Samuel Johnson vs. the Devil Books in Order

The Samuel Johnson books answer a very simple question: what if the end of the world arrived in a small English town and had to be handled by a polite, slightly awkward boy and his dachshund? The result is a trilogy that blends cosmic horror with slapstick comedy, footnotes, and asides about particle physics.

In The Gates, twelve‑year‑old Samuel Johnson decides to go trick‑or‑treating a few days early, hoping to beat the rush. Instead he and his dog Boswell stumble on their neighbors attempting a bit of amateur devil‑worship in the cellar. Thanks to a side effect of an experiment at a large particle collider, their ritual actually opens a gateway to Hell, and demons begin eyeing Biddlecombe as a beachhead.

Connolly keeps the stakes high—the forces of the Great Malevolence are very real—but tells the story with running jokes, explanatory notes, and a fondness for the sheer oddness of science. Samuel’s bravery is low‑key rather than swaggering; he worries about his mother, stresses about school, and still does the right thing when no adult quite believes him.

The follow‑up, The Infernals (published as Hell’s Bells in some countries), sees Samuel and Boswell dragged into Hell itself by a demon looking for payback. Along with two bewildered policemen and an ice‑cream‑truck driver, they have to navigate infernal landscapes, union‑minded demons, and even a band of very unpleasant elves. In The Creeps, weird shadows gather over Biddlecombe again, strange toys appear on the high street, and a new plot to end the Multiverse forces Samuel to rally dwarfs, monsters, and old friends for one more stand.

Shorter pieces like The Monks of Appalling Dreadfulness revisit this world, pitting elite assassin‑monks against the hapless demon Nurd and anyone kind enough to call him a friend. These stories keep the door open for readers who discovered Connolly through Samuel and want just a little more from that universe.

Although aimed at younger readers, the books are full of asides and references that adults will appreciate, and they never talk down to the audience. This page gives you the series in order, a sense of how the tone develops from book to book, and pointers on where the novellas fit if you want to read every last demonic footnote.