Series

Books like John the Balladeer: 9 series to read next

John the Balladeer is fantasy, set in north america and mid 20th century, eerie in register. The 9 series below are ranked by how much of that they share — each card says which parts.

John the Balladeer is 38 books, 1951–2023.

The John the Balladeer page →Narrow this list →

Lewis Barnavelt
Dream Cycle
Mythago Wood
Ottawa and the Valley
Johnny Dixon and the Professor
Southern Reach Trilogy
Rosemary Reilly
The Mayfair Witches Saga
The Elliott Family

Lewis BarnaveltSeries

seriesBrad Strickland & John Bellairs12 books1973

“Lewis Barnavelt is a lonely orphan who moves in with his uncle Jonathan, an amateur wizard, in a rambling old house that turns out to hide a doomsday clock built into its walls by a previous, malevolent owner.”
from the catalogue description

Start with The House with a Clock in Its Walls →

Dream CycleSeries

seriesH. P. Lovecraft, C. T. Phipps, E. Hoffmann Price, Jack Chapman Miske, Richard Gavin & W. H. Pugmire26 books1919

Horror, eerie in tone.

Start with The White Ship →

Mythago WoodSeries

seriesRobert Holdstock7 books1984

Set in british isles.

“The first novel follows Stephen Huxley investigating his family's obsession with the wood after his father's death; Holdstock continued the cycle across further novels and stories exploring different characters and eras.”
from the catalogue description

Start with Mythago Wood →

Ottawa and the ValleySeries

seriesCharles de Lint17 books1984

Urban fantasy.

“Charles de Lint set several of his early urban fantasies in and around Ottawa before creating his better-known invented city of Newford.”
from the catalogue description

Start with Moonheart →

Johnny Dixon and the ProfessorSeries

seriesJohn Bellairs & Brad Strickland13 books1983

Gothic.

“In each book, 12-year-old Johnny and his group of friends face and overcome evil forces usually bent on ending the world.”
from the catalogue description
Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0

Start with The Curse of the Blue Figurine →

Southern Reach TrilogySeries

seriesJeff VanderMeer4 books2014

Weird fiction, about madness.

“In 2013, Paramount Pictures bought the movie rights for the series, and a film adaptation of Annihilation was made with Alex Garland as writer-director.”
from the catalogue description
Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0

Start with Annihilation →

Rosemary ReillySeries

seriesIra Levin2 books1967

Tense in tone, about demons and parenthood, set in big city.

“Rosemary's Baby follows a young wife in a Gothic Manhattan apartment building who grows increasingly convinced that her elderly neighbors, and even her own husband, are part of a conspiracy surrounding her pregnancy.”
from the catalogue description

Start with Rosemary's Baby →

The Mayfair Witches SagaSeries

seriesAnne Rice3 books1990

Gothic, about family secrets.

Start with The Witching Hour →

The Elliott FamilySeries

seriesRay Bradbury8 books1946

Fantasy, eerie in tone, set in north america and our world.

“Ray Bradbury's From the Dust Returned gathers and expands short stories he wrote across five decades about the Elliotts, a large, ancient family of vampires, ghosts, and other gentle monsters gathered in a rambling Illinois house.”
from the catalogue description

Start with The Homecoming →

Why these

No sales rank, no star ratings, no readers also bought.

Shared terms are not a promise that a book feels the same. Two series can be far-future political intrigue and read nothing alike — what the ranking can say is what they are about, and each card says which parts it shares.

Questions readers ask

What should I read after John the Balladeer?: Lewis Barnavelt — the closest match to John the Balladeer on what it is about, not on what sells.
Where do I start with John the Balladeer?: The Old Gods Waken. It is the entry the catalogue recommends for John the Balladeer.
How big is John the Balladeer?: John the Balladeer is 38 books, 1951–2023.
Is John the Balladeer finished?: Yes — 38 books, 1951–2023.

Books like John the Balladeer: 9 series to read next

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Why these

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