The Dark Academicals: Recent Episodes
Sarah Purnell & Sophie Waters
Wildly, it’s becoming a bit of tradition to see out the end of the season with a podcast episode dedicated to speaking to an author and Season 10 saw us speak to the wonderfully lovely and very smart Kat Dunn, the author of ‘Hungerstone’, ‘Bitterthorn’ and the ‘Battalion of the Dead’ trilogy.
It was ‘Hungerstone’ that captured us and we had so many things to discuss about the Gothic, dark academia, women and the wonderful ‘Hungerstone’ which you can learn about right here:
*FOR WHAT DO YOU HUNGER . . . ?
Lenore is the wife of steel magnate Henry, but ten years into their marriage the relationship has soured, and no child has arrived to fill the distance growing between them. Henry's ambitions take them from London to the Peak District, to the remote, imposing Nethershaw estate, where he plans to host a hunting party. Lenore must work to restore the crumbling house and ready it for Henry's guests - their future depends on it.
But as the couple travel through the bleak countryside, a shocking carriage accident brings the mysterious Carmilla into Lenore's life. Carmilla, who is weak and pale during the day but vibrant at night, Carmilla who stirs up something deep within Lenore. And before long, girls from the local villages fall sick, consumed by a terrible hunger . . .
As the day of the hunt draws closer, Lenore begins to unravel, questioning the role she has been playing all these years. Torn between regaining her husband's affection and the cravings Carmilla has awakened, soon Lenore will uncover a darkness in her household that will place her at terrible risk . . .
Set against the violent wilderness of the Peaks and the uncontrolled appetite of the Industrial Revolution, HUNGERSTONE is a compulsive sapphic reworking of CARMILLA, the book that inspired DRACULA: a captivating story of appetite and desire.*
With influences of the Gothic and inspiration from a classic vampire tale, ‘Hungerstone’ was something we absolutely had to read for the podcast (you can listen to the episode here) and we were so excited to get to speak to Kat herself.
A book pitched as ‘dark academia romantasy’? Say less.
This promises some potential for morally grey taboo romance, a real villain and a fun time, but the ever present conflict between romantasy, spicy romance and dark academia will test what we know and see as dark academia as it always does when we read these types of novels for the podcast.
“Your destiny is not to do what is right. Your destiny is to destroy us all.”Willow Madizza never thought she’d accept a place at Hollow’s Grove University, the secret and prestigious institution where the best and brightest of her fellow witches learn to wield their magic.But Willow has reasons for being at Hollow’s Grove beyond the education it offers. Raised to be a weapon against the Coven that presides over the University, she must find the bones of her ancestors in order to reclaim the magic that is her destiny.Her only obstacle is Alaric Grayson Thorne, the University’s beautiful and infuriating Headmaster. Gray is ruthless, manipulative, dangerous – he represents everything Willow has been taught to despise. But despite their mutual loathing, Gray understands Willow better than anyone, and he might just be the key to unlocking her full power…
Will the romantasy outweigh the dark academia? Or will the dark academia stay shrouded in spice?
In this episode we discuss:
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When love interests are actually just predators
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The unrealised potential of this novel
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Witches and vampires, oh my
‘Vita Nostra’ has lingered on our masterlist of dark academia titles since the conception of The Dark Academicals and after we tackled a novel about translation in season nine, it felt only right to tackle a novel that has been translated, and the beloved ‘Vita Nostra’ was the answer.
While I feel like I’ve known about the existence of ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’ by Joan Lindsay for so very long, it even has a film adaptation, but the mysterious synopsis and the question it asks about fact vs fiction really speak to our dark academia adjacent desires. This is the first time either of us has read this modern classic! Let’s dive in!
Both Sarah and I have big buzzwords outside of dark academia, and several of them are vampires and ‘Carmilla’ retelling and we added ‘Hungerstone’ to our line up so fast when we learned that this novel is inspired by ‘Carmilla’ b Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, a sapphic vampire novella that predated ‘Dracula’.
Even with my slight aversion to historical fiction, reading this and talking about it on Season 10 was a no-brainer.
*FOR WHAT DO YOU HUNGER . . . ?
Lenore is the wife of steel magnate Henry, but ten years into their marriage the relationship has soured, and no child has arrived to fill the distance growing between them. Henry's ambitions take them from London to the Peak District, to the remote, imposing Nethershaw estate, where he plans to host a hunting party. Lenore must work to restore the crumbling house and ready it for Henry's guests - their future depends on it.
But as the couple travel through the bleak countryside, a shocking carriage accident brings the mysterious Carmilla into Lenore's life. Carmilla, who is weak and pale during the day but vibrant at night, Carmilla who stirs up something deep within Lenore. And before long, girls from the local villages fall sick, consumed by a terrible hunger . . .
As the day of the hunt draws closer, Lenore begins to unravel, questioning the role she has been playing all these years. Torn between regaining her husband's affection and the cravings Carmilla has awakened, soon Lenore will uncover a darkness in her household that will place her at terrible risk . . .*
But does the Gothic lead in dark academia with ‘Hungerstone’?
In this episode we discuss:
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The motifs of blood
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The crumbling estate of Nethshaw and the way it interacts with Lenore’s crumbling marriage and mental state
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Carmilla’s presence in the novel, and her lack of presence on page
It always feel like a risk to put a book on the line up that has such mixed reviews and a reasonably low Goodreads average, but ‘An Academy for Liars’ by Alexis Henderson was just calling out to be read and analysed for this season of the podcast. It sounds dark, twisty, and delicious, with a whole heap of hints at dark academia - it had to happen.
Lennon Carter’s life is falling apart.
*Until she gets a mysterious phone call inviting her to sit the entrance exam for somewhere very few have heard of - Drayton College, a school of magic hidden in a secret pocket of Savannah.
Lennon has been chosen because - like everyone else at the school - she is special. She possesses the innate gift of persuasion: the ability to wield her will like a weapon and to use it to control others and, in rare cases, matter itself.
After passing the gruelling exam, Lennon must now learn how to master this devastating power.
While persuasion takes a heavy toll on her body and her mind, she is captivated by all that surrounds her - her studies, Drayton’s lush, moss-draped campus, her brilliant classmates and, most of all, by Dante, the charismatic adviser who both intimidates and enamours her.
But as Lennon becomes more adept at wielding her uncanny abilities, she uncovers more about the unsettling history of Drayton and Dante’s tragic and violent past, and is increasingly disturbed by what she finds.
For it seems that the ultimate test is to embrace absolute power without succumbing to corruption and darkness . . . and it's a test she's terrified she is going to fail.*
Everything about Lennon’s adventures at Drayton College sound like some dark academia boxes could be ticked… Let’s find out!
In this episode we discuss:
- The “Dante” character archetype.
- Elitism, performance and the pressure of exclusive institution.
- The capacity and limitations of human free will and autonomy.
- Is it Dark Academia?
You can listen to it here: Podcast RSS
TEXTS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE* ‘An Academy for Liars’ by Alexis Henderson * ‘Ninth House' by Leigh Bardugo * ‘The Secret History’ by Donna Tartt * ‘The Whispering Dark’ by Kelly Andrew * ‘Darkly’ by Marisha Pessl * ‘A Study in Drowning’ by Ava Reid * ‘The Men Who Stare at Goats' by Jon Ronson
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With ‘Special Topics and Calamity Physics’ and ‘Night Film’ both catapulting Marisha Pessl into the realms of early BookTube and book internet fanfare in the early 2010s, with whispers of dark academia and academia-related stories that blend with thrillers and literary fiction.
We’ve both been long-interested in Marisha Pessl as an author and the fascinating premise and stunning cover of ‘Darkly’ meant it was sent straight to the top of our dark academia wishlist…
*A seemingly ordinary high school student. A mysterious summer internship. And a legendary games designer, now dead.
When an ad for an internship with the Louisiana Veda Foundation appears, Arcadia 'Dia' Gannon rushes to apply. Veda's game-making empire, Darkly, was renowned for its ingenious and terrifying games back in the day and Dia is as obsessed with them as anyone.
The remaining games are priced like highly sought-after works of art, with the rarest and most notorious commanding tens of millions of dollars at auction. Now, Dia is thrust into the enigmatic heart of the operation. But who are these other interns? Why do they all seem to have something to hide? And why was she really chosen? It soon becomes clear that this summer will be the most twisted Darkly game of all.*
But will ‘Darkly’ live up to our inflated dark academia dreams?
In this episode we discuss:
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The many pop culture, movie, TV and literary influences and connections we found in ‘Darkly’
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The way that the media villainise creative, successful women, and the way that the men around them support and facilitate it
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The role of romance, Poe Valois III and Choke Newington
This will forever go down as a Podcast highlight for us. Being given the opportunity to talk with the one and only M L Rio about Dark Academia, her new book ‘Graveyard Shift’, while also waxing lyrical about ‘If We Were Villains’ was something me and Sophie could have only dreamed of when we started The Dark Academicals.
M L Rio's novella is summarised thusly:
“Every night, in the college's ancient cemetery, five people cross paths as they work the late shift: a bartender, a rideshare driver, a hotel receptionist, the steward of the derelict church that looms over them, and the editor-in-chief of the college paper, always in search of a story.
One dark October evening in the defunct churchyard, they find a hole that wasn't there before. A fresh, open grave where no grave should be. But who dug it, and for whom?
Before they go their separate ways, the gravedigger returns. As they trail him through the night, they realize he may be the key to a string of strange happenings around town that have made headlines for the last few weeks--and that they may be closer to the mystery than they thought.”
In this episode we discuss:
The rising trend of the Dark Academia genre
M L Rio's writing patterns, preferences, influences and processes
THAT ENDING of ‘Graveyard Shift’
The cultural and linguistic legacy of Shakespeare and his works
A sneaky little insight into the next novel, ‘Hot Wax'
And a whole lot of tangents…
This historical fantasy is from the realms of classic YA and we’re both super excited to revisit this novel that we both read around 10 years ago for the podcast as from what we remember, it has definite dark academia fantasy vibes.
While this series is now out of print, ‘The Great and Terrible Beauty’ is still available in ebook, and it stands as a touchstone of YA.
*It's 1895, and after the death of her mother, 16-year-old Gemma Doyle is shipped off from the life she knows in British India to Spence Academy, a proper boarding school in England.
Lonely, guilt-ridden, and prone to visions of the future that have an uncomfortable habit of coming true, Gemma's reception at Spence is a chilly one. To make things worse, she's being followed by a mysterious young Indian man who has been sent to watch her. But why? What is her destiny? And what will her entanglement with Spence's most powerful girls – and their foray into the spiritual world – lead to?*
But how will it hold up to the tropes of dark academia and a reread a decade later?
In this episode we discuss:
Revisiting a classic YA novel fifteen years later
Sophie’s issues with historical fiction and the subjugation of women
An unexpected treatise on politics, reading, and how everything is political in the wake of the 2024 US Presidential Election
And a whole lot of tangents…
This debut novel has been everywhere all year and it’s about time we got around to reading it. ‘The Four’ by Ellie Keel sounds super dark and it gives real dark academia vibes already: scholarship students in an elite institution, a dead friend, and the mystery of what happened.
We were always The Four. From our very first day at High Realms.
The four scholarship pupils. Outsiders in a world of power and privilege.
It would have made our lives a lot easier if Marta had simply pushed Genevieve out of our bedroom window that day. Certainly, it would have been tragic. She would have died instantly.
But Marta didn’t push her then, or – if you choose to believe me – at any other time. If she had, all of what we went through would not have happened.
I’ve told this story as clearly as I could – as rationally as I’ve been able, in the circumstances, to achieve. I don’t regret what we did. And I would do it all again.
There are good dark academia tingles coming from this synopsis and we’re so excited to see if it lives up to that and delivers on the dark academia.
In this episode we discuss:
The importance of character arcs and development (and when it falls short)
Institutional maltreatment, generational expectations (and exploitation) and morality vs elitism
Justice for Marta
We read the first book in this series, ‘Belladonna’, back in season seven and we’re so excited to revisit Signa at Thorn Grove following the cliffhanger at the end of the first novel.
‘Belladonna’ is one of the most fun books we’ve read for the podcast and I think this is just going to be just enjoyable.
The dangerous, seductive and suspenseful New York Times bestselling sequel to the Gothic fantasy romance Belladonna*.
A duke has been murdered. The lord of Thorn Grove has been framed. And Fate, the elusive brother of Death, has taken up residence in a sumptuous estate nearby. He's hellbent on revenge after Death took the life of the woman he loved many years ago . . . and now he's determined to have Signa for himself, no matter the cost.
Signa and her cousin Blythe are certain that Fate can save Elijah Hawthorne from prison if they will entertain his presence. But the more time the girls spend with Fate, the more frightening their reality becomes as Signa exhibits dramatic new powers that link her to Fate's past. With mysteries and danger around every corner, the cousins must decide if they can trust one another as they navigate their futures in high society, unravel the murders that haunt their family, and play Fate's unexpected games-all with their destinies hanging in the balance.*
But will it hit any of the tropes to make it dark academia? Or will the mystery win out?
In this episode we discuss:
The way the novel raises issues of women, marriage, bodily autonomy in a vague historical setting
Fate vs Death
The need for justice for Blythe and Eliza
Our dark academia adjacent title for this season is one of Sophie’s favourite books. ‘Rebecca’ by Daphne du Maurier is a masterclass in Gothic suspense and it’s something that we’ve needed to tackle on the podcast for a very long time.
*On a trip to the South of France, the shy heroine of Rebecca falls in love with Maxim de Winter, a handsome widower. Although his proposal comes as a surprise, she happily agrees to marry him. But as they arrive at her husband's home, Manderley, a change comes over Maxim, and the young bride is filled with dread. Friendless in the isolated mansion, she realises that she barely knows him. In every corner of every room is the phantom of his beautiful first wife, Rebecca, and the new Mrs de Winter walks in her shadow.
Not since Jane Eyre has a heroine faced such difficulty with the other woman. An international bestseller that has never gone out of print, Rebecca is the haunting story of a young girl consumed by love and the struggle to find her identity.*
This is going to be Sarah’s first read of this novel and we’re so excited to head to Manderley for an adventure into the Gothic - a foundation of dark academia.
In this episode we discuss:
Villains and sympathising with villains
Maxim’s obsession with Mrs De Winter’s youth and innocence
We discuss the power of weather and seasons acting as a character
Our second episode of this season takes us to London, Karachi and New Dehli in Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi’s debut novel, ‘The Centre’.
This one leapt onto our radar as soon as that incredibly arresting cover was unveiled and we found out it was about a prestigious translation centre - it had to be a podcast book!
Welcome to The Centre. The cost may be high, but you'll never be the same . . . *Anisa Ellahi longs to become a translator of 'great works of literature', but right now she is stuck in her London flat writing subtitles for Bollywood films.
Then she is told about the Centre, an elite, invite-only programme that guarantees complete fluency in any language in just ten days. Seduced by all that it could make possible, Anisa enrols. But the Centre's services come at a disturbing hidden cost. Still - it's worth it, right? After all, success comes at a price . . .
By turns dark, funny and surreal, The Centre by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi takes the reader on a journey through Karachi, London and New Delhi. Throughout it interrogates the sticky politics of language, translation and appropriation and asks: what price would you be willing to pay for success?*
‘The Centre’ is undoubtedly going to be an interesting and thought-provoking read, but how does it fit into dark academia?
In this episode we discuss:
The intersection of translation and colonialism
The potentially meta nature of a book within a book
Privilege, money, power and the intersections with living abroad
Season 9 of ‘The Dark Academicals’ is HERE - we’re back! - and we’re starting off with a huge debut that is being marketed as dark academia Black vampires and honestly, say less.
*Hidden in our world, a society of vampires originating in Africa, can only feed from select human bloodlines. Each bloodline represents a House more cutthroat than the next. To ensure peaceful co-existence and inherit their legacy, human children of these families must study at an elite university before choosing a vampire companion.
Lost Heiress, Kidan Adane grew up far from Uxlay University. She is obsessively protective, mildly nihilistic, and willing to do anything to save her loved ones. When her sister, June, disappears, Kidan is convinced a vampire stole her - the alluring yet dangerous Susenyos Sagad, the same vampire bound to her own House.
To stay in Uxlay, Kidan must study an arcane philosophy, work with four enigmatic students, and survive living with Susenyos - even as he does everything to drive her away. It doesn't matter that Susenyos' violence speaks to her own and tempts Kidan to surrender to a life of darkness. She must find her sister and kill him at all costs.
When a murder mirroring June's disappearance shakes Uxlay, Kidan sinks further into the ruthless underworld of vampires, risking her very soul. Here, she discovers a centuries-old threat. And June could be at the very centre of it.The Cruel Prince meets Ninth House in this dangerously romantic dark academia debut, where a lost heiress must infiltrate a secret society and live with the vampire she suspects kidnapped her sister.*
With calls to ‘Ninth House’ and ‘The Cruel Prince’, vampires and a whole new mythology, this could be starting off the season with a bang. But how does this fantasy really live up to the tropes of dark academia?
In this episode we discuss:
Vampire lore within literature
The cause and effect of genre and literary categorisation
Susenyos, Kidan, and everything it could have been.
It’s finally happening! We’re going back to the beginning and re-examining ‘The Secret History’ with 8 seasons of the podcast behind us and this season of reading Tartt’s influences - how has our list of tropes held up? Do we still love the novel whole-heartedly?
'Everything, somehow, fit together; some sly and benevolent Providence was revealing itself by degrees and I felt myself trembling on the brink of a fabulous discovery, as though any morning it was all going to come together---my future, my past, the whole of my life---and I was going to sit up in bed like a thunderbolt and say oh! oh! oh!'
Under the influence of a charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at a New England college discover a way of thought and life a world away from their banal contemporaries. But their search for the transcendent leads them down a dangerous path, beyond human constructs of morality.
We’re so excited to revisit this novel and re-examine it with our updated knowledge and experience of dark academia.
Donna Tartt herself cited Patricia Highsmith’s ‘The Talented Mr Ripley’ as a book that was important to her when writing ‘The Secret HIstory’, and as that idea is the basis for this season, we had to give this one a whirl! There’s also been a recent Netflix mini-series adaptation so it’s a story that’s had a recent resurgence - it felt like time.
*Tom Ripley is struggling to stay one step ahead of his creditors and the law, when an unexpected acquaintance offers him a free trip to Europe and a chance to start over.
Ripley wants money, success and the good life and he's willing to kill for it. When his new-found happiness is threatened, his response is as swift as it is shocking.*
Both of us went into this novel blind with very little knowledge of the story or the characters, just the sense of the legacy of Highsmith as an acclaimed author. How clearly will we be able to see the influences in ‘The Secret History’?
'Frankenstein' is a literary staple. Everyone has heard of it, and most discerning reader will have either read it or have it on their TBR. Groundbreaking, pivotal and genre making... But how much of an influence does it have on modern dark academia?
‘Stoner’ is a classic campus novel that has been on my (Sophie’s TBR) for years and years - it’s one of those novels that is almost universally loved.
It’s going to be very interesting to see the comparisons between seminal campus novels from opposite sides of the Atlantic. We’ve featured Evelyn Waugh’s ‘Brideshead Revisited’, and now it’s the turn of ‘Stoner’.
Ancient literature? Yeah, we’re going there!
‘Bacchae’ is the play, the source material, the inspiration, for the adventures and dangers that Henry and Co get in to during ‘The Secret History’. It’s a foundational text for this novel and lays the groundwork for the conflict and the goal of the book, and shapes and sets the tone for the academic tones and goals in dark academia.
Bacchae, a profound exploration of the human psyche, deals with the appalling consequences of resistance to Dionysus, god of wine and unfettered emotion. This tragedy, which above all others speaks to our post-Freudian era, is one of Euripides' two last surviving plays.
This is the first time we’ve ever encountered ancient literature on the podcast, and our first deep dive into the underlying inspirations for ‘The Secret History’ - we’re so excited about getting deep on this season of the podcast and connecting with the novel and Tartt’s inspiration. This play changed her life!
Welcome to season 8 of The Dark Academicals!
We’re kicking off with ‘Black Chalk’ by Christopher J Yates, a psychological thriller campus novel from 2013, that features on nearly every dark academia reading list out there. It’s much more similar to the earlier dark academia than our explorations of modern dark academia so we were eager to really give it a go.
One game. Six students. Five survivors. It was only ever meant to be a game played by six best friends in their first year at Oxford University; a game of consequences, silly forfeits, and childish dares. But then the game changed: the stakes grew higher and the dares more personal and more humiliating, finally evolving into a vicious struggle with unpredictable and tragic results. Now, 14 years later, the remaining players must meet again for the final round. Who knows better than your best friends what would break you? A gripping psychological thriller partly inspired by the author's own time at Oxford University, this is perfect for fans of The Secret History and The Bellwether Revivals. The author's background in puzzle writing and setting can clearly be seen in the plotting of this clever, tricky book that will keep readers guessing to the very end.
With an Oxford setting, a dangerous game, and fracturing friendship, this has the makings of everything we look for for the podcast. Will it make the cut?
In this extra special episode of The Dark Academicals, we have Katy Hays, author of 'The Cloisters' discussing fate, destiny, dark academia and more.
The conversation flows from Dark Academia tropes, to the pivotal action in 'The Cloisters', as well as finding both Sophie and I shooketh at Katy's writing process. and excitement regarding future projects.
Can you believe it’s already the season seven finale of ‘The Dark Academicals’? We can’t!
For this final episode we’ve got a dark academia thriller set between the 1990s and current day that we think is going to be a surefire hit, and possibly pose some real connections to ‘The Secret History’.
It’s Sarah’s first time reading S.T. Gibson, while Sophie has already read ‘A Dowry of Blood’ and so there are already some expectations and intrigue going into ‘An Education in Malice’.
We had a lot of fun talking about this book, and we hope you enjoy listening along!
It’s time for our dark academia adjacent title for season seven and we’re tackling Curtis Sittenfeld’s classic campus novel, ‘Prep’.
Sophie read this about a decade ago and has had a lingering love for it ever since, so it has some big shoes to fill on this reread and for Sarah’s first read.
'Prep’ is a modern classic generally in fiction, but also in the realm of campus novels. We can’t wait to see how this informs what we know as dark academia.
‘Belladonna’ is the type of book that we both love in YA - romantic, Gothicky, high-stakes and the potential for some serious drama. Sign. Us. Up.
Add in dark academia? What more could we want.
*For as long as Signa Farrow has been alive, the people in her life have fallen like stars . . .
Orphaned as a baby, nineteen-year-old Signa has been raised by a string of guardians, each more interested in her wealth than her wellbeing - and each has met an untimely end. Her remaining relatives are the elusive Hawthornes, an eccentric family living at Thorn Grove, an estate both glittering and gloomy.
Its patriarch mourns his late wife through wild parties, while his son grapples for control of the family's waning reputation and his daughter suffers from a mysterious illness. But when their mother's restless spirit appears claiming she was poisoned, Signa realizes that the family she depends on could be in grave danger, and enlists the help of a surly stable boy to hunt down the killer.
Signa's best chance of uncovering the murderer, though, is an alliance with Death himself, a fascinating, dangerous shadow who has never been far from her side. Though he's made her life a living hell, Death shows Signa that their growing connection may be more powerful - and more irresistible - than she ever dared imagine.
From New York Times bestselling author Adalyn Grace, Belladonna brings to life a highly romantic, gothic-infused world of wealth, desire, and betrayal.*
This is basically guaranteed to be a really fun read, but can it give us the dark academia vibes that we’re after too?
In this episode we discuss:
- The “crossover” effect and the pros and cons of choosing an age category
- All of the plot twists!
- The personification of Death and the lusting over a concept made real
You can listen to it here: Podcast RSS TEXTS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE* ‘Belladonna’ by Adalyn Grace * ‘Red Rising’ by Pierce Brown * ‘A Series of Unfortunate Events’ by Lemony Snicket * ‘Gothikana’ by RuNyx * ‘Ice Planet Barbarians’ by Ruby Dixon * ‘Girl, Goddess, Queen’ by Bea Fitzgerald
OTHER MEDIA AND POP CULTURE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE* ‘Bridgerton’ (2020-) * ‘Gilmore Girls’ (2000-07) * ‘Labyrinth’ (1986) * Hades and Persephone
If you fancy taking a chance on ‘Belladonna’, we’d love it if you considered using our bookshop.org link below to purchase your copy of the book which helps us fund ‘The Dark Academicals’ and gives back to independent bookshops at no extra cost to you.
Embed Block Add an embed URL or code. Learn more You can also sign up to The Dark Academicals Book Club mailer for exclusive book club content, extra episodes and author interviews!
Have you ever come across lunar magic before? We haven’t!
With this beautiful cover and the promise of dark academia meeting lunar magic, ‘Curious Tides’ had to have a starring role in season seven. This was one of our most anticipated reads of the end of 2023 so we’re incredibly excited to get to discover it for the podcast.
An atmospheric dark academia fantasy for fans of The Atlas Six, The Binding, The Hazel Wood and Fourth Wing*, set in a world of lunar magic, secret societies and dangerous friendships.
Emory is returning to the prestigious Aldryn College for Lunar Magic for one reason: to uncover the secrets behind the night that left her best friend, Romie, and seven other students dead.
But Emory has plenty of secrets herself, not least that her healing abilities have been corrupted by a strange, impossible magic, granting her power no one should possess.
Turning to the only person she believes she can trust, Emory enlists the help of Romie’s brother Baz – someone already well-versed in the dangers of his own dark Eclipse magic.
But when the supposedly drowned students start washing ashore – alive – only for them each immediately to die horrible, magical deaths, Emory and Baz are no longer the only ones seeking answers.
There's a hidden society at the heart of the school, and they’re attracted to nothing more than they are to power...*
Can this possibly deliver everything it’s promising and hit the right dark academia notes?
In this episode we discuss:
- Love triangles and how it age brackets a novel
- The power of protagonist perspective and how we would have preferred different ones
You can listen to it here: Podcast RSS TEXTS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE* ‘Curious Tides’ by Pascal Lacelle * ‘The Atlas Six’ by Olivie Blake * ‘Ninth House’ by Leigh Bardugo * ‘Fourth Wing’ by Rebecca Yarros * ‘A Deadly Education’ by Naomi Novik * ‘House of Night’ by PC and Kristin Cast * ‘The Morganville Vampires’ by Rachel Caine * ‘Twilight’ by Stephenie Meyer * ‘True Blood’/’The Southern Vampire Mysteries’ by Charlaine Harris * ‘Empire of the Vampire’ by Jay Kristoff
OTHER MEDIA AND POP CULTURE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE* ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’ (2001)
If you fancy taking a chance on ‘Curious Tides’, we’d love it if you considered using our bookshop.org link below to purchase your copy of the book which helps us fund ‘The Dark Academicals’ and gives back to independent bookshops at no extra cost to you.
Embed Block Add an embed URL or code. Learn more You can also sign up to The Dark Academicals Book Club mailer for exclusive book club content, extra episodes and author interviews!
Welcome to season 7 of ‘The Dark Academicals’! We’re so grateful to see you back for another season, and we’re excited to be recording again.
Our first book of the season is one that seems to have so much hype across social media, but it also has rather mixed reviews, so we were curious how it would hold up under our examination.
*Enter a school of magic unlike any you have ever encountered.
There are no teachers, no holidays, friendships are purely strategic, and the odds of survival are never equal. Once you're inside, there are only two ways out: you graduate or you die.
El Higgins is uniquely prepared for the school's many dangers. She may be without allies, but she possesses a dark power strong enough to level mountains and wipe out untold millions - never mind easily destroy the countless monsters that prowl the school.
Except, she might accidentally kill all the other students, too. So El is trying her hardest not to use it . . . that is, unless she has no other choice.
With flawless mastery, Naomi Novik creates a heroine for the ages - a character so sharply realized and so richly nuanced that she will live on in hearts and minds for generations to come.*
‘A Deadly Education’ by Naomi Novik promises a boarding school, dark academia fantasy and monsters - who are we to say no to that?
In this episode we discuss:
- Lacking and problematic representation of people of colour
- The impact of a lack of scene setting and sense of place
You can listen to it here: Podcast RSS TEXTS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE* ‘A Deadly Education’ by Naomi Novik * ‘The Hunger Games’ by Suzanne Collins * ‘The Mortal Instruments’ by Cassandra Clare
OTHER MEDIA AND POP CULTURE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE* ‘Mean Girls’ (2004)
If you fancy taking a chance on ‘A Deadly Education’, we’d love it if you considered using our bookshop.org link below to purchase your copy of the book which helps us fund ‘The Dark Academicals’ and gives back to independent bookshops at no extra cost to you.
Embed Block Add an embed URL or code. Learn more You can also sign up to The Dark Academicals Book Club mailer for exclusive book club content, extra episodes and author interviews!
There is one TV show that we have discussed, referenced and alluded to throughout the history of The Dark Academicals.
It’s ‘Gilmore Girls’. Obviously.
It’s synonymous with the dark academia seasons, she’s everyone’s favourite bookworm, and everybody has opinions about this show. We couldn’t get any further in The Dark Academicals without dedicating a full, available-to-all episode to one of our favourite shows.
In this episode we discuss:
- The merits of Paris Geller
- The complicated class and social wars of Stars Hollow, Chilton and Yale
- The gross betrayal of Lane Kim
- Dean vs Jess vs Logan - do dark academia love interests and relationships exist?
You can listen to it here: Podcast RSS TEXTS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE* ‘Great Expectations’y Charles Dickens * ‘Pride and Prejudice’ by Jane Austen
OTHER MEDIA AND POP CULTURE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE* ‘Gilmore Girls’ (2000-07) * ‘Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life’ (2016) * ‘Jumanji’ (1995) * ‘The Wild Thornberrys’ (1998-2004) * ‘Indiana Jones’ * ‘Mean Girls’ (2024 remake) * Let’s talk about the Gilmore Girls’ awful Life And Death Brigade * The Life and Death Brigade is Colonial Cosplay and We Will Not Stand For It
You can also sign up to The Dark Academicals Book Club mailer for exclusive book club content, extra episodes and giveaways!
We’ve reached the finale of season 6! Already!
There seems to be a curse within ‘The Dark Academicals’ for the finale books, but we’re confident that we’ve broken the cycle with Ava Reid’s ‘A Study in Drowning’.
*Effy has always believed in fairy tales. She's had no choice. Since childhood, she's been haunted by visions of the Fairy King. She's found solace only in the pages of Angharad - a beloved epic about a mortal girl who falls in love with the Fairy King, and then destroys him.
Effy's tattered copy is all that's keeping her afloat through her stifling first term at her prestigious architecture college. So when the late author's family announces a contest to design his house, Effy feels certain this is her destiny.
But Hiraeth Manor is an impossible task: a musty, decrepit estate on the brink of crumbling into a hungry sea. And when Effy arrives, she finds she isn't the only one who's made a temporary home there. Preston Héloury, a stodgy young literature scholar, is studying Myrddin's papers and is determined to prove her favourite author is a fraud.
As the two rival students investigate the reclusive author's legacy, piecing together clues through his letters, books, and diaries, they discover that the house's foundation isn't the only thing that can't be trusted. There are dark forces, both mortal and magical, conspiring against them - and the truth may bring them both to ruin.*
Can it possibly live up to our sky-high dark academia expectations **and** turn around our tradition of ending the season on a disappointing book? Let’s find out!
In this episode we discuss:
- Misogyny in academia
- The cult of publishing
- Mythology and folklore
You can listen to it here: Podcast RSS
TEXTS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE* ‘A Study in Drowning’ by Ava Reid * ‘House of Hunger’ by Alexis Henderson * ‘The Haunting of Hill House’ by Shirley Jackson * ‘The Morganville Vampires’ by Rachel Caine * Mrs Havisham and Satis House from ‘Great Expectations’ by Charles Dickens
OTHER MEDIA AND POP CULTURE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE* ‘Chicago’ (musical)
If you fancy taking a chance on ‘A Study in Drowning’, we’d love it if you considered using our bookshop.org link below to purchase your copy of the book which helps us fund ‘The Dark Academicals’ and gives back to independent bookshops at no extra cost to you.
You can also sign up to The Dark Academicals Book Club mailer for exclusive book club content, extra episodes and giveaways!
‘Summer Sons’ by Lee Mandelo is taking us to Vanderbilt and we are so excited about this one!
This sounds like everything that we love in a novel and we’re really looking forward to seeing how it measures up against our examinations.
A queer Southern Gothic with ‘academic intrigue’?Bring. It. On.
In this episode we discuss:
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When the Southern Gothic meets just…the Southern
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The atmosphere and the cloying humidity of the novel
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Vanderbilt and the academic possibilities
Happy Halloween!
To add a little haunting into your day, we’ve got a brand new episode for you! ‘She is a Haunting’ by Trang Thanh Tran has been on our list for a long time and it couldn’t be a more perfect season to feature it on the podcast.
We’ve got a haunted house, a Gothic mystery, a ghost and questions about belonging - but does it tick any of our dark academia boxes?
Our dark academia adjacent book for Season 6 is a classic horror novel from the Queen of the Southern Gothic, Ms Shirley Jackson, and one of Sophie’s favourite authors.
It’s officially spooky season so we’re looking at ‘The Haunting of Hill House’.
How does the Gothic and horror play into dark academia?
In this episode we discuss:
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The way that Shirley Jackson pokes fun at horror, while also writing a genuinely terrifying horror novel
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The academic approach to studying the occult and supernatural
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Eleanor and unreliable narrators
This week’s episode features a book like nothing we’ve featured before: a spicy TikTok dark romance that the BookTok girlies are shouting from the rooftops and calling dark academia at every chance they get.
*"If this is madness," she whispered almost against his lips, "drown me in it."
Corvina Clemm is a woman with secrets. The last thing she expects to receive is an admission letter from the University of Verenmore, a place just as secretive.
A castle atop a mountain, Verenmore is steeped in shadows, deceit and death, a place where students have been disappearing every five years for over a century. As Corvina becomes caught up in unravelling the clues to solve the mystery, her path collides with Vad Deverell, her enigmatic professor.
Vad, too, is a man with secrets. And he cannot allow Corvina to get close enough to discover what he hides. But whenever she is near, his heart and soul yearn to possess her.
As Corvina and Vad become more and more entangled, their passion for each other could be the very thing to solve the mystery of Verenmore - or it could bring them both down in flames.*
With a secretive university located on a mountain, an enigmatic professor and a forbidden romance, it’s ticking some boxes already, but will it live up to our examination?
In this episode we discuss:
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Uncomfortable and creepy relationships with power imbalances
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The lack of academics
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A lack of answers and unfinished business
We’re back for season six (!) of ‘The Dark Academicals’ and we’ve got a line-up full of spooks and scares for the best reading season of the year.
Our first pick takes us to a New York magic school and an obsession with a childhood fantasy book series in ‘The Magicians’ by Lev Grossman.
Does this portal fantasy have what it takes to also take the title of dark academia?
In this episode we discuss:
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The lacklustre magic system and world-building
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The numerous influences from ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ and ‘Harry Potter’
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Misogyny, ableism and fatphobia in the novel
It’s time for the finale of season five already and we can’t believe it! What a season we’ve had.
We’re closing out the season with ‘How We Fall Apart’ by Katie Zhao which has been on our radars for a good few years because of the prep school setting and promise of deep, dark secrets.
Crazy Rich Asians meets One of Us is Lying *in this electrifying YA thriller where students at an elite prep school are forced to confront their secrets when their ex-best friend turns up dead.
Nancy Luo is shocked when her former best friend, Jamie Ruan, top-ranked junior at Sinclair Prep, goes missing, and then is found dead. Nancy is even more shocked when word starts to spread that she and her friends - Krystal, Akil, and Alexander - are the prime suspects, thanks to "the Proctor," someone anonymously incriminating them via the school's social media app.
They all used to be Jamie's closest friends, and she knew each of their deepest, darkest secrets. Now, somehow the Proctor knows them, too. The four must uncover the true killer before The Proctor exposes more than they can bear and costs them more than they can afford, like Nancy's full scholarship. Soon, Nancy suspects that her friends may be keeping secrets from her, too.
Katie Zhao's YA debut is an edge-of-your-seat drama set in the pressure-cooker world of academics and image at Sinclair Prep, where the past threatens the future these teens have carefully crafted for themselves. How We Fall Apart is the irresistible, addicting, Asian-American recast of Gossip Girl that we've all been waiting for.*
But can it be dark academia as well as a thriller?
In this episode we discuss:
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The comparisons to ‘Gossip Girl’, ‘Pretty Little Liars’ and ‘Mean Girls’
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How knowledge of the setting (NYC) and the shows it reflected created the setting more than the writing did
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Why we always end the season on a bum note…
Happy listening!
Sophie & Sarah
‘The Cloisters’ was one of our most anticipated debuts of 2022 but we’ve been saving it to feature on the pod and we are both SO excited to finally be getting to it.
With comparisons to ‘The Secret History’ and a setting of The Met in NYC, mentions of the Gothic and tarot, it was a no-brainer. but will it prove to be dark academia?
It’s time for our dark academia adjacent title for season 5! We’re heading back to the world of modern classics to discuss a title that is often cited as a pre-cursor to the campus novel, itself laying the groundwork for dark academia.
We’re reading Evelyn Waugh’s ‘Brideshead Revisited’.
There’s always something special about finally reading a classic that’s been on your TBR for literal years, and even more so when you also get to examine it! It gives us literature gals a thrill.
Brideshead Revisited is Evelyn Waugh's stunning novel of duty and desire set amongst the decadent, faded glory of the English aristocracy in the run-up to the Second World War.The most nostalgic and reflective of Evelyn Waugh's novels, Brideshead Revisited looks back to the golden age before the Second World War. It tells the story of Charles Ryder's infatuation with the Marchmains and the rapidly disappearing world of privilege they inhabit. Enchanted first by Sebastian Flyte at Oxford, then by his doomed Catholic family, in particular his remote sister, Julia, Charles comes finally to recognise his spiritual and social distance from them.
I always find the blurbs for classics a little…lacklustre, but I have a good feeling about this one! Will it demonstrate itself as informing dark academia, though?
We discussed Phoebe Wynne’s debut novel, ‘Madam’, in the very first season of the podcast and it’s a favourite book of both of ours. The vibes were immaculate and so we had to give ‘The Ruins’ a go too.
There’s something about the way that Wynne crafts setting and atmosphere which screamed dark academia in ‘Madam’ so we can’t wait to see her turn her hand to a sun-drenched setting and see what brings to the table.
COME FOR THE DECADENCE. LIVE THE NIGHTMARE. STAY FOR THE REVENGE. . .Summer, 1985: Ruby has stayed at the chateau with her family every summer of her twelve years. It was her favourite place to be, away from the strictures of her formal childhood, but this year uninvited guests have descended, and everything is about to change...As the intense August heat cloaks the chateau, the adults within start to lose sight of themselves. Old disputes are thrown back and forth, tempers rise, morals loosen, and darkness begins to creep around them all. Ruby and her two young friends soon discover it is best not to be seen or heard as the summer spirals down to one fateful night and an incident that can never be undone...Summer, 2010: One of the three young girls, now grown and newly widowed, returns to the chateau, and in her fight to free herself from its grip, she uncovers what truly happened that long, dark summer.With riveting psychological complexity, The Ruins captures the glittering allure of the Mediterranean, and the dark shadows that wait beneath the surface.
Will we find the makings of dark academia in the Mediterranean?
We are tackling a sequel for the first time on the podcast this week, because who can deny the world a trip to Hell with Leigh Bardugo. It’s time to head back to Yale and fall in love with Alex and Darlington all over again. If they make it out alive, that is…
There will be spoilers for book one, ‘Ninth House’, in this week’s episode and the information below so please tread carefully if you haven’t finished the books yet.
Wealth. Power. Murder. Magic. Alex Stern is back and the Ivy League is going straight to hell.Find a gateway to the underworld. Steal a soul out of hell. A simple plan, except people who make this particular journey rarely come back. But Galaxy "Alex" Stern is determined to break Darlington out of purgatory?even if it costs her a future at Lethe and at Yale.Forbidden from attempting a rescue, Alex and Dawes can't call on the Ninth House for help, so they assemble a team of dubious allies to save the gentleman of Lethe. Together, they will have to navigate a maze of arcane texts and bizarre artifacts to uncover the societies' most closely guarded secrets, and break every rule doing it. But when faculty members begin to die off, Alex knows these aren't just accidents. Something deadly is at work in New Haven, and if she is going to survive, she'll have to reckon with the monsters of her past and a darkness built into the university's very walls.Thick with history and packed with Bardugo's signature twists, Hell Bent brings to life an intricate world full of magic, violence, and all too real monsters.
We are both so excited to be back talking about this world and characters again. We deemed ‘Ninth House’ as dark academia, but will ‘Hell Bent’ follow suit?
In this episode we discuss:
- The colonial history and system issues of the Ivy League
- Power, privilege and the trappings of class and socioeconomic status
- Several ‘Gilmore Girls’ tangents…
It’s happening. We’re finally doing it.
The book launching Season Five (!!) of ‘The Dark Academicals’ is RF Kuang’s huge 2022 release, ‘Babel’.
We’re both new to Kuang and have been completely intimidated by the hype for ‘Babel’, but it’s time.
Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal.
Oxford, 1836.
The city of dreaming spires.
It is the centre of all knowledge and progress in the world.
And at its centre is Babel, the Royal Institute of Translation. The tower from which all the power of the Empire flows.
Orphaned in Canton and brought to England by a mysterious guardian, Babel seemed like paradise to Robin Swift.
Until it became a prison…
But can a student stand against an empire?
An incendiary new novel from award-winning author R.F. Kuang about the power of language, the violence of colonialism, and the sacrifices of resistance.
With the combination of Oxford, university, a focus on language and translation, and the pull of an outsider main character, it’s got to be dark academia, right? Did it tick all of our boxes, though?
In this episode we discuss:
- Colonialism, the British Empire and the
- The use of footnotes and etymology in the novel
- How the use of a secret society in ‘Babel’ turns the trope upside down
You can listen to it here:Podcast RSS TEXTS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE* ‘Babel’ by RF Kuang * ‘The Poppy War’ by RF Kuang * ‘Flashman Papers’ series by George MacDonald Fraser * ‘The Secret History’ by Donna Tartt * ‘Hell Bent’ by Leigh Bardugo
OTHER MEDIA AND POP CULTURE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE* Lord Flashheart from ‘Blackadder”
If like us you’ve been putting off ‘Babel’ but are finally ready to give it a shot, we’d love it if you considered using our bookshop.org link below to purchase your copy of the book which helps us fund ‘The Dark Academicals’ and gives back to independent bookshops at no extra cost to you.
You can also sign up to The Dark Academicals Book Club mailer to be entered for exclusive book club content and giveaways!
‘My Dearest Darkest’ seems to have flown a little under our dark academia radar and it’s one of those novels that I’ve seen people haul, but never actually read and review. We’re giving it it’s moment today.
‘Wilder Girls’ meets ‘The Craft’ in this Sapphic horror debut that asks: what price would you be willing to pay to achieve your deepest desires?
Finch Chamberlin is the newest transfer student to the ultra-competitive Ulalume Academy... but she's also not what she seems. Months before school started, Finch and her parents got into an accident that should have left her dead at the bottom of the river. But something monstrous, and ancient, and terrifying, wouldn't let her drown. Finch doesn't know why she woke up after her heart stopped, but since dying she's felt a constant pull from the school and the surrounding town of Rainwater, like something on the island is calling to her.
Selena St. Clair sees right through Finch, and she knows something is seriously wrong with her. But despite Selena's suspicion, she feels drawn to Finch and has a sinking feeling that from now on the two will be inexplicably linked to one another.
One night Finch, Selena, and her friends accidentally summon a carnivorous creature of immense power in the depths of the school. It promises to grant every desire the girls have kept locked away in their insecure hearts—beauty, power, adoration—in exchange for a price: human body parts. But as the cost of their wanting becomes more deadly, Finch and Selena must learn to work together to stop the horror they unleashed, before it consumes the entire island.
Accidentally summoning a…something in an exclusive academy? Give it to me. This book looks like it’s going to be huge fun, but it is dark academia?
In this episode we discuss:
- The lack of emotional and emotional agency of the characters
- Ticking trope boxes vs actually embodying the genre
- Clashing genres and plot devices
You can listen to it here:Podcast RSSTEXTS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE* ‘My Dearest Darkest’ by Kayla Cottingham * ‘Wilder Girls’ by Rory Power * ‘The Secret History’ by Donna Tartt
OTHER MEDIA AND POP CULTURE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE* ‘The Craft’ (1996) * ‘The Ring’ (2002)
If you fancy taking a chance on ‘My Dearest Darkest’, we’d love it if you considered using our bookshop.org link below to purchase your copy of the book which helps us fund ‘The Dark Academicals’ and gives back to independent bookshops at no extra cost to you.
You can also sign up to The Dark Academicals Book Club mailer to be entered for exclusive book club content and giveaways!
This debut is one of our most anticipated books of the year and we jumped at the chance to get it on the line-up for season 4. I mean, have you see that cover?!
*Clare arrives at the University of Edinburgh with a secret. This is her chance for a blank slate: to find the right people and reinvent herself.
And then she meets Tabitha.
Tabitha is charismatic, beautiful and intimidatingly wealthy. Soon Clare is sucked into her enigmatic circle of friends and their dizzying world of champagne on rooftops and summers in France.
Her new life has begun.
Then Tabitha reveals the little project they're working on, a project they need Clare's help with. It's reckless, possibly perilous and might finally allow Clare to become who she was meant to be...
But how much is an extraordinary life worth if others have to pay?
An intoxicating feminist page-turner with shades of The Secret History and Promising Young Woman, this novel will take you on a journey from Edinburgh's dazzling spires to the dripping staircases and dark alleyways of its underbelly.*
Feminist revenge? Check. Beautiful Edinburgh? Check. Toxic friendships? Check.
In this episode we discuss:
- Dilapidated, moulding, Gothic manors
- The broad intertextuality of the novel and the evocative nature of those comparisons in the genre
- The power and freedom that money provides women
You can listen to it here:Podcast RSSTEXTS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE* ‘The Things We Do to Our Friends’ by Heather Darwent * ‘The Secret History’ by Donna Tartt * ‘Plain Bad Heroines’ by emily m danforth * ‘A Discovery of Witches’ by Deborah Harkness * ‘If We Were Villains’ by ML Rio * ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ by Charlotte Perkins-Gilman * ‘Mexican Gothic’ by Silvia Moreno-Garcia * ‘Call Me By Your Name’ by André Aciman
OTHER MEDIA AND POP CULTURE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE* The TikTok trend of men illustrating how they view female rage and then being corrected by women
If you fancy getting involved with the goings on at the University of Edinburgh and grabbing yourself a copy of the novel, we’d love it if you considered using our bookshop.org link below which helps us fund ‘The Dark Academicals’ and gives back to independent bookshops at no extra cost to you.
You can also sign up to The Dark Academicals Book Club mailer to be entered for exclusive book club content and giveaways!
It’s already time for our dark academia adjacent title for season 4! And we’re going in BIG.
Confession time: Sophie had somehow got to the ripe old age of 30 without reading ‘Interview With the Vampire’, or any of Anne Rice’s novels, so this one was at her request. Sarah has been a fan since her teen years so she was more than happy to indulge the request.
*From #1 New York Times bestselling author Anne Rice, this sensuously written spellbinding classic remains 'the most successful vampire story since Bram Stoker's Dracula' (The Times)
In a darkened room a young man sits telling the macabre and eerie story of his life - the story of a vampire, gifted with eternal life, cursed with an exquisite craving for human blood.
When Interview with the Vampire was published the Washington Post said it was a 'thrilling, strikingly original work of the imagination . . . sometimes horrible, sometimes beautiful, always unforgettable'. Now, more than forty years since its release, Anne Rice's masterpiece is more beloved than ever.*
Not exactly a summary that gives much away, but it’s more than enough to whet the whistle.
Gothic fiction is a pre-cursor genre to dark academia, and ‘Interview With the Vampire’ itself is a cultural set point and we had to bring it in tho the dark academia discussion.
But can it actually be called dark academia? Or is it just a close friend?
In this episode we discuss:
- The language used around Claudia
- Colonialism and slavery in the novel
- The violence against women
You can listen to it here:Podcast RSSTEXTS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE* ‘Interview With the Vampire’ by Anne Rice * ‘The Vampire Lestat’ by Anne Rice * ‘The Vampire Armand’ by Anne Rice * ‘Twilight’ by Stephenie Meyer * ‘Vampire Academy’ by Richelle Mead
OTHER MEDIA AND POP CULTURE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE* ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ * ‘True Blood’ * ‘The Vampire Diaries’ * ‘Why Are There So Many Confederate Vampires?’ by Princess Weekes on YouTube * ‘Interview with the Vampire’ on Wikipedia
We’d love it if you considered using our bookshop.org link below to grab a copy of ‘Interview With the Vampire’ if you haven’t discovered this dark delight yet. It helps us fund ‘The Dark Academicals’ and gives back to independent bookshops at no extra cost to you.
You can also sign up to The Dark Academicals Book Club mailer to be entered for exclusive book club content and giveaways!
Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a completely beloved author of sumptuous, historical novels so maybe you’re wondering why we’re tackling one of her novels for ‘The Dark Academicals’ - well, stick with us.
Gothic fantasy can be dark academia, plus it’s set in a big mansion, the summary speaks of secrets and mysteries and we’re a sucker for beautiful writing.
The award-winning author of ‘Gods of Jade and Shadow’ (one of the 100 best fantasy novels of all time, TIME magazine) returns with a mesmerising feminist Gothic fantasy, in which a glamorous young socialite discovers the haunting secrets of a beautiful old mansion in 1950s Mexico. *He is trying to poison me. You must come for me, Noemí. You have to save me.
When glamorous socialite Noemí Taboada receives a frantic letter from her newlywed cousin begging to be rescued from a mysterious doom, it's clear something is desperately amiss. Catalina has always had a flair for the dramatic, but her claims that her husband is poisoning her and her visions of restless ghosts seem remarkable, even for her.
Noemí's chic gowns and perfect lipstick are more suited to cocktail parties than amateur sleuthing, but she immediately heads to High Place, a remote mansion in the Mexican countryside, determined to discover what is so affecting her cousin.
Tough and smart, she possesses an indomitable will, and she is not afraid: not of her cousin's new husband, who is both menacing and alluring; not of his father, the ancient patriarch who seems to be fascinated by Noemí; and not of the house itself, which begins to invade Noemi's dreams with visions of blood and doom.
Her only ally in this inhospitable abode is the family's youngest son. Shy and gentle, he seems to want to help, but might also be hiding dark knowledge of his family's past. For there are many secrets behind the walls of High Place. The family's once colossal wealth and faded mining empire kept them from prying eyes, but as Noemí digs deeper she unearths stories of violence and madness.
And Noemí, mesmerised by the terrifying yet seductive world of High Place, may soon find it impossible to leave this enigmatic house behind . . .*
Now, Sophie has a tricky relationship with historical fiction and both of us had actually tried to read this before a few years ago and didn’t quite connect with it, but will the magic of the podcast transform this book for us? Will Gothic fantasy become dark academia?
Come along and find out.
In this episode we discuss:
- The presence and discussion of colonialism, eugenics and oppression in the novel
- Trauma bonds and the longevity of the romantic relationship
- Fungal horror
You can listen to it here:Podcast RSSTEXTS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE* ‘Mexican Gothic’ by Silvia Moreno-Garcia * ‘The Great Gatsby’ by F Scott Fitzgerald * ‘Certain Dark Things’ by Silvia Moreno-Garcia * ‘The Daughter of Doctor Moreau’ by Silvia Moreno-Garcia * ‘Jane Eyre’ by Charlotte Brontë * ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ by Charlotte Perkins Gilman * ‘Rebecca’ by Daphne du Maurier * ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’ by Edgar Allan Poe
OTHER MEDIA AND POP CULTURE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE* The theories of Freud and Jung
If you’re a little late to this dark, historical fantasy like we were, you can grab a copy of ‘Mexican Gothic’ from bookshop.org and support both us and independent bookshops. A win for all, with no extra cost to you!
You can also sign up to The Dark Academicals Book Club mailer to be entered for exclusive book club content and giveaways!
Our second episode of the season tackles a book that has been on our radars for a really long time - ‘A Lesson in Vengeance’ by Victoria Lee.
This book had some real buzz on TikTok last year and it pushed it even higher up our lists. With a boarding school, the possibility of haunting witches, and child novelist prodigies, I’m not sure how it could be anything less than brilliant fun. Or is it way less than fun…?
A twisty dark academia thriller about a centuries-old, ivy-covered boarding school haunted by its history of witchcraft and two girls dangerously close to digging up the past. Perfect for fans of V.E. Schwab, Leigh Bardugo, M.L. Rio and Donna Tartt.
Felicity Morrow is back at the Dalloway School to finish her senior year after the tragic death of her girlfriend. She even has her old room in Godwin House, the exclusive dormitory rumored to be haunted by the spirits of five Dalloway students―girls some say were witches.
Witchcraft is woven into Dalloway’s past. The school doesn’t talk about it, but the students do. In secret rooms and shadowy corners, girls convene. And before her girlfriend died, Felicity was drawn to the dark. She’s determined to leave that behind now, but it’s hard when Dalloway’s occult history is everywhere. And when the new girl won’t let her forget.
It’s Ellis Haley’s first year at Dalloway. A prodigy novelist at seventeen, Ellis is eccentric and brilliant, and Felicity can’t shake the pull she feels to her. So when Ellis asks Felicity for help researching the Dalloway Five for her second book, Felicity can’t say no. And when history begins to repeat itself, Felicity will have to face the darkness in Dalloway―and in herself.
Comparing a book to Donna Tartt is a bold move, but it 100% gets our attention. Though calling it a thriller also brings on some hesitancy - can it be a thriller and a dark academia novel?
In this episode we discuss:
- How too many ways of singling out characters to make them special and real can make them become a caricature
- Witches, magic and the occult
- A ‘ticking the box’ approach to dark academia
You can listen to it here:Podcast RSSTEXTS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE* ‘A Lesson in Vengeance’ by Victoria Lee * ‘The Haunting Hill House’ by Shirley Jackson * ‘We Have Always Lived in the Castle’ by Shirley Jackson * ‘Rebecca’ by Daphne du Maurier * ‘Plain Bad Heroines’ by Emily M Danforth * ‘The Secret History’ by Donna Tartt * ‘Mexican Gothic’ by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
If you fancy a stay in a haunted boarding school and grabbing yourself a copy of the novel, we’d love it if you considered using our bookshop.org link below which helps up fund ‘The Dark Academicals’ and gives back to independent bookshops at no extra cost to you.
You can also sign up to The Dark Academicals Book Club mailer to be entered for exclusive book club content and giveaways!
We’re back for season 4! You’ve missed us, right? We’ve missed recording the podcast so we’re so pleased to be back.
Our first title this season is Kelly Andrew’s debut, ‘The Whispering Dark’ and what a book to kick off the new season with! This hauntingly atmospheric novel delivers endless vibes and a love interest that threw us right back to the bad boys with bad attitudes of Golden Age YA of old (aka 2005-2015).
Spoiler: we loved this book, and we reckon you guys will too.
*NINTH HOUSE meets THE ATLAS SIX in the enemies-to-lovers dark academia debut everyone's talking about . . .
Delaney Meyers-Petrov is tired of being seen as fragile just because she's Deaf. So, when she's accepted into a prestigious program at Godbole University that trains students to slip between parallel worlds, she's excited for the chance to prove herself. But her semester gets off to a rocky start when she has an awkward encounter with a pretentious upperclassman, Colton Price, whom she has every intention of keeping her distance from.
Colton has been ordered to keep far away from the new girl, and the voices that call to her from the shadows. But the pull of her proves impossible to ignore, and he can't help but be fascinated by her unusual talents.
After a fellow student turns up dead, she and Colton are forced to form a tenuous alliance, plummeting down a rabbit hole of deeply buried university secrets. They soon find themselves up against something old and nameless, an enemy that threatens to tear them - and their forbidden partnership - apart.*
Enemies-to-lovers? Yes, please. A Deaf protagonist? About time. A suspected murder? Of course.
We HAD to put this as our series opener.
But is it dark academia?
In this episode we discuss:
- The development of Lane and her coming into her own
- Our love for Colton Price: a classic YA love interest
- Lane’s experience as a Deaf student navigating university
You can listen to it here:Podcast RSSTEXTS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE* ‘The Whispering Dark’ by Kelly Andrew * ‘Ninth House’ by Leigh Bardugo * ‘The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer’ by Michelle Hodkin * ‘Black Dagger Brotherhood’ by JR Ward * ‘Vicious’ by VE Schwab * ‘Twilight’ by Stephenie Meyer
OTHER MEDIA AND POP CULTURE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE* ‘Supernatural’ * The Hinterlands of ‘The Nightmare before Christmas’
You can grab a copy of ‘The Whispering Dark’ from bookshop.org and support both us and independent bookshops. A win for all, with no extra cost to you!
You can also sign up to The Dark Academicals Book Club mailer to be entered for exclusive book club content and giveaways!
It’s the finale of Season 3 of ‘The Dark Academicals’ and we’re hoping to end on a dark academia-induced high!
Now don’t be put off by the UK paperback cover of ‘The Swallows’. It really looks nothing like a dark academia novel, it looks more like a gritty thriller, but the American cover was what caught our attention and prompted us to see what it was all about.
GIRLS WILL BE GIRLS
What do you love? What do you hate? What do you want?
It starts with this simple writing prompt from Alex Witt to her students at Stonebridge Academy. When their answers raise disturbing questions of their own, Ms. Witt knows there's more going on at the school than anyone will admit. She finds the few girls who've started to question the school's `boys will be boys' attitude and incites a resistance that quickly becomes a movement. As the school's secrets begin to trickle out, the skirmish turns into an all-out war, with deeply personal - and potentially fatal - consequences for everyone involved.
A girl-power-smash-the-patriarchy twist on dark academia? Sign. Us. Up.
In this episode we discuss:
- The harmful and stereotypical portrayal of feminists
- How important a setting is to create a dark academia atmosphere
- How the structure and number of perspectives in a novel shape your experience of characters
You can listen to it here:Podcast RSSTEXTS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE* ‘The Swallows’ by Lisa Lutz * ‘Madam’ by Phoebe Wynne
We also announced the line-up of titles for Season 4 which will begin streaming on 7 February 2023 so give it a listen for a sneak peek! Everything will be officially announced here on ‘Books, Burgers and Backpacks’ in the New Year.
You can grab a copy of ‘The Swallows’ from bookshop.org and support both us and independent bookshops. A win for all, with no extra cost to you!
You can also sign up to The Dark Academicals Book Club mailer to be entered for exclusive book club content and giveaways!
‘Vicious’ in the first book in a much-loved duology by and even more loved author, VE Schwab, and we’re super excited to tackle it for ‘The Dark Academicals’ this week.
Melding brilliantly clever university students, toxic relationships, danger and mysterious Extraordinaries, it already seems to tick some of our boxes. But does it pass the dark academia vibe check?
Oh, this book. Are our hearts ready for the dark academia adjacent title for season 3? Unsure, but we’re doing it anyway.
We put the book for this episode to a vote by your guys, our lovely listeners, and this novel won by a landslide! ‘The Song of Achilles’ by Madeline Miller retells the kind of story from the worlds and legends that captivate the protagonists of dark academia novels, and it’s the type of novel that they would become obsessed in a moment.
This week we have something a little different for ‘The Dark Academicals’: dark academia…smut? Yep. ‘A Lesson in Thorns’ is the first book in a super spicy dark academia series by a TikTok fave author. Sarah has already read and loved the book so we’re both ready to delve into something fun:
Twelve years ago, I left Thornchapel—and the two boys I gave my heart to—behind. *And now I've returned, hopeful...and wary. Because it's so very easy to be drawn back into the world of the seductive and elegant Auden Guest . . . and into the world of his worst enemy, St. Sebastian Martinez. The beautiful and brooding St. Sebastian is as irresistible as he ever was, and Auden is just as handsome and arrogant, and the three of us can't seem to unknot ourselves from each other.
From the hasty promise we three made all those years ago.
As Thornchapel slowly tightens its coil of truths and lies around us, our reluctant threesome starts unravelling into filthy, holy pleasure and pain. Together we've awakened a fate that will either bloom like a rose . . . or destroy us all.
From the author of the USA Today bestselling New Camelot series comes a gothic, dark academia fairy tale full of lantern-lit rituals, hungry desire, and obsessions that last for lifetimes...*
Doesn’t it sound like the perfect book to dive into for the podcast? We have brooding and beautiful boys, the mysterious Thornchapel and the promise of secrets and lies galore. But is that enough for us to give it the seal of approval?
In this episode we discuss:
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How erotic elements effect the dark academia vibe
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The power of weather in creating atmosphere
We are both so excited and so nervous to dive into this weird and wonderful novel for the podcast. ‘Bunny’ by Mona Awad is our second pick for this season and what a novel!
This has been on our radar for a little while already, but the love and buzz it’s been receiving from BookTok recently has pushed it higher and higher up our priority list. It sounds like the perfect read for ‘The Dark Academicals’.
We call them Bunnies because that is what they call each other. Seriously. Bunny.
Samantha Heather Mackey is an outsider in her small, highly selective MFA program at Warren University. In fact, she is utterly repelled by the rest of her fiction writing cohort - a clique of unbearably twee rich girls who call each other 'Bunny'.
But then the Bunnies issue her with an invitation and Samantha finds herself inexplicably drawn to their front door, across the threshold, and down their rabbit hole.
Blending sharp satire with fairytale horror, Bunny is a spellbinding trip of a novel from one of fiction's most original new voices.
It seems to tick boxes already: a secret society? Check. A fancy MFA program? Check. An elite university? Check. An outsider protagonist? Check. But is that all it takes to be dark academia? We dove in and found out.
In this episode we discuss:
- How genre classification shapes the reading of a novel
- To what degree does self-conscious satire allow for anything to be excused
- Unreliable narrators
You can also sign up to The Dark Academicals Book Club mailer to be entered for exclusive book club content and giveaways (thedarkacademicalsbookclub.substack.com)
We’re back! It seems like we only closed out Season 2 with the wonderful ‘The Raven Boys’ only days ago, but it’s been seven weeks!
Autumn is now in full swing here in the south of England and it’s dark academia season bby. It’s only right to start the season with a bang.
It’s time to bring a Leigh Bardugo novel into our little universe and we’re diving into ‘Ninth House’ ahead of the release of the sequel, ‘Hell Bent’, in just a few months.
The season 2 finale is upon us and we’re rounding off the season by revisiting a favourite of both of ours, the first book in Maggie Stiefvater’s ‘The Raven Cycle’, ‘The Raven Boys’.
We adore this book and had to squeeze it in the line-up. Making it the last book of the season means we’re ending on a real high.
We know ‘The Raven Boys’ is magical realism, but can it also be considered dark academia?
If a book gets tagged as ‘Dark Academia’ then heck yes we’re going to scope it out. That goes for YA titles like Goldy Moldavsky’s ‘The Mary Shelley Club’ which we are featuring on this episode of ‘The Dark Academicals’ podcast.
It’s that time in the season where we explore what we call a “Dark Academia Adjacent” title. For season 2 of The Dark Academicals, that’s Oscar Wilde’s memorable Gothic classic ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’. For an “adjacent” title we discuss how or why a certain title can be attributed the “Dark Academia” title, or recognise how it has influenced and informed the genre as it has grown and developed.
Alex Michaelides took both BookTok and Bookstagram by storm with 'The Silent Patient', and now with 'The Maidens' the "Dark Academia" buzz that has surrounded this book has us wondering if it can truly live up to the hype. Is 'The Maidens' a Dark Academia read? Or is it simply borrowing enough from the genre to slide by? Let's explore!
The second episode of season two heads to Swarthmore College with Meg Wolitzer’s debut novel, ‘Sleepwalking’.
While Wolitzer is more famous for her more recent novels, ‘The Female Persuasion’ and ‘The Interestings’, we follow Claire Danziger and the other ‘death girls’ as they obsess over the work, life and suicides of three famed female poets: Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton and Wolitzer’s creation, Lucy Ascher. As their personalities merge and darkness closes in under the study of their poets, and Claire’s relationship with upperclassman Julia, Claire must figure out when Lucy ends and she begins.
But it is dark academia?
We’re back! And we’re starting off with a bang with dark academia TikTok fave ‘The Atlas Six’ by Olivie Blake.
This book has been all over your socials from Bookstagram to BookTwitter to BookTok, you know you’ve seen it and you’ve been intrigued by it, at least. The term “dark academia” has become synonymous with it, it seems. But is it really a Dark Academia title?
Listen as we dig deep into the pages of ‘The Atlas Six’ on this week’s episode. Does it live up to the hype?
The season one finale of ‘The Dark Academicals’ sees us exploring ‘Catherine House’ by Elisabeth Thomas about a forboding university full of secrets, surpises and a shockingly sinister purpose as our protagonist, Ines, grapples with what Catherine wants from her.
We loved ‘Catherine House’ and we’re so happy to end the season on such a high.
This week’s episode of ‘The Dark Academicals’ took us to an exclusive private school with an anonymous texter attempting to bring down the school’s only two black students with escalating methods of cruelty in Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé’s dark academia social thriller, ‘Ace of Spades’.
In this episode we explore F. Scott Fitzgerald's most famous book 'The Great Gatsby'. This American Classic is being featured as a 'Dark Academia Adjacent' title. This means it might not seem like it fits under the Dark Academia umbrella, but we're going to show you how and why it does! Plus, we discuss the wider criticisms within the text as well as deep dive into some of the characters.
Welcome to The Dark Academicals. The podcast that delves into the mythos of Dark Academia, one book at a time.
Episode information and transcript
Welcome to The Dark Academicals. The podcast that delves into the mythos of Dark Academia, one book at a time.
Episode information and transcript
Donna Tartt’s ‘The Secret History’ is synonymous with the term ‘Dark Academia’. It was the beginning. And if you did not realise that before reading the book, you could be forgiven for thinking that the author had just taken the Dark Academia checklist and inserted it all into one narrative. But what makes ‘The Secret History’ a Dark Academia title? We discuss.
Welcome to The Dark Academicals. The podcast that delves into the mythos of Dark Academia, one book at a time.
Full episode transcripts and text list
Welcome to The Dark Academicals. The podcast that delves deep into the mythos of Dark Academia, one book at a time.
The Dark Academicals - the podcast where we delve into the mythos of dark academia one book at a time.