Someone asked: “Dark academia books.”
Dark academia books.
Old universities, Greek and Latin, obsessive friendships and a crime at the centre. It all starts with The Secret History. These are the books that carry on the mood.
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The Secret History
Donna Tartt · 1992
Classics students, a charismatic teacher and a murder revealed on page one. The book that invented the aesthetic.
If We Were Villains
M. L. Rio · 2017
Seven Shakespeare students, one death and roles that bleed into real life. The best heir to Tartt.
Babel
R. F. Kuang · 2022
Oxford in the 1830s, a tower of translators and magic made from words. Brilliant, political and furious.
Ninth House
Leigh Bardugo · 2019
Yale's secret societies practise real magic and someone has to police them. Dark academia with ghosts.
Brideshead Revisited
Evelyn Waugh · 1945
Oxford in the 1920s, an aristocratic friend and a family that will swallow your life. The elegant original.
The Name of the Rose
Umberto Eco · 1983
Murders in a medieval monastery library. A detective novel for people who love books about books.
Special Topics in Calamity Physics
Marisha Pessl · 2006
A brilliant student, an enigmatic teacher and a death. Clever, playful and full of references.
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Oscar Wilde · 1890
Beauty, decadence and a portrait that ages in your place. The ancestor of every dark academia villain.
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