Winding staircases, vast libraries, old colleges and darkened hallways… The dark academia aesthetic has been rapidly growing over recent years, impacting fashion, literature and media.
Dark academia is a sub-genre that is growing rapidly. Usually, these books involve an academic setting, some kind of dark mystery and some pretty pretentious characters. Unlike light academia, dark academia focuses on darker themes (typically revolving around murder or some sort of crime).
Dark academia tends to lend itself more towards gothic classics and mythology, but there are also a lot of more modern classics and YA dark academia books.
READ MORE: 8 Best Classics for Beginners in the Genre

The Secret History by Donna Tartt
““Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the humdrum existence of their contemporaries..“
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“Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the humdrum existence of their contemporaries. But when they go beyond the boundaries of normal morality they slip gradually from obsession to corruption and betrayal, and at last – inexorably – into evil.“
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Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
“Galaxy βAlexβ Stern is the most unlikely member of Yaleβs freshman class. Raised in the Los Angeles hinterlands by a hippie mom, Alex dropped out of school early and into a world of shady drug dealer boyfriends, dead-end jobs, and much, much worse. Some might say sheβs thrown her life away. But at her hospital bed, Alex is offered a second chance…”
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“Galaxy βAlexβ Stern is the most unlikely member of Yaleβs freshman class. Raised in the Los Angeles hinterlands by a hippie mom, Alex dropped out of school early and into a world of shady drug dealer boyfriends, dead-end jobs, and much, much worse. By age twenty, in fact, she is the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved multiple homicide. Some might say sheβs thrown her life away. But at her hospital bed, Alex is offered a second chance: to attend one of the worldβs most elite universities on a full ride. Whatβs the catch, and why her?
Still searching for answers to this herself, Alex arrives in New Haven tasked by her mysterious benefactors with monitoring the activities of Yaleβs secret societies. These eight windowless βtombsβ are well-known to be haunts of the future rich and powerful, from high-ranking politicos to Wall Street and Hollywoodβs biggest players. But their occult activities are revealed to be more sinister and more extraordinary than any paranoid imagination might conceive.Β “

Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas
“A story about a dangerously curious young undergraduate whose rebelliousness leads her to discover a shocking secret involving an exclusive circle of students . . . and the dark truth beneath her schoolβs promise of prestige.“
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“A story about a dangerously curious young undergraduate whose rebelliousness leads her to discover a shocking secret involving an exclusive circle of students . . . and the dark truth beneath her schoolβs promise of prestige.
You are in the house and the house is in the woods.
You are in the house and the house is in you . . .
Catherine House is a school of higher learning like no other. Hidden deep in the woods of rural Pennsylvania, this crucible of reformist liberal arts study with its experimental curriculum, wildly selective admissions policy, and formidable endowment, has produced some of the worldβs best minds: prize-winning authors, artists, inventors, Supreme Court justices, presidents. For those lucky few selected, tuition, room, and board are free. But acceptance comes with a price. Students are required to give the House three yearsβsummers includedβcompletely removed from the outside world. Family, friends, television, music, even their clothing must be left behind. In return, the school promises its graduates a future of sublime power and prestige, and that they can become anything or anyone they desire.
Among this yearβs incoming class is Ines, who expects to trade blurry nights of parties, pills, cruel friends, and dangerous men for rigorous intellectual disciplineβonly to discover an environment of sanctioned revelry. The schoolβs enigmatic director, ViktΓ³ria, encourages the students to explore, to expand their minds, to find themselves and their place within the formidable black iron gates of Catherine.
For Ines, Catherine is the closest thing to a home sheβs ever had, and her serious, timid roommate, Baby, soon becomes an unlikely friend. Yet the Houseβs strange protocols make this refuge, with its worn velvet and weathered leather, feel increasingly like a gilded prison. And when Babyβs obsessive desire for acceptance ends in tragedy, Ines begins to suspect that the schoolβin all its shabby splendor, hallowed history, advanced theories, and controlled decadenceβmight be hiding a dangerous agenda that is connected to a secretive, tightly knit group of students selected to study its most promising and mysterious curriculum.“

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
“A disturbing tale of a young manβs uncanny ability to remain young and beautiful while descending into a life of heartless debauchery. A Picture of Dorian Gray, the scandalous 1891 bestseller, was considered proof of Wildeβs genius, but also of his perversion: a damning piece of evidence used against him in the trial that brought about his downfall.”
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“Wilde’s only novel, first published in 1890, is a brilliantly designed puzzle, intended to tease conventional minds with its exploration of the myriad interrelationships between art, life, and consequence. From its provocative Preface, challenging the reader to believe in ‘art for art’s sake’, to its sensational conclusion, the story self-consciously experiments with the notion of sin as an element of design.
Yet Wilde himself underestimated the consequences of his experiment, and its capacity to outrage the Victorian establishment. Its words returned to haunt him in his court appearances in 1895, and he later recalled the ‘note of doom’ which runs like ‘a purple thread’ through its carefully crafted prose.”

If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio
“Oliver Marks has just served ten years in jail – for a murder he may or may not have committed. On the day he’s released, he’s greeted by the man who put him in prison. Detective Colborne is retiring, but before he does, he wants to know what really happened a decade ago.“
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“Oliver Marks has just served ten years in jail – for a murder he may or may not have committed. On the day he’s released, he’s greeted by the man who put him in prison. Detective Colborne is retiring, but before he does, he wants to know what really happened a decade ago.
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, extra. But when the casting changes, and the secondary characters usurp the stars, the plays spill dangerously over into life, and one of them is found dead. The rest face their greatest acting challenge yet: convincing the police, and themselves, that they are blameless.Β “

Bunny by Mona Awad
“Samantha Heather Mackey couldn’t be more of an outsider in her small, highly selective MFA program at New England’s Warren University. A scholarship student who prefers the company of her dark imagination to that of most people, she is utterly repelled by the rest of her fiction writing cohort–a clique of unbearably twee rich girls who call each other “Bunny,” and seem to move and speak as one.“
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“Samantha Heather Mackey couldn’t be more of an outsider in her small, highly selective MFA program at New England’s Warren University. A scholarship student who prefers the company of her dark imagination to that of most people, she is utterly repelled by the rest of her fiction writing cohort–a clique of unbearably twee rich girls who call each other “Bunny,” and seem to move and speak as one.
But everything changes when Samantha receives an invitation to the Bunnies’ fabled “Smut Salon,” and finds herself inexplicably drawn to their front door–ditching her only friend, Ava, in the process. As Samantha plunges deeper and deeper into the Bunnies’ sinister yet saccharine world, beginning to take part in the ritualistic off-campus “Workshop” where they conjure their monstrous creations, the edges of reality begin to blur. Soon, her friendships with Ava and the Bunnies will be brought into deadly collision.
The spellbinding new novel from one of our most fearless chroniclers of the female experience, Bunny is a down-the-rabbit-hole tale of loneliness and belonging, friendship and desire, and the fantastic and terrible power of the imagination.“

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik
“Lesson One of the Scholomance: Learning has never been this deadly.
A Deadly Education is set at Scholomance, a school for the magically gifted where failure means certain death (for real) β until one girl, El, begins to unlock its many secrets.“
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“Lesson One of the Scholomance:Β Learning has never been this deadly.
A Deadly EducationΒ is set at Scholomance, a school for the magically gifted where failure means certain death (for real) β until one girl, El, begins to unlock its many secrets.
There are no teachers, no holidays, and no friendships, save strategic ones. Survival is more important than any letter grade, for the school wonβt allow its students to leave until they graduateβ¦ or die! The rules are deceptively simple: Donβt walk the halls alone. And beware of the monsters who lurk everywhere.
El is uniquely prepared for the schoolβs dangers. She may be without allies, but she possesses a dark power strong enough to level mountains and wipe out millions. It would be easy enough for El to defeat the monsters that prowl the school. The problem? Her powerful dark magic might also kill all the other students.“

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong
“The year is 1926, and Shanghai hums to the tune of debauchery.
A blood feud between two gangs runs the streets red, leaving the city helpless in the grip of chaos. At the heart of it all is eighteen-year-old Juliette Cai, a former flapper who has returned to assume her role as the proud heir of the Scarlet Gangβa network of criminals far above the law.“
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“The year is 1926, and Shanghai hums to the tune of debauchery.
A blood feud between two gangs runs the streets red, leaving the city helpless in the grip of chaos. At the heart of it all is eighteen-year-old Juliette Cai, a former flapper who has returned to assume her role as the proud heir of the Scarlet Gangβa network of criminals far above the law. Their only rivals in power are the White Flowers, who have fought the Scarlets for generations. And behind every move is their heir, Roma Montagov, Julietteβs first loveβ¦and first betrayal.
But when gangsters on both sides show signs of instability culminating in clawing their own throats out, the people start to whisper. Of a contagion, a madness. Of a monster in the shadows. As the deaths stack up, Juliette and Roma must set their gunsβand grudgesβaside and work together, for if they canβt stop this mayhem, then there will be no city left for either to rule.
Perfect for fans ofΒ The Last MagicianΒ andΒ Descendant of the Crane, this heart-stopping debut is an imaginativeΒ Romeo and JulietΒ retelling set in 1920s Shanghai, with rival gangs and a monster in the depths of the Huangpu River.“

Are you new to dark academia? Will you be trying any of these recommendations? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below or you connect with me on any of my social medias @wanderingthroughlit.
Mek says
Ninth House stole my heart when I read it in November 2020, I have The Picture of Dorian Grey on my shelf and have been wanting to read it, now that I know it is dark academia, I am even more excited! I also have If We Were Villains on my kindle and it sounds so damn good! Thanks for the recommendations
Have a great day and happy reading π
Millie Hatfield-Grossova says
I’m glad you enjoyed it! The Picture of Dorian Gray is possibly my favourite classic so I really hope you enjoy π
Ngoza says
A Deadly Education was sooo good!
Millie Hatfield-Grossova says
That’s one that I still need to read but I’ve heard from so many people that it was great π