Circus of the Dead Books in Order

The Circus of the Dead series starts with a bad summer plan and then turns into a full nightmare. Callie Spruce is sent from California to help her uncle on a swampy island in Louisiana, only to discover that the circus there is not just run-down, it is cursed. Once she gets pulled in, leaving is no longer as simple as catching the next boat.

That is the hook the whole series keeps tightening.

The setting matters a lot here. This is not a shiny big-top circus built for applause. It is muddy paths, houseboats, swamp water, old docks, fortune tellers, dangerous animals, ghosts, and performers who seem to know far more than they say. Kimberly Loth leans hard into the wet, claustrophobic feel of the bayou, so the series always feels a little trapped, even in its quieter moments.

Callie is the center of it all, and much of the tension comes from the fact that she is constantly trying to work out who she can trust. Samuel, the young ringmaster, looks like a way out and a problem at the same time. Benny, the ghost gangster, is charming in the worst possible way. Around them is a circus full of people who may be alive, dead, cursed, or something in between.

That uncertainty is a big part of the fun. The books mix paranormal romance, horror, and survival story without getting too heavy in any one direction. You get creepy set pieces, fast reveals, shifting loyalties, and a steady question running underneath everything: can Callie escape without becoming part of the circus herself?

The romance also works because it never feels separate from the danger. In this world, attraction is tied to bargains, secrets, power, and the very real chance that love might cost more than freedom. Callie is not just choosing between boys. She is choosing who she believes, what she is willing to risk, and how much of herself she can afford to hand over.

These books are best approached as one long, bingeable arc. The cliffhangers are part of the design, and the story keeps building as Callie uncovers more about the island, her uncle, the curse, and the rules that keep the whole deadly show running. If you like paranormal series with creepy atmosphere, fast pacing, and romance threaded through genuine danger, this is exactly that.

It is a carnival story with swamp water in its shoes.

And it knows how to keep the lights on just long enough to make the dark feel worse.