Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Henry, The Gaoler | 2016 | A.W. Exley | Buy |
| 2 | Ella, The Slayer | 2015 | A.W. Exley | Buy |
| 3 | The Story Between Them | 2009 | A.W. Exley | N/A |
| 4 | Vincent, the Tailor | 2016 | A.W. Exley | N/A |
| 5 | Alice, the Player | 2016 | A.W. Exley | Buy |
| 6 | Rory, the Sleeper | 2017 | A.W. Exley | Buy |
The Serenity House series takes fairy tales everyone knows and rebuilds them in one of the most unexpected settings imaginable: World War I England, where soldiers are returning from the front lines as the walking dead. A.W. Exley gives each book a different fairy tale foundation. Ella, The Slayer reimagines Cinderella as a young woman who fights zombies instead of scrubbing floors. Other entries draw from Sleeping Beauty, Alice in Wonderland, and more, but none of them play out the way you remember.
What makes the series work is how fully Exley commits to the premise. The horrors of the Great War mix with supernatural threats in a way that feels genuinely unsettling rather than gimmicky. The characters are resourceful and tough, shaped by a world that has gone wrong in ways no one could have predicted. With six books published between 2009 and 2017, the series gives each retelling room to breathe while building a larger picture of this fractured world. Readers who like their fairy tales with real teeth will find a lot to enjoy here.