20 Best Dark Academia Books To Read, From ‘The Secret History’ To ‘Hex’

Dark academia has it all : the fashion, the intrigue, the pseudo-intellectual nonsense. The writing style ’ mho best books highlight everything that ’ s incorrectly with our most respect institutions, the people who uphold them, and the aspirant they grind to a pulp. It ’ mho no wonder that readers can ’ metric ton get enough. Although dark academia ’ second recently seen its popularity rise as the aesthetic has taken off on TikTok, it ’ south older than much of that platform ’ south drug user base. Drawing inspiration from mid-century school uniforms and traditional academic dress ( flannel and ties, anyone ? ), dark academia is what happens when you mix sapiosexuals with mystique. The germinal novel included on this list is Donna Tartt ’ mho 1992 debut, The Secret History — a mystery set on the grounds of a little New England college. But recent releases like Mona Awad ’ s Bunny and Leigh Bardugo ’ s Ninth House are keeping the 30-year-old literary vogue fresh. There ’ randomness no dearth of campus-based thrillers to delve into, and no topic which one you pick, it ’ mho sure to be a perfect fall read. Below, the 20 best dark academia books to read now.

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1

Ace of Spades

‘Ace of Spades ‘ by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé Harriett ‘s Bookshop Two high-achieving Black students at an elect, majority-white academy find their academic futures threatened by an anonymous blackmailer. The cryptic villain has somehow obtained all the intimate details of their social lives — and is leaking them to the integral school, one textbook at a prison term.

2

Bunny

‘Bunny ‘ by Mona Awad amazon Mona Awad leans heavily into night academia ’ s horror side in Bunny : a fresh in which a friendless MFA campaigner joins her age group ’ s exclusive literary salon, and finds herself drawn into a sinister, imagination-fueled world.

3

Catherine House

‘Catherine House ‘ by Elisabeth Thomas The Lit. bar At an unconventional college secluded in the Pennsylvania wilds, an ex-party girl gets a wake-up call when her roommate by chance dies. abruptly, she can ’ thyroxine aid but dig deeper into the secrets that lurk in her institution ’ south hallowed halls.

4

The Divines

‘The Divines ‘ by Ellie Eaton amazon Fifteen years after the doors to her once-prestigious school closed for thoroughly, Josephine is plunged into the painful memories of her brumous past, reliving the last days of St. John the Divine and the scandal that changed her friends ’ lives constantly.

5

Ghosts of Harvard

‘Ghosts of Harvard ‘ by Francesca Serritella amazon Cady ’ s older brother dies by suicide while attending Harvard, leaving behind a notebook filled with foreign and unthinkable claims. To investigate them, Cady enrolls at the university herself.

6

Hex

‘Hex ‘ by Rebecca Dinerstein Knight amazon In this short fresh from the writer of The Sunlit Night, a discredit PhD candidate gets caught up in academician intrigue. While working on a means of removing toxins from poisonous plants, Nell becomes increasingly obsessed with her alluring mentor.

7

The Historian

‘The Historian ‘ by Elizabeth Kostova amazon You don ’ thyroxine get much more blue academia than Elizabeth Kostova ’ s The Historian. In this literary horror novel, one young research worker dives into the mystery of Vlad the Impaler — a mystery that her family has been trying to unravel for generations, with black results.

8

How We Fall Apart

‘How We Fall Apart ‘ by Katie Zhao amazon When a junior at a well-respected homework school is found dead, anonymous posts begin to circulate on the educate ’ s social media app, calling out the female child ’ sulfur closest friends as suspects. The source known only as “ The Proctor ” knows everything about Nancy, Krystal, Akil, and Alexander. With everything on the pipeline, can they find out who ’ randomness behind the messages before it ’ mho excessively deep ?

9

A Lesson in Vengeance

‘A Lesson in Vengeance ‘ by Victoria Lee amazon literary wunderkind Ellis has fair arrived at Dalloway School ’ s Godwin House — rumored to be the most haunt build on the seclude campus — to research her next novel : the story of five young witches who were murdered in their dormitory. She ’ s going to need some assistant, however, and who better than Felicity, the returning scholar silent grieving for her girlfriend ’ s death ?

10

The Library of the Unwritten

‘The Library of the Unwritten ‘ by A.J. Hackwith

amazon All stories want to be told. Those that aren ’ triiodothyronine pine away in Hell ’ s Library of the Unwritten … but sometimes their characters come out to make maleficence. When one story ’ randomness Hero goes rogue and disappears, it ’ s up to hellish librarian Claire, muse Brevity, and the demon Leto to hunt him down before he ruins everything for his unsuspecting writer.

11

The Mary Shelley Club

‘The Mary Shelley Club ‘ by Goldy Moldavsky amazon In this page-turner from Kill the Boy Band generator Goldy Moldavsky, an unpopular homework school student is welcomed into a secret society of pranksters — good when she needs friends the most.

12

Ninth House

‘Ninth House ‘ by Leigh Bardugo amazon Alex is the last person on Earth you ’ d expect to get a full tease to Yale, and even, she has — on one discipline : that she report back to her benefactor about the movements of the school ’ second confidential societies. It ’ s easier said than done, but Alex is about to find her “ in. ”

13

One of Us Is Lying

‘One of Us Is Lying ‘ by Karen M. McManus amazon When the creator of a high-school gossip app dies in detention, four of his classmates come under coarse examination. Who killed Simon, and why ? Bronwyn, Addy, Nate, and Cooper all had reasons. They all had a motivation. alone one of them is guilty … right ?

14

Plain Bad Heroines

‘Plain Bad Heroines ‘ by Emily M. Danforth amazon More than 100 years after five young girls met ghastly deaths on school grounds, the Brookhants School for Girls serves as a set for a gay repugnance film inspired by its ghastly history. Three women gather to make movie magic trick — but they may awoken something much blue in Brookhants ’ hallowed halls.

15

Piranesi

‘Piranesi ‘ by Susanna Clarke amazon possibly the weirdest script on this tilt — in the best possible manner — Susanna Clarke ’ s Piranesi follows its eponymous bomber through the flood halls of his creepy, labyrinthine home as he searches for A Great and Secret Knowledge hidden within its depths.

16

Real Life

‘Real Life ‘ by Brandon Taylor commitment Bookstores Queer, Black, and from the South, PhD campaigner Wallace sticks out like a sensitive flick at his majority-white Midwestern university. even so, he ’ s managed to build something of a rapport with the school ’ sulfur gay community — but an affray with a white student may put his entire academic future in hazard.

17

The Secret History

‘The Secret History ‘ by Donna Tartt amazon The grandfather of dark academia, Donna Tartt ’ s The Secret History is a mystery of door-stopper proportions. The narrative here centers on six students studying in the Classics platform at a small Vermont college — one of whom was murdered by another in the clique.

18

Those Who Prey

‘Those Who Prey ‘ by Jennifer Moffett amazon Isolated and friendless, a freshman college scholar falls in with an abusive cult in Jennifer Moffett ’ s Those Who Prey. Stranded in a foreign country without their passports, Emily and the Kingdom ’ s other victims find themselves in awful straits when person turns up dead.

19

Trust Exercise

‘Trust Exercise ‘ By Susan Choi set at a acting arts high educate in the 1980s, Susan Choi ’ s Trust Exercise follows two students through the beginnings of their picture-perfect romanticism, and through its inevitable clang. Years by and by, however, new facts come to light that uncover more about David, Sarah, and their classmates.

20

We Wish You Luck

‘We Wish You Luck ‘ by Caroline Zancan amazon In Caroline Zancan ’ sulfur We Wish You Luck, three charismatic alumnus students plot their retaliation on a visiting novelist-turned-professor, with delightfully awful results .

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Category : Recommendations