Dark Academia is an aesthetic or style that revolves around all things academic, dark, literary, and (usually) murder. Think walking down the halls of Oxford University on your way to Latin class in a cozy wool blazer while it’s raining outside. Think reading Edgar Allen Poe in a warm coffee shop on an overcast afternoon. That’s Dark Academia. Type in “Dark Academia” in any Pinterest or Instagram search bar and you’ll get an idea.
Fall and Winter is the perfect time to discover this aesthetic which is why in today’s post I’m sharing all of my Dark Academia book, film, and TV show recommendations that you can dive into this November and December.
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The Secret History by Donna Tartt
The first book on this list is what I like to call – the Dark Academia handbook. If you want to dive head first into this aesthetic then you read The Secret History by Donna Tartt. And while some people hate it, I’m part of the group that likes it. It’s about a college student named Richard who transfers to an elite university in Vermont to get away from the monotony of his life. While there, he meets a unique group of friends who study Latin and keep to themselves. The closer Richard gets to this group, the more he realizes that maybe he doesn’t really know them at all – and maybe they’re capable of murder.
A Series of Unfortunate Events Series by Lemony Snicket
This book series follows the Baudelaire siblings – Violet, Klaus, and Sonny – who become orphans after their parents die in a fire. Under the unqualified eye of Mr. Poe (their parents’ banker), the children are sent to live with a new guardian, a vile man named Count Olaf who wants to make their lives miserable and steal their fortune. In a series of narrow escapes the Baudelaires go on an adventure to get away from Count Olaf and to learn their parents’ secrets. There are thirteen books in the series and you’ll find all sorts of literary references sprinkled throughout each one.
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Jane Eyre is a Dark Academia classic and it’s probably one of the most atmospheric books ever written. It’s about a young woman named Jane who becomes a governess to a little French girl named Adele Varens. The story gets really interesting when Jane meets and falls in love with her aloof and mysterious employer, Edward Rochester. As the two get closer, Jane begins to realize that the man she loves may be hiding things that could change everything between them forever. If you love brooding and mysterious love interests then this is the book for you.
They Wish They Were Us by Jessica Goodman
The next book on the list is a YA thriller about a girl named Jill who’s part of the Long Island high society. Everything in Jill’s life seems perfect – perfect friends, perfect school – but everything is not what it seems. Freshman year, one of Jill’s classmates named Shaila was murdered and all the evidence pointed to a guy named Graham. Graham confessed and the case was closed. Fast forward to senior year, Jill’s perfect life is turned upside down when she starts receiving text messages proclaiming Graham’s innocence. If Graham didn’t kill Shaila, then who did? It’s up to Jill to find the real killer.
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
Ninth House is unlike any other book you’ll read. It follows a girl named Galaxy “Alex” Stern who wakes in a hospital bed after surviving a multiple homicide and gets the chance to attend Yale University on a full-ride. The only catch is she has to spy on Yale’s secret societies and report back to her mysterious benefactors. But the deeper Alex goes into Yale’s underworld, the more she realizes that the societies might be more than just entertaining – they might be deadly.
Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson
If you’re an Agatha Christie fan then you’ll really enjoy this next book. Ellingham Academy is a prestigious private school in Vermont that was built by a wealthy tycoon who believed that learning should be like a game. When his wife and daughter are kidnapped and the only clue left behind is a riddle listing different methods of murder, the school notoriously becomes part of the greatest unsolved mystery in American history. Years later, a student named Stevie Bell and her housemates try to reopen the case but death comes back to Ellingham. Could it be the same murderer or is there a new killer amongst them?
The Magpie Society – One for Sorry by Zoe Sugg & Amy McCulloch
The next book follows new student Audrey as she attends the prestigious, British boarding school of Illumen Hall – a school known for tradition and achievement. While there she meets Ivy, her new roommate who’s best friend, Lola, was recently murdered and who can’t stand her. As the two girls learn to live with each other, they’re forced into an alliance when they begin listening to a podcast that says, “I know who killed Lola and one of you is next.”
If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio
Out of all of the books on this list, this is the one I found to be the closest to The Secret History. If We Were Villains picks up with a guy named Oliver who’s spent ten years in prison for a murder he may or may not have committed. As Oliver tells the story of what happened, he takes you back to his days as a Shakespeare student at an elite arts college where he and his friends vie for the lead in a Shakespeare play. When the casting changes and one of them is found dead, it’s up to the actors to convince the police that they’re innocent – but are they?
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
The last book on the list is actually a fantasy book but because of the setting I consider it Dark Academia. The story follows Diana Bishop, an Oxford student who’s also a descendant of witches, as she discovers a long-lost and enchanted manuscript that’s been hiding deep in the Oxford Bodleian Library. Upon her discovery she meets a mysterious (and handsome) vampire named Matthew Clairmont who wants the manuscript and together they must keep it out of the wrong hands. I like to think of this book as the grown-up version of Twilight so if you liked that series, then you should like this one too.
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Verse of the Day: Then He said to them, “Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given.” – Mark 4:24
