Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter

#3394.00 of 664 ranked universes · full ranking

Books 30 books Status Ongoing 1993–present Reading commitment High Laurell K. Hamilton Last reviewed 2026-08-25

Overview

Anita Blake is a professional vampire hunter, licensed necromancer and, later, U.S. Marshal in an alternate St. Louis where vampires and other supernatural beings have legal standing. Begun in 1993, the series is one of the founding works of modern urban fantasy and is still ongoing; its main sequence mixes full novels with a handful of shorter novellas.

Urban fantasy, Dark fantasy · For Adult

Core Canon: Reading Order (30 works) counts toward ranking

Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Laurell K. Hamilton

	Work	Year	Internal chron.	Canon	Rating
	Guilty Pleasures	1993	1	core	4.04 (137,211 ratings)
	The Laughing Corpse	1994	2	core	4.13 (89,287 ratings)
	Circus of the Damned	1995	3	core	4.17 (97,938 ratings)
	The Lunatic Cafe	1996	4	core	4.13 (82,093 ratings)
	Bloody Bones	1996	5	core	4.12 (77,768 ratings)
	The Killing Dance	1997	6	core	4.13 (75,580 ratings)
	Burnt Offerings	1998	7	core	4.09 (72,532 ratings)
	Blue Moon	1998	8	core	4.07 (68,649 ratings)
	Obsidian Butterfly	2000	9	core	4.10 (67,266 ratings)
	Narcissus in Chains	2001	10	core	3.93 (61,815 ratings)
	Cerulean Sins	2003	11	core	3.88 (54,473 ratings)
	Incubus Dreams	2004	12	core	3.82 (52,251 ratings)
	Micah	2006	13	core	3.68 (48,207 ratings)
	Danse Macabre	2006	14	core	3.84 (48,896 ratings)
	The Harlequin	2007	15	core	3.94 (47,261 ratings)
	Blood Noir	2008	16	core	3.89 (43,430 ratings)
	Skin Trade	2009	17	core	3.95 (40,323 ratings)
	Flirt	2010	18	core	3.76 (36,859 ratings)
	Bullet	2010	19	core	3.87 (35,944 ratings)
	Hit List	2011	20	core	3.97 (31,283 ratings)
	Kiss the Dead	2012	21	core	3.86 (27,226 ratings)
	Affliction	2013	22	core	4.07 (23,274 ratings)
	Jason	2014	23	core	3.56 (14,511 ratings)
	Dead Ice	2015	24	core	3.97 (16,429 ratings)
	Crimson Death	2016	25	core	3.93 (13,777 ratings)
	Serpentine	2018	26	core	3.98 (11,306 ratings)
	Sucker Punch	2020	27	core	4.00 (9,784 ratings)
	Rafael	2021	28	core	4.19 (9,261 ratings)
	Smolder	2023	29	core	3.86 (7,220 ratings)
	Slay	2023	30	core	4.23 (6,508 ratings)

The long-running main sequence, mixing full novels and a few shorter novellas, following vampire hunter and necromancer Anita Blake; still active as of the latest update.

Quick answers

• How many books are in Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter? Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter's Core Canon is 30 books.
• What is the reading order for Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter? Publication order, starting with Guilty Pleasures. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
• Is Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter finished? Ongoing (1993–present).
• How much reading does Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter take? High reading commitment (estimated from 30 Core Canon books).
• How is Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter ranked? #339 of 664 ranked universes on this site, based on 1,408,362 reader ratings across 30 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.

Why is it ranked #339?

Ranked #339 of 664 ranked universes.

• Average reader rating of 4.00 across 30 core books.
• Backed by 1.4M reader ratings.
• Uneven reception: its books range from 3.56 to 4.23.
• Less than 0.01 behind #338, Imaro (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
• Below the top-10 average of 4.45.

How the ranking works →

Why explore this universe?

Well rated · 30 books · Ongoing · 1.4M ratings · Ranks #339 overall

Good choice if you want a long-running urban fantasy universe that's still ongoing, with new books still coming.

Reading order

Publication order (30 Core Canon books)

1. Guilty Pleasures (1993)
2. The Laughing Corpse (1994)
3. Circus of the Damned (1995)
4. Bloody Bones (1996)
5. The Lunatic Cafe (1996)
6. The Killing Dance (1997)
7. Blue Moon (1998)
8. Burnt Offerings (1998)
9. Obsidian Butterfly (2000)
10. Narcissus in Chains (2001)
11. Cerulean Sins (2003)
12. Incubus Dreams (2004)
13. Danse Macabre (2006)
14. Micah (2006)
15. The Harlequin (2007)
16. Blood Noir (2008)
17. Skin Trade (2009)
18. Bullet (2010)
19. Flirt (2010)
20. Hit List (2011)
21. Kiss the Dead (2012)
22. Affliction (2013)
23. Jason (2014)
24. Dead Ice (2015)
25. Crimson Death (2016)
26. Serpentine (2018)
27. Sucker Punch (2020)
28. Rafael (2021)
29. Slay (2023)
30. Smolder (2023)

Documented internal/story order

1. Guilty Pleasures (1993)
2. The Laughing Corpse (1994)
3. Circus of the Damned (1995)
4. The Lunatic Cafe (1996)
5. Bloody Bones (1996)
6. The Killing Dance (1997)
7. Burnt Offerings (1998)
8. Blue Moon (1998)
9. Obsidian Butterfly (2000)
10. Narcissus in Chains (2001)
11. Cerulean Sins (2003)
12. Incubus Dreams (2004)
13. Micah (2006)
14. Danse Macabre (2006)
15. The Harlequin (2007)
16. Blood Noir (2008)
17. Skin Trade (2009)
18. Flirt (2010)
19. Bullet (2010)
20. Hit List (2011)
21. Kiss the Dead (2012)
22. Affliction (2013)
23. Jason (2014)
24. Dead Ice (2015)
25. Crimson Death (2016)
26. Serpentine (2018)
27. Sucker Punch (2020)
28. Rafael (2021)
29. Smolder (2023)
30. Slay (2023)

Awards (verified)

• No awards found for this universe.

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Official resources

• Publisher/author site

Research details

Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.00 across 1,408,362 ratings on 30 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.

How do we know this?

Admission: Admit Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter accepted 2026-08-25

Sources: (see source tier definitions)

• TL Branson: Anita Blake series in order Tier 3

Last reviewed: 2026-08-26

Rule: Core = the full main sequence, novels and novellas alike, as one continuous numbered run. The series is ongoing; entries after this admission are not yet catalogued.

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