Whisps of smoke drift past dark, heavy furniture, wind through brocade armchairs, and out soaring Gothic windows. No laughter disturbs the serious discussions of literature and politics being carried out in small groups.
Crystal ashtrays gleam, reflecting people wearing tweed and houndstooth. Legs cross, exposing highly polished leather Oxfords.
Follow me into this 30s inspired subculture and discover this new subgenre called Dark Academia. Dark Academia is the Venn Diagram center where dark meets academia.
So, what constitutes dark? The dark could be subtle undertones, mystery, deep psychological themes about grief and death, crime, murder, or straight out horror.
And what is academia? It can be as obvious as a school setting. Some favorites are the Ivy League schools for college-bound students or prep schools and private academies for high schoolers, but it could be any school. Libraries are possible settings. It can be that your character is someone with a high IQ, or possibly just a theme about the pursuit of knowledge.
You already see how stories that fall into this category can be marketed in several genres. It has a broad definition, yet it is very niche. The tone of the story usually has the aesthetic I led with at the beginning. A 30s/40s Era rich college or secret society with an emphasis on autumn and fall colors.
So, let’s look at 37 dark academia books you could read this year.
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Best New Dark Academia Novels
These are some of the newest and most exciting dark academia books of the year. The most recent works of tried-and-true dark academia authors and newcomers alike. I tried to keep it to standalones or first in a series because you can find the prequels to some new novels in the other sections. I’m sure if you enjoy the first, you’ll be looking for the rest of the series.
Where Sleeping Girls Lie by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, 2024
Sade Hussein is starting her third year of high school, this time at the prestigious Alfred Nobel Academy boarding school. After being home-schooled all her life and feeling like a magnet for misfortune, she’s not sure what will happen. What she doesn’t expect, though, is for her roommate Elizabeth to disappear after Sade’s first night. Or for people to think she had something to do with it.
Immortal Dark Trilogy Book #1 Immortal Dark by Tigest Girma, 2024
Orphaned heiress Kidan Adane grew up far from the arcane society she was born into, where human bloodlines gain power through vampire companionship. When her sister, June, disappears, Kidan is convinced a vampire stole her—the very vampire bound to their family, the cruel yet captivating Susenyos Sagad.
To find June, Kidan must infiltrate the elite Uxlay University—where students study to ensure peaceful coexistence between humans and vampires and inherit their family legacies.
Empyreal Book #1 The Temptation of Magic by Megan Scott, 2024
As an Empyreal, Nicole can kill any deadly supernatural. But if her power ever awakened, the Wake—the organization that governs supernaturals—would force her to be their loyal huntress. Or kill her, like they did her mother.
To stay safe, Nicole hides in a small university town, convinced the mythological art collection at a local manor contains a last message from her mother.
Society of Lies by Lauren Ling Brown, 2024
When a young woman is found dead on her college campus, her sister doesn’t believe it was an accident—and her search for answers leads her closer to home than she ever would have imagined.
Descendants of the Zodiac Book #1 Zodiac Rising by Katie Zhao, 2024
At a secret Manhattan boarding school, the Descendants of the Chinese zodiac have hidden away since the source of their magic—the twelve zodiac statues—was vandalized and lost to time. Thus, a curse befell the Descendants, and they’ve lived as creatures of darkness… until now.
Death in the Spires by K.J. Charles, 2024
Despite a decade passing, the brutal murder of Oxford student Toby Feynsham remains a haunting mystery. Jeremy Kite’s life was completely shattered by the crime. An anonymous letter accuses Jem of having killed Toby.
To prove himself innocent, he must finally uncover the truth. Jem tracks down the ‘Seven Wonders’—the close group of friends present on the night Toby died—only to find them also unable to forget.
Tender Beasts by Liselle Sambury, 2024
After her private school is rocked by a gruesome murder, a teen tries to find the real killer and clear her brother’s name.
The Fortune Seller by Rachel Kapelke-Dale, 2024
Rosie Macalister is an outsider. Unlike all her wealthy friends on the Yale equestrian team, she comes from a middle-class family. After a year abroad, she is ready to show them the confident woman she has become, but there’s a new addition to the group. Annelise is a talented rider and tarot reader, and unlike anyone they’ve ever met.
But when one of the group notices money disappearing mysteriously from her account, the women turn on one another, leading to tragic consequences.
Made Glorious by Lindsay Eagar, 2024
Rory is an antihero who monologues all about the lengths she’ll go to secure the leading role in Bosworth Academy’s senior musical. Unapologetically, she reveals her charm, conniving ways, and relentless ambition. Despite her manipulation and the danger she brings, we will continue to support her.
A Dark and Drowning Tide by Allison Saft, 2024
Lorelei’s beloved mentor is murdered in her quarters aboard their ship. The suspects are her five remaining expedition mates, each with their own motive. The only person Lorelei knows must be innocent is her longtime academic rival, the insufferably gallant and maddeningly beautiful Sylvia von Wolff.
The Lilies by Quinn Diacon-Furtado, 2024
The Lilies are a secret society that paves the way for a bright future at Archwell Academy, but sometimes they disappear.
Four Archwell students must relieve their worst memories,while trapped in a time loop. And they must unravel the secrets of the Lilies and their school, before they destroy their futures forever.
Dark Academia Fantasy Novels
Here is where those with a taste for fantasy can find their version of dark academia. Dark academia fantasy has magical books and libraries, vampires, necromancers, magic schools, and more. Some of these really have the Harry Potter vibe.
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo, 2019
Alex Stern has lived a terrible life which culminates in being the sole survivor of a multiple homicide. In her hospital bed, she is offered a full ride to Yale University to turn her life around.
However, her mysterious benefactors have tasked her with monitoring the eight most secret societies of the college. And what she discovers of their occult activities is sinister.
The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake, 2020
The Alexandrian Society are the caretakers of lost knowledge and the most secret society of magical academians in the world. Each decade, they choose six potential initiates. This group includes a naturalist, an empath, a telepath, an illusionist, and more. They have one year of access to the society’s library to prove themselves worthy of being part of the society because only five will be initiated.
Bunny by Mona Awad, 2019
Samantha Mackey is an outsider in her college’s elite program with Ava as her only friend. She prefers her dark imagination to the rest of the writing group; a clique of rich annoying girls who call each other ‘Bunny.’
That is, until she ditches Ava to answer an invitation to join the Bunnies in their off-campus ritualistic workshops. The edges of reality begin to blur and things come to a deadly head.
Vicious by V.E. Schwab, 2013
Victor and Eli were college roommates who shared a research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and the possibility of developing supernatural abilities under the right conditions. Their experiments go terribly wrong.
Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison to stop his nemesis, Eli, from eliminating every person with powers he can find.
The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern, 2019
Graduate student Zachary Rawlins discovers a book in the stacks that has hints at his own past. He follows the clues to a masquerade party, a secret club, and an ancient hidden library.
Zachary learns of those who have sacrificed much to protect this realm, relinquishing their sight and their tongues to preserve this archive, and also of those who are intent on its destruction. Zachary must discover his purpose in the book and in life.
Legendborn by Tracy Deonn, 2020
After her mother dies in an accident, sixteen-year-old Bree Matthews joins a residential program for bright high schoolers at her mother’s old college. But on her first night on campus, Bree witnesses a magical attack and the ‘Merlin’ involved in destroying the demons fails in removing her memory.
The mage’s failure unlocks Bree’s own magic and the memory that a ‘Merlin’ was at the hospital the night her mother died. Bree is determined to find out who these Legendborn are and just what they had to do with her mother’s death.
Babel by R.F. Kuang, 2022
In 1800s England, Robin Swift, a Chinese orphan, is preparing to enter Oxford University’s elite Royal Institute of Translation. He has trained for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, patroned by a mysterious professor to become a student at the world’s center for translation.
At the college, he learns about silver-making, a magical art that uses silver bars to manifest what is lost in translation. But Robin is caught between clashing loyalties as another rival secret society becomes involved and Britain pursues a war with China over silver and opium.
Ink, Blood, Sister Scribe by Emma Torzs, 2023
Estranged half-sisters, Joanna and Esther, are reunited when their father dies reading a book. Both girls have been raised to understand that their family guards a collection of rare and ancient books about magic.
As the girls discover the reality of the magic they must protect, they also discover family secrets along the way.
The Cloisters by Katy Hays, 2022
Ann Stilwell is assigned to work at The Cloisters, a gothic museum and garden of medicinal and poisonous plants. She discovers that her new peers’ preoccupation with fortune telling is more than just academic obsession.
Ann becomes the center of a deadly game of toxic relationships, ambition, and power, when she finds a lost set of 15th century tarot cards.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by Victoria Schwab, 2020
In 1714 France, young Addie makes a desperate bargain to live forever and is cursed to be forgotten. Over the course of three centuries, she discovers the lengths she’s willing to go to leave an impression on the world. Then, she meets a young man in a book shop who remembers her name.
Dark Academia Aesthetic Novels
Going back in time, we find some of the earliest books that fall under the new Dark Academia umbrella all the way to today. While some of these titles miss the tropes of what dark academia has become, they really give you a feel for how the subgenre started to find its way.
Dead Poets Society by N.H. Kleinbaum, 2006
Todd Anderson and his friends are inspired by their new English teacher to resurrect the Dead Poets Society. As the boys are taught the great words of Byron, Shelley, and Keats, they discover not only the beauty of language, but the importance of making each moment count.
However, their newfound freedom leads to tragic consequences and the authority of parents and the school are determined to destroy their club and their dreams.
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, 1890
A dream-like story of a young aesthete in late-19th-century England who sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty.
As Dorian Gray sinks into a life of crime and gross sensuality, his body retains perfect youth and vigor while his recently painted portrait grows day by day into a hideous record of evil, which he must keep hidden from the world.
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, 1847
Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff form an ill-fated love at the end of the 18th century on the moors of northern England. Unable to leave one another alone and obsessed with their love for one another, yet marrying others due to circumstances, they only bring harm and death to one another and those around them.
Wuthering Heights dives deep into tragedy and the dark side of love.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, 1818
This story within a story within a story may not seem like a Dark Academia book at first glance,—many call it horror or scifi—but consider how Frankenstein attends an exclusive college in the beginning of the novel and it is his obsession with the possibilities of what science can do that leads to the social commentary on how creators have a responsibility to their creations, what social isolation does to people psychologically, and how emotions are what make us truly human.
In My Dreams I Hold a Knife by Ashley Winstead, 2021
A ten-year college reunion turns deadly when someone uses the return of the six friends to their alma mater as an opportunity to get revenge for the unsolved murder of a girl. When the six friends are reunited, they will be forced to confront what happened that night—and the years’ worth of secrets each of them would do anything to keep hidden.
The Secret History by Donna Tartt, 1992
Six clever students at a New England college are led by their classics teacher to discover a new way of thinking. They slowly slip from obsession into the morally gray world of betrayal and corruption, then finally into evil.
If We Were Villians by M.L. Rio, 2017
On the day of Oliver Marks’ release from prison, the detective who put him away wants to know what really happened ten years ago, before he retires. As one of seven young actors studying Shakespeare at an elite arts college, Oliver and his friends play the same roles onstage and off: hero, villain, tyrant, temptress, ingenue, and extra.
But when the secondary characters usurp the stars, one of the cast is found dead. The rest face their greatest acting challenge yet: convincing the police, and themselves, that they are blameless.
Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M Danforth, 2020
A story within a story. This book is about the filming of the experience of two Brookhants School for Girls attendees obsessed with a book who create their own secret society and mysteriously die. The school is closed after a few more students are killed by the curse.
But over a hundred years later, when the school opens once more to become a film set for the movie, past and present become entangled.
Catherine House by Elizabeth Thomas, 2020
Catherine House is an exclusive school with an experimental curriculum that produces some of the best minds the world has to offer. All Ines has to do is leave behind her previous life for three years, including summers. No family, friends, tv, or clothing, but the school will provide everything for free. She finds the school the closest thing she’s ever had to a home.
But she discovers a shocking secret about the school’s most tightly knit and secretive group.
Black Chalk by Christopher Yates, 2013
In their first year at Oxford, six best friends began a silly childish game of dares. But the stakes grew and became more humiliating and brutal until it ended in tragedy. Fourteen years have passed and the players that remain must reunite and finish what they started.
The Maidens by Alex Michaelides, 2021
Mariana, an alumnus of Cambridge and a brilliant but troubled group therapist, knows that the Greek Tragedy professor at her old school is a murderer. She becomes determined to discover the truth when her niece’s friend, a member of a secret society called The Maidens, is murdered on campus.
As another murder occurs, Mariana’s obsession spirals out of control, threatening her job, her relationships, and her life.
Top YA Dark Academia Books
While Dark Academia usually makes us think about old stodgy colleges, many prep schools and private academies funnel straight into these colleges with their high expectations and secret societies. Here are some novels that have all the darkness, just a younger cast.
A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik, 2020
Scholomance is a school for the magically gifted where there are no teachers, but also no holidays or friends, only alliances as everyone tries to survive. The school doesn’t allow anyone to leave until they graduate or die. So, don’t walk the halls alone and beware of the monsters that lurk everywhere.
El begins to unlock the school’s secrets and discovers she has a dark power that can destroy all the monsters. But the problem is it would also kill all the students, too.
A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid, 2023
Effe Sayre has been haunted by dreams of a Fairy King all her life and is obsessed with a tattered copy of Myrddin’s fairy tales that is keeping her afloat. When she is chosen to redesign the late author’s estate, she finds it an impossible task.
Vying with another scholar, Preston, to piece together Myrddin’s legacy, Effe must face dark forces, both mortal and magical, to discover a truth that may ruin them.
Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, 2021
Someone is destroying the perfect veneer of Niveus Private Academy. The anonymous texter, Aces, is bringing dark secrets to light, hidden photos and the price paid for power. And Aces won’t stop there because this isn’t just a game.
The Library of Shadows by Rachel Moore, 2023
Este Logano enrolls into her father’s old school to learn about her dead father. Though Radcliffe Prep is the third most haunted school in the country, Este doesn’t believe in ghosts until she meets Mateo.
He frames Este for the theft of a rare book and she must track him down so she doesn’t get kicked out of the school like her father. She discovers that student disappearances are real as she investigates the library, its hidden passages, and haunted halls.
The Forest Demands Its Due by Kosoko Jackson, 2023
Seventeen-year-old Douglas Jones is attending Regent Academy, a place that makes leaders. He just politics to survive and avoid all the politics, until a student is murdered and the next day no one remembers him, except Douglas and one other person.
In his investigation into the truth, Douglas awakens a horror in the forest that demands blood for payment. And he finally has an opportunity to grasp power.
The Ravens by Kass Morgan and Danielle Paige, 2020
One of the most elite sororities of Westerly college, Kappa Rho Nu, is actually a coven of witches. Vivi is assigned as Scarlett’s big sister. Scarlett is the daughter of a legacy Raven and feels forced to live up to her mother’s impossible expectations to become the next Kappa Rho Nu president. Both girls sink into a world of betrayal and blood oaths.
Truly Devious book #1 Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson, 2018
True crime aficionado Stevie Bell is attending the Elligham Academy built by a turn of the century tycoon who wanted to make a fun place for learning with riddles, twisting pathways, and gardens. Shortly after the school opened, the Elligham’s family was kidnapped, and the case was never solved.
The only clue left behind was a riddle signed Truly Devious and now it has happened again. Stevie must solve both cases by discovering who Truly Devious truly is.
The Swallows by Lisa Lutz, 2019
Alex Witt is Stonebridge Prep’s new creative writing teacher. When she discovers The Ten, the school’s elite students, and uncovers details about the Darkroom, she inspires the girls at school to start asking questions, sparking a rebellion.
But someone knows the secrets that sent her to this school. Yet the rebellion turns into an all-out war of boys versus girls that could have deadly consequences.
The Inheritance Games #1 The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, 2020
When Tobias Hawthorne dies, he leaves much of his fortune to Avery Grambs. The problem is, Avery doesn’t know who he is. And when she moves to Hawthorne House to fulfill the requirements of the will, she discovers his disgruntled family and rooms full of puzzles, secret passages, and secrets. Apparently, the old man treated everything as a game and she must play if she wants to survive.
Dark Academia Tropes
As dark academia has built a following and authors have leaned into it, certain tropes have stood the test of time while others have floated to the surface.
Here is a list to see if your work could be considered dark academia. Or, if you are so intrigued, you may want to write one. I suppose you could start by reading the books above and discover which tropes inspire you.
- Elitism
- Obsession
- Love of books (we can all relate)
- Outsider Joins
- Academic setting
- Dark libraries
- Death
- Critique of society
- Intelligence
- Superiority
- Secret society
- A love of learning
- Supernatural or occult
- Dark autumn or misty moors
- Classic Literature
- Poetry
- Classic Greek and Latin art
- Blazers, button up shirts, sweaters, etc.
- A mysterious authority figure
- Dark colors
Tips For Writing a Dark Academia Novel
If you have been overcome with an obsession for dark academia and have decided that only you can write the best one out there, do your research. First, after you’ve read the rest of this blog, close the blinds, unless it’s foggy outside or the fall leaves are blowing across our window. Because damp, windy, and cool weather rule the world of dark academia.
Next, turn on some Bach, Debussy, Vivaldi, Tchaikovsky, Verdi, Strauss… you get the picture. Quiet sounds are important to the atmosphere you are creating. Was that a creak? Can you hear the crackle of tuning pages?
Then, make yourself a cup of tea, or coffee if you are a more serious academic who thinks sleep is for the weak. Extra points if the mug is plain and chipped. True academics don’t have time for frippery. Feel the warmth of the steam that is carrying the scent throughout your place of research.
Turn down your thermostat and dress up in a button-down shirt and blazer or a good dark colored sweater vest. Glasses are a must; they make you appear serious. If you don’t have any dark furniture or a convenient moldering library, throw a good background on your computer or smart tv.
Then think back to your own school days—no, not too far back—college or high school here. After all, dark academia is for serious adults. But if you didn’t go to an Ivy League school—that’s most of us—imagine your teachers and fellow students in uniforms, traipsing down hallowed halls, in Greco-Roman inspired architecture.
Now, imagine who will die. Sorry, I don’t make the rules. The dark part of dark academia usually involves a murder. Or the death of someone too soon. Think Poe, the Victorian and gothic obsession with death and its inevitability. Think power and elitism and why people are willing to kill. Think of friendships, forbidden loves, and betrayals. Consider the obsession with something or someone to the detriment of all else. Knowledge can be a very dangerous weapon.
Consider the topic your protagonist is consumed with. You might need a dictionary—I’d suggest Oxford to go with the theme, but your editor is likely to insist on Webster—and maybe a textbook or five hundred. Learn a bit so you can talk the talk and use some of those very specific big words.
Are you deep into it yet? Now add a secret society, dramatic robes, or the occult and you’ll have the perfect recipe—or spell—for a magical, leather-bound story that contains the essence of dark academia.
And once your masterpiece is written, use Fictionary Storyteller software to edit it into an unforgettable future classic. After all, Jane Austin, Edgar Allen Poe, and even the Bronte sisters knew the secret of a strong story structure that lures readers in throughout the centuries.
But shhh, we can only tell those who are a part of our secret Fictionary society about it. And we want to invite you.