

Welcome, crawlers, to the sixth floor.
  • Published: 17 March 2026
  • ISBN: 9780241829820
  • Imprint: Michael Joseph
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 720
  • RRP: $55.00
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About the author

Matt Dinniman

Matt Dinniman is a writer and artist from Gig Harbor, Washington. He is the author of the best-selling Dungeon Crawler Carl series along with several other books about the end of the world. He doesn’t really hate Cocker Spaniels, and he plays bass in a metal band.

MD

Also by Matt Dinniman

Dungeon Crawler Carl
This Inevitable Ruin
The Gate of the Feral Gods
The Butcher's Masquerade
The Eye of the Bedlam Bride
Carl's Doomsday Scenario
The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook
See all

Praise for The Butcher's Masquerade

- - PRAISE FOR THE DUNGEON CRAWLER CARL SERIES

-

Fresh. Creative. Hilarious. I’m obsessed…Princess Donut is my queen.

Actor, producer and New York Times bestselling author Felicia Day

This series has no goddamn business burying so much depth and emotion and complexity under its bawdy, gory surface, but it does so anyway. What a wild-ass and unexpected delight.

New York Times bestselling author Scott Lynch

[A] comically cosmic adventure series…often laugh-out-loud funny…Grind your way to dungeon mastery alongside Carl and Princess Donut.

The Wall Street Journal

This is the book for anyone who ever wondered what it would be like to be a role player in a game with the best game master ever. Also for anyone who wants to read a good book. Or maybe anyone who has been outside at night—in their underwear—looking for their cat and wondering ‘What’s the worst thing that could happen?’ Once you start, you won’t put it down.

Patricia Briggs, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Mercy Thompson series

One of the most bananapants, funny, inventive books I have read in a while.

Book Riot

If there’s a better LitRPG than Dungeon Crawler Carl, I haven’t read it.

Shirtaloon, author of He Who Fights Monsters

Dungeon Crawler Carl is just one big smile all the way through. Put on your best pair of boxer shorts and sit back for a truly fun and enjoyable read.

New York Times bestselling author Kevin J. Anderson

Dungeon Crawler Carl is the best start to a series I’ve read this year. I wish I’d tried it sooner.

Will Wight, author of the Cradle series

Dungeon Crawler Carl is a dangerously addicting tale of chaos and mayhem. I’m thoroughly hooked!

#1 New York Times bestselling author Callie Hart

To describe the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, and the first book in particular, one must blend the darkest, grittiest science fiction with the humour of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. It mixes fun, whimsical absurdity, and serious, dark themes with dire consequences…it is so spectacularly good that I cannot recommend it high enough.

Grimdark Magazine

Dinniman’s Douglas-Adams-but-playing-D&D romp was so much fun that I immediately went out and got the next two books…genuinely joyful.

LitHub.com

Dungeon Crawler Carl is legit awesome.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson
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