Tesla-Anna Curtis/The Mossy Log
With fall’s arrival, now is the best time to curl up with a book, and I would recommend readers become familiar with “dark academia,” the genre of literary fiction I find most autumnal, especially in the spooky season. The genre’s essential hallmark is in its name — academia, most often framed within a university setting. These novels feature commentary on intellectualism, obsession and the ruin that so often accompanies them. Character work is crucial to writing a successful novel in the genre, and commonly, our narrator is unreliable or “morally gray.”
“The Secret History” by Donna Tartt
It would be impossible to make a list of dark academia must-reads without mentioning the “holy text” of the genre: Donna Tartt’s “The Secret History.” Richard Papen, our narrator, stumbles into a cult-like group of six classics students at Hampden College in rural Vermont, and becomes enraptured by their obsession with Dionysian rituals. Madness ensues, leaving a student dead — a plot point revealed in the prologue. The novel features commentary on fear, reverence, beauty and fatality. Tartt’s writing is superb, with characters that jump off the page and force the reader to analyze the ways in which they, too, are similar.
“These Violent Delights” by Micah Nemerever
In a similar vein to “The Secret History,” “These Violent Delights” opens with a prologue revealing a murderous plot point. “These Violent Delights” is a coming-of-age story that follows Paul and Julian, two young college students in the year 1970 at a Pennsylvanian college. At its center is a fictional chess match Julian had watched, facilitating commentary on fate and the inevitability of their mutual destruction. The two characters become disastrously codependent despite their shared understanding that nothing else that could happen between them could ever compare to the brutality they inflict upon one another. “These Violent Delights” offers dialogue about queer love and decay, intellect and insanity.
“If We Were Villains” by M.L. Rio
“If We Were Villains” begins with the story of Oliver Marks, a former theater student at Dellecher Shakespeare Conservatory, walking free on parole. The narrative alternates between past and present while Oliver shares with a detective the full truth behind his incarceration. We follow the story of six fourth-year acting students through their melodrama, suspense and ultimately, murder. The book is laced with Shakespeare references — characters recite lines in casual conversation and become obsessed with their roles and one another, blurring the lines between performance and reality.
“All’s Well” by Mona Awad
Similarly, “All’s Well” hinges on Shakespearean influence. The novel authored by Mona Awad, who wrote the more well-known novel, “Bunny”, centers on the life of Miranda Fitch, a chronically ill college theater director down on her luck. All signs point towards her firing, so she bets her job on a production of “All’s Well That Ends Well.” Soon after she announces the play to her students, she is met by three mysterious men, all promising her relief. “All’s Well” reads like an A24 film: outlandish and absurd.
“They Never Learn” by Layne Fargo
“They Never Learn” is a dark, gripping thriller that blends sharp social commentary with a lethal dose of revenge. The story follows a female serial killer named Scarlett Clark, an English professor at the prestigious Gorman University who goes after predatory men. The result is a disturbingly-cathartic read. Much like the film “Promising Young Woman,” the novel explored themes of power, trauma and retribution through a complex, morally-ambiguous narrator.
“Katabasis” by R.F. Kuang
“Katabasis” follows Alice and Peter, two doctoral candidates studying magic, who descend into a version of Hell that eerily mirrors a university campus, all to save their professor’s soul — and secure a letter of recommendation. The book blends dark academia with magical realism, mixing the pressures and rivalries of grad school with inventive supernatural twists that keep the reader on their toes. “Katabasis” is a surreal journey through the underworld of higher education, where the true cost of ambition is always footnoted.
Each of these books offers a sharp look into ambition, obsession and the dark sides of academic life. From the chilling mystery of “The Secret History,” to the quiet rage in “They Never Learn,” these novels challenge the idea that knowledge is purely noble. If you are drawn to stories where intellect collides with danger, these are worth picking up this fall.
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