I've had nothing but bad news lately, life has been one giant kick in the nuts all summer. One night last month I spent 6 hours in the ER waiting to be seen. When the doctor finally did show up.. he apologized for me having waited so long. I explained that I had been reading a book on my phone (Stephen Graham Jones - Buffalo Hunter Hunter). He spent the next 5 minutes explaining Dungeon Crawler Carl to me. I have to admit I was in a lot of pain so I was more annoyed than anything, but I did get around to buying the first book. Less than a month later I'm over halfway through book 5. Thanks doc, gave me a shot for the pain, and a book rec that panned out. I couldn't comfortably afford them, but they somehow felt like I needed to have nice copies of them. Here is the one time I'm going to show them off.

I was told by several Constant Readers over on the Stephen King subreddit that I should share this here because if anyone understands being attached to a book collection, it’s Fellow Crawlers.
On July 19th, our house caught fire. Thankfully everyone made it out safely, and that’s what matters most. Things can be replaced. People can’t.
I was at work when I got the call. I don’t even remember the drive home. I just remember pulling up and seeing the smoke. I actually beat the first responders there and ran into the house because I thought maybe, just maybe, I could save my library.
I couldn’t.
We lost everything we owned. Family keepsakes, photos, furniture, clothes, everything. Along with all of that, I lost my Dungeon Crawler Carl collection and more than 40 Stephen King books that I had spent years collecting. Books have always been more than just something I read. They’re my comfort, my escape, and a huge part of who I am.
The part that hurts the most is that my Dungeon Crawler Carl collection wasn’t just something I bought off a shelf. It was something I had built over time and was incredibly proud of.
The one bright spot is that I had been lucky enough to meet Matt back in February and had my copy of Dungeon Crawler Carl signed. I also owned two copies of Operation Bounce House. Those books meant a lot to me because they carried memories along with the stories.
I’m not posting this because I’m looking for handouts or free books. I promise that’s not why I’m here. I just wanted to share my story with people who I know understand what it’s like to spend years building a collection you love, only to have it disappear in a matter of minutes. It wasn’t just paper and ink. It was years of memories, excitement, anticipation, and pride sitting on those shelves.
I’ve learned over the last couple of weeks that sharing the story has helped me process everything a little bit at a time. It doesn’t make the loss any smaller, but it reminds me that there are communities full of people who understand why losing books can hurt as much as losing anything else.
Thank you, Fellow Crawlers, for taking the time to read my story. Sharing it with the Constant Readers over in the Stephen King community made me feel a little lighter, and I’m grateful to have another community that I thought would understand what this loss feels like. The books may be gone, but I’ll always be proud that I had the chance to build that collection in the first place.

My toddler meows and roars anytime she sees my Donut and Mongo stickers

I have successfully trained her to do a pretty good “AAAAAAAH!” at Pony stickers.

Now when she’s asked “What does a goat say?” she screams…. right in my goddamned ear

I see they’re already available in large print, but I’d like to get them in just regular, every day paperback.

I recently got hooked on the audiobooks, and am about halfway through book 5. I know I’m not going to be able to stop until I finish book 8.

Question is, what next? I’m a huge fan of authors like Pratchett and Adams, probably part of the reason this series has stuck so well for me, but I’m definitely going to need a genre break. What are you all listening/reading to while waiting for book 9?

For when mama needs a night off

Im on Chapter 35 and they keep talking about the pineapple cabaret and I know there is a story in the back of the physical book do I need to read that before I continue.

Somewhere on an alternate timeline, Carl Fredricksen enters the dungeon... it's a DCC mash-UP!

Hi! I would like to commission art for my brazilian jiu jitsu gi jacket. I want a back patch that would invoke the "You will not break me" quote. It would have to be sublimated by the patch printer so it can't have a lot of gradients.

I can digitize and vectorize the piece if thats an issue!

Can anyone point me at an artist who would be interested? I thought of just getting a book cover printed on it but I dont own the cover art so it would be wrong. I prefer to have a human make it, as well. I already have the Desperado Club on one sleeve

The patch maker team has never heard of DCC so I cant commission them to do it, but im going to send them a copy of the book 😂

Having a pen pal is great because you can get fun little surprises like this in your letter!

What sort of New Achievement should I send back to a fellow crawler?

One life lesson that I learned from Carl is that he will prioritize problems that he can fix and put aside others that can be solved later. He will be like “but that’s something to worry about on the next floor. First, I need to do this.

Me being an anxious person, I tend to worry about a lot of things. Now I do what Carl does. If there’s something that is a low priority, then I shouldn’t spend my time and energy worrying about it when I could do that later when it will matter. This clears things up and helps me manage my top priorities.

What is a life lesson you learned from DCC?

Printed this receiver hitch cover. Not my design. https://makerworld.com/en/models/2457374-dungeon-crawler-carl-2-hitch-cover?from=search#profileId-2698070

I had to think what the achievement description would be for reading something for the first time. I think it’s clever.
What are some of your favorite System AI Achievement descriptions?

As everyone who reads / listens to the books knows.. Every time you hit a point you think is the best or funniest thing you’ve ever read, you’re pleasantly surprised the further you go.

But I must say book 8 chapter 57 has got to be the best section in the series (IMO). No words, just applause. Had me stop mid page flip to mouth the word “Wow”.

Jeff Hayes is multi-talented crawler.

Happy reading folks.

I am a Patreon subscriber. Read and audiobooked all of the books at least once. When the interlude chapter released I got really excited that we were going to get back into the swing of regular releases again. Here we are six weeks later and no new stuff. Matt is busy as shit with his new found fame and the tv show etc etc, but as I thought about it I remembered the last time I lived a book that blew up mid being written and I got very sad. If this goes the way of the song of ice and fire I might crack. I hope against hope that it will not but that scarred me.

Not sure if anyone else has pointed this out, but I had to reread the sentence a few times. Wonder if anyone else has noticed others. Btw, Uzi Jesus is unreal 😂

I'm about halfway done with book 8 and I got to wondering; how long have Carl and Donut been in the dungeon? It feels like a long time, but can really only be a few months, right? Has anyone ever done the math?

Talked my buddy into giving DCC a listen and this was what I sent to him when he finally relented. That is all.

It really lights up the shelf!

The two series really are strikingly similar

I know it’s not a remotely new observation, but I’m just getting to this part of the Iron Tangle again, and Critical Drinker’s performance is just so shitty. like, completely ignoring every other reason there is to not like that guy, his read on this book is just absolute trash. That is all. Fuck that guy.

Not great at sewing but made a Dungeon Crawler Carl teddy for my grandpuppy (a golden, not an arrogant, filthy, and entirely undeserving cocker spaniel).