Dungeon Crawler Carl Audiobook Guide: 8 Books, 159 Hours

The Dungeon Crawler Carl audiobook is a Soundbooth Theater production narrated by Jeff Hays, and as of October 10, 2026 it runs to 8 books and 159 hours 22 minutes on Audible. This guide covers the order to listen in, each book's length and Audible rating, which books add guest voices, the separate full-cast "Immersion Tunnel" edition, and where you can actually buy it.

TL;DR: Listen in number order, starting with Dungeon Crawler Carl (13 h 31 m). Jeff Hays reads every book; books 3, 6 and 7 add guest voices. All 8 books average between 4.84 and 4.94 on Audible. For a different take on book 1, Soundbooth's full-cast Immersion Tunnel is on its own platform, and its first episode is free.

Key Takeaways

• 8 books, one lead narrator: Jeff Hays reads all of them; the recordings are credited to Soundbooth Theater.
• Total length: 159 hours 22 minutes on Audible; book 7 is the longest at 28 hours 40 minutes.
• Guest voices: The Critical Drinker (book 3), Patrick Warburton, Travis Baldree and Annie Ellicott (book 6), Travis Baldree (book 7).
• Ratings: every book averages 4.84 or higher on Audible, from 304,452 ratings across the 8 pages.
• Two versions of book 1: the classic audiobook (13 h 31 m) and the full-cast Immersion Tunnel, whose Season 1 episodes Soundbooth labels Book 1 (8 episodes, 15 h 5 m).

Overview: who makes the Dungeon Crawler Carl audiobook

Audible lists the publisher as Audible Studios, but the copyright line on every book credits the recording to Soundbooth Theater: book 1 reads "©2020 Matt Dinniman (P)2021 Soundbooth Theater". Soundbooth's own team page describes Jeff Hays as "the narrator of Dungeon Crawler Carl, a producer and narrator of more than 400 audiobooks, and Founder & CEO of Soundbooth Theater."

Soundbooth sells the series in two forms. Its Dungeon Crawler Carl page says the story "can be experienced as a Classic Audiobook series and as an Audio Immersion Tunnel series", the second "featuring blockbuster sound effects, a killer soundtrack, and a full cast of voice acting talent". The classic audiobooks are the ones on Audible; the Immersion Tunnel is covered further down.

The narrator is also part of the TV adaptation. Variety reported on July 23, 2026 that Hays, "the narrator and producer behind all eight of the currently released" books, was cast as the voice of Princess Donut on the Peacock TV adaptation. The same article says that "On Audible, the Hays-narrated series has drawn more than 140 million listening hours." Matt Dinniman's site followed on July 27, 2026 with "Jeff Hays confirms role for DCC TV show as Princess Donut!".

If you want the print and ebook dates as well, our Dungeon Crawler Carl reading order has the Ace editions next to the audio dates.

Every Dungeon Crawler Carl audiobook in order

Lengths, release dates and narrators are from each book's Audible page; ratings and counts were read from the same pages on October 10, 2026 and will move.

Cover: Audible product page (Soundbooth Theater)

Book 1 has the most ratings and the lowest average of the eight; book 5, The Butcher's Masquerade, has the highest average (4.94). The books get longer as the series goes on: books 1 and 2 together (24 h 59 m) are shorter than book 6 alone.

Step-by-Step: how to listen to the Dungeon Crawler Carl audiobooks

1. Start with book 1, the classic audiobook: Dungeon Crawler Carl, 13 hours 31 minutes, released January 28, 2021. Audible's product page has a preview button if you want to hear Jeff Hays before you commit.

2. Listen to books 2 to 8 in number order: they came out on Audible between April 22, 2021 and May 12, 2026, and both Audible and the Ace print editions number the series 1 to 8.

3. Expect extra voices in books 3, 6 and 7: Audible lists The Critical Drinker on book 3, Patrick Warburton, Travis Baldree and Annie Ellicott on book 6, and Travis Baldree on book 7. Jeff Hays stays the lead on all three.

4. Plan your time for the later books: books 5, 6 and 7 run 23 to 29 hours each. At 1x speed, the whole series is 159 hours 22 minutes.

5. Stop at book 8 for now: A Parade of Horribles (May 12, 2026) is the latest. As of October 10, 2026 Matt Dinniman's news page, newest posts through October 1, gave no release date for book 9.

6. Optionally, try the Immersion Tunnel: Soundbooth's full-cast version is on its own platform (next section).

Cover: Audible product page (Soundbooth Theater)

The Dungeon Crawler Carl audiobook vs the Immersion Tunnel

The Immersion Tunnel is a second, full-cast production sold only on Soundbooth Theater's own platform, not on Audible. Soundbooth calls it "An all-new production of Book One with a full cast, layered sound design, and bonus scenes." Jeff Hays still voices the main characters and other actors voice the rest. Season 1, whose episodes Soundbooth labels Book 1, adds up to 15 hours 5 minutes against 13 hours 31 minutes for the classic book 1. Episode 1 is free.

Matt Dinniman's site describes it, in a June 30, 2026 post, as "the enhanced audiobook for Dungeon Crawler Carl, featuring a full cast, original music, extra scenes, and bonus content", and adds: "Jeff Hays returns as the voices of Donut, Carl, and the AI, but everyone else is voiced by the talented team over at Soundbooth Theater." Soundbooth's page says it "is available exclusively on Soundbooth" and can be heard in a browser or the app.

What we could confirm on Soundbooth's series page on October 10, 2026:

• Season 1: 8 episodes, released September 1, 2023 to January 30, 2024. Episode 1, "Thank You for Volunteering", runs 3 hours 4 minutes and is listed as free; the other seven run 1 hour 27 minutes to 2 hours 3 minutes.
• Season 2: 7 episodes, December 16, 2025 to March 10, 2026 (Soundbooth's pages did not show their lengths).
• Season 3: began March 17, 2026; Dinniman's June 30 post announced its final episode.
• Cast on episode 1: besides Jeff Hays, Soundbooth lists Emma Kate Starling, Justin Thomas James, Heath Miller, Gary Furlong, Ryan H. Reid, Will M. Watt, Annie Ellicott and Laurie Catherine Winkel.

Soundbooth's series page also lists two short extras: Quoth the Donut (8 minutes 46 seconds, narrated by Jeff Hays) and Wondercrawl (4 minutes 16 seconds).

One listener in an r/litrpg thread about audiobooks better than Dungeon Crawler Carl wrote that "the Soundbooth Theater immersion tunnel are produced very well" (u/zilla135, comment, December 30, 2025).

GODEEPER: Liked the narration as much as the story? We ranked the 12 LitRPG series that audiobook listeners name most, with each narrator and length. Best LitRPG Audiobooks: 12 Series Listeners Name Most →

Where to listen to the Dungeon Crawler Carl audiobook

Audible is the main store: all 8 classic audiobooks are there, and Soundbooth's own book pages link to Audible to buy them. Apple Books also sells book 1, listing Jeff Hays, 13:31 and Audible Studios. The Immersion Tunnel is only on Soundbooth.

Two services people often ask about did not check out:

• Libby: OverDrive announced on April 27, 2026 that "Libby is now the exclusive provider of the English-language ebooks for Dungeon Crawler Carl to libraries." The announcement is about ebooks, and the Libby title page we opened listed an ebook. We found no library audiobook edition.
• Spotify: we could not confirm an official Dungeon Crawler Carl audiobook listing on October 10, 2026. The only Spotify entry we found under the book's name was a show page with no publisher information, so we do not recommend it.

Translated editions exist on Audible too, with their own narrators, for example a German Carl's Doomsday Scenario read by Stefan Kaminski (June 24, 2026) and a French La Mascarade du boucher read by Sylvain Agaësse (August 4, 2026).

Cover: Audible product page (Soundbooth Theater)

Is the Dungeon Crawler Carl audiobook better than reading?

It is personal, but listeners rate it unusually high: every book averages 4.84 or more on Audible, and in our count of 13 r/litrpg and r/ProgressionFantasy threads where audiobook listeners asked for picks, Dungeon Crawler Carl was named in 150 top-level comments, about twice as often as any other series.

The answers are often about the narrator. In a December 2025 thread titled "To Audiobook listeners: Is there something better than Dungeon Crawler Carl?", the highest-voted reply, by u/Plum_Parrot, began: "As much as it pains me to say it, Jeff Hays is just really hard to beat. He elevates the stories he reads." (comment, December 30, 2025).

Another listener answered a request for audiobook picks with: "Dungeon Crawler Carl not on your list? That would be my vote. Especially for audiobook." (u/WrongResource1207, comment, March 12, 2026).

Reading has its own case: if you want to look up names, skim, or follow the text at your own pace, the Ace print editions are listed with page counts in our reading order. Many listeners do both.

Cover: Audible product page (Soundbooth Theater)

Tips before you press play

• Use the preview. Audible's book 1 page has a preview button; a few minutes tell you whether the voice works for you.
• Try the free Immersion Tunnel episode before paying for either version of book 1. It is 3 hours 4 minutes, a fair sample.
• Do not start with a translated edition by mistake. Search results on Audible mix in German, French and Spanish versions with different narrators.
• Budget the later books. Books 6 and 7 are each longer than books 1 and 2 combined (24 h 59 m).
• Next listen: if you finish all 8, our books like Dungeon Crawler Carl list notes which picks share the narrator.

Our take

Based on the Audible data and Soundbooth's pages above, the classic Audible edition is the place to start: it covers all 8 books, every one rates 4.84 or higher, and the first book is a manageable 13 and a half hours. The Immersion Tunnel is a good extra rather than a replacement: it lives on a separate platform and its first season runs longer than the classic book 1, but the free first episode makes it cheap to try. On Spotify and Libby, wait for an official listing; we could not confirm one.

How we checked this

On October 10, 2026 we opened the Audible product page for each of the 8 books (length, release date, narrators, publisher, copyright line, and the rating and rating count in the page data) and the Audible search results for the series. We read Soundbooth Theater's Dungeon Crawler Carl page, series page, the Season 1 episode 1 page and Jeff Hays's team page, Matt Dinniman's news posts of June 30 and July 27, 2026, Variety's July 23, 2026 casting report, OverDrive's April 27, 2026 announcement, the Libby title page and the Apple Books listing for book 1. Reader quotes come from the Reddit thread data, read the same day. We have not listened to these audiobooks; no listening experience here is ours. A site-agent checked every number against our source table before publication.

Related Reading

• Books like He Who Fights with Monsters: another long series with a single narrator, and what its readers try next.
• Primal Hunter reading order: Travis Baldree, a guest voice here, narrates that whole series.
• All audiobook guides

Frequently Asked Questions

Who narrates the Dungeon Crawler Carl audiobook? Jeff Hays narrates all 8 books on Audible. Guest voices join on three of them: The Critical Drinker on book 3, Patrick Warburton, Travis Baldree and Annie Ellicott on book 6, and Travis Baldree on book 7. The recordings are Soundbooth Theater productions, and Hays is the company's founder.

How long is the Dungeon Crawler Carl audiobook? All 8 books add up to 159 hours 22 minutes on Audible as of October 10, 2026. Book 2 is the shortest at 11 hours 28 minutes, book 7 the longest at 28 hours 40 minutes, and book 1 runs 13 hours 31 minutes, so the start is a light commitment.

What is the Dungeon Crawler Carl Immersion Tunnel? It is Soundbooth Theater's enhanced, full-cast production of Dungeon Crawler Carl, with original music and extra scenes, sold only on Soundbooth's platform. Jeff Hays still voices Carl, Donut and the AI. Season 1 has 8 episodes totalling 15 hours 5 minutes, and episode 1 is free to try.

Is the Dungeon Crawler Carl audiobook on Spotify or Libby? We could not confirm an official Spotify listing on October 10, 2026. For libraries, OverDrive's April 27, 2026 announcement covers the English-language ebooks only, and the Libby page we opened was an ebook. The audiobook is sold on Audible and Apple Books.

Is the Dungeon Crawler Carl audiobook better than reading it? That depends on you, but the audio is unusually well liked: each of the 8 books averages 4.84 to 4.94 on Audible, from more than 300,000 ratings in total. In 13 Reddit threads where audiobook listeners asked for picks, it was named in 150 comments, more than any other series.

References

• Audible: Dungeon Crawler Carl (book 1)
• Audible: Dungeon Crawler Carl series page
• Audible: The Eye of the Bedlam Bride (book 6)
• Audible: A Parade of Horribles (book 8)
• Soundbooth Theater: Dungeon Crawler Carl
• Soundbooth Theater: Dungeon Crawler Carl series page
• Soundbooth Theater: Jeff Hays
• Matt Dinniman: SBT Immersion Tunnel Seasons 2-3 Now Available
• Matt Dinniman: Jeff Hays confirms role for DCC TV show as Princess Donut
• Variety: Dungeon Crawler Carl TV series casts Jeff Hays as Princess Donut
• OverDrive: Dungeon Crawler Carl available on Libby
• Apple Books: Dungeon Crawler Carl audiobook
• Reddit r/litrpg: "To Audiobook listeners: Is there something better than Dungeon Crawler Carl?"