Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | By Bizarre Hands | 1989 | Joe R. Lansdale | Buy |
| 2 | On the Far Side of the Cadillac Desert with the Dead Folks | 1991 | Joe R. Lansdale | Buy |
| 3 | Bestsellers Guaranteed | 1993 | Joe R. Lansdale | Buy |
| 4 | Writer of the Purple Rage | 1994 | Joe R. Lansdale | Buy |
| 5 | Electric Gumbo | 1994 | Joe R. Lansdale | Buy |
| 6 | A Fist Full of Stories | 1996 | Joe R. Lansdale | Buy |
| 7 | The Good, the Bad and the Indifferent | 1997 | Joe R. Lansdale | Buy |
| 8 | Private Eye Action as You Like It | 1998 | Joe R. Lansdale | Buy |
| 9 | The Long Ones | 2000 | Joe R. Lansdale | Buy |
| 10 | High Cotton | 2000 | Joe R. Lansdale | Buy |
| 11 | For a Few Stories More | 2002 | Joe R. Lansdale | Buy |
| 12 | Bumper Crop | 2004 | Joe R. Lansdale | Buy |
| 13 | Mad Dog Summer | 2004 | Joe R. Lansdale | Buy |
| 14 | The King and Other Stories | 2005 | Joe R. Lansdale | Buy |
| 15 | The God of the Razor | 2007 | Joe R. Lansdale | Buy |
| 16 | Deadman’s Road | 2007 | Joe R. Lansdale | Buy |
| 17 | The Shadows, Kith and Kin | 2007 | Joe R. Lansdale | Buy |
| 18 | Sanctified and Chicken-Fried | 2009 | Joe R. Lansdale | Buy |
| 19 | Unchained And Unhinged | 2009 | Joe R. Lansdale | Buy |
| 20 | The Best of Joe R. Lansdale | 2010 | Joe R. Lansdale | Buy |
| 21 | Written With a Razor - Short Stories and a Screenplay | 2012 | Joe R. Lansdale | Buy |
| 22 | Trapped in the Saturday Matinee | 2012 | Joe R. Lansdale | Buy |
| 23 | Bleeding Shadows | 2013 | Joe R. Lansdale | Buy |
| 24 | The Tall Grass and Other Stories / After the People Lights Have Gone Off | 2014 | Joe R. Lansdale | Buy |
| 25 | Terror Is Our Business | 2018 | Joe R. Lansdale | Buy |
| 26 | Driving to Geronimo’s Grave and Other Stories | 2018 | Joe R. Lansdale | Buy |
| 27 | Gothic Wounds | 2022 | Joe R. Lansdale | Buy |
| 28 | Things Get Ugly: The Best Crime Fiction of Joe R. Lansdale | 2023 | Joe R. Lansdale | Buy |
| 29 | The Senior Girls Bayonet Drill Team and Other Stories | 2024 | Joe R. Lansdale | Buy |
| 30 | In the Mad Mountains | 2024 | Joe R. Lansdale | Buy |
| 31 | The Essential Horror of Joe R. Lansdale | 2025 | Joe R. Lansdale | Buy |
Joe R. Lansdale has published over 30 short story collections since By Bizarre Hands in 1989, making him one of the most prolific short fiction writers in modern genre literature. His collections cover horror, crime, dark comedy, and literary fiction, often mixed together in ways that defy easy shelving.
Collections like High Cotton (2000), Bumper Crop (2004), and Bleeding Shadows (2013) gather stories from across his career, while themed collections like Things Get Ugly (2023) focus on his crime fiction. The Essential Horror of Joe R. Lansdale (2025) is a recent career retrospective. Each collection showcases his gift for voice, pacing, and the kind of endings that stick with you.