Michael McDowell Books in Order
Michael McDowell has written 24 books, published between 1979 and 2023. The first book is The Amulet (1979) and the newest is Stephen King's Thinner (2023). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 24
- Published
- 1979–2023
- Pages on record
- 3,530 in 15 of 24 books
- Reading time
- 59–88 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 3,530 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 15 of 24 titles with a page count on record.
Michael McEachern McDowell (June 1, 1950 - December 27, 1999) was an American novelist and screenwriter. Stephen King described McDowell as the finest writer of paperback originals in America. McDowell's best-known work is the screenplay for Beetlejuice, the Tim Burton film. The catalogue holds 24 books opening with The Amulet (1979) and taking in Cold Moon Over Babylon (1980), Gilded Needles (1980), The Elementals (1981) and Katie (1982). Blackwater, the Valentine & Lovelace Mystery books and Jack & Susan are the series recorded under McDowell's name. Subjects include American horror tales, haunted houses, serial murders, gay men and gay bars.
How many Michael McDowell books are there?
Michael McDowell has 24 books, released between 1979 and 2023. They include 3 series and 10 titles listed outside any series.
Michael McDowell Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 24 Michael McDowell books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.
- 1The Amulet1979 · confirmed 1/41979–1/4
- 219802401/4
- 3Cold Moon Over Babylon1980 · confirmed 1/41980–1/4
- 4Gilded Needles1980 · confirmed 1/41980–1/4
- 5The Elementals1981 · 302 pages · confirmed 1/419813021/4
- 619822441/4
- 7Blood Rubies (As: Axel Young)1982 · confirmed 1/41982–1/4
- 8Katie1982 · 278 pages · confirmed 1/419822781/4
- 919831891/4
- 1019831921/4
- 1119831731/4
- 1219831871/4
- 1319831761/4
- 1419831901/4
- 15Wicked Stepmother (As: Axel Young)1983 · confirmed 1/41983–1/4
- 1619841881/4
- 1719852881/4
- 18Toplin1985 · 186 pages · confirmed 1/419851861/4
- 19Clue1985 · confirmed 1/41985–1/4
- 2019862741/4
- 211986–1/4
- 221987–1/4
- 23Candles Burning2006 · 423 pages · confirmed 1/420064231/4
- 242023–2/4
Michael McDowell books grouped by series
Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.
Blackwater in order
6 booksValentine & Lovelace Mystery in order
4 booksJack & Susan in order
3 booksEncyclopocalypse Movie Tie-In in order
1 bookStandalone books
10 books10 Michael McDowell titles here are not listed as part of any series.
Do you have to read Michael McDowell books in order?
You only need to read Michael McDowell books in order within each series: the books listed here span 3 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.
Where to start with Michael McDowell
Start with The Amulet (1979), the earliest published title.
What is the newest Michael McDowell book?
Stephen King's Thinner (2023) is the newest Michael McDowell book released so far.
Is there a new Michael McDowell book coming?
No next Michael McDowell book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Michael McDowell at a glance
- Paused
- No new Michael McDowell title has appeared for 3 years. The last was published in 2023.
- Release pace
- Michael McDowell books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
- Length
- 3,530 pages across the 15 of 24 books with a recorded length, a median of 192 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Michael McDowell books, 21 of 24, were published in the 1980s.
What the Michael McDowell books are about
17 of the 24 Michael McDowell books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: horror is tagged on 6 of 17. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Horror 6 of 17 books
- Gay bars 4 of 17 books
- Murder 3 of 17 books
- Mystery & detective 3 of 17 books
- Valentine, dan (fictitious character) 3 of 17 books
- Clarisse Lovelace (Fictitious character) 2 of 17 books
- Dan Valentine (Fictitious character) 2 of 17 books