A Parade of Horribles

No. Dungeon Crawler Carl is planned to run to ten published books. Matt Dinniman has confirmed the final story (conceived as book nine) is long enough that it will be published as two separate volumes, so two more books are still to come after this one, not one.

Strongly recommended. The series is highly serialized and book eight pays off seven books of setup. Reading it cold would spoil major moments and lose most of their impact.

Central. Carl's secret plan on the tenth floor's racing tournament is the dominant mechanic of the book — the same way earlier books have built a floor around a masquerade or a frontier town.

The parade of horribles is the name the system AI gives to the eleventh floor's still-mysterious event, teased at the end of the book as "a coming-out party for the ages" — a carnival of returning threats staged for the dungeon's alien audience.

Yes. Book eight ends with the series' endgame in full view. It's a transitional book as much as a standalone floor story.

Matt Dinniman's website (mattdinniman.com) and his social media channels are the most reliable sources for release dates and updates on the final book.