Dark Academia | Graphic by Monica Brutto | The Wright State Guardian
Autumn is the perfect time to pull out the comfy sweaters, put on a football game in the background, grab a warm bite to eat and delve into dark fictional worlds.
Classics
“Wuthering Heights” by Emily Brontё
“Wuthering Heights” is a perfect novel for autumn and is inspired by Gothic fiction. The book follows the mysterious main character, Heathcliff, as he ventures through turbulent relationships and precarious social standings. For a book about revenge, good versus evil, class and passion, Brontё’s 1847 novel is the book for you.
“Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Brontё
Charlotte Brontё ventures into a new area that could only be paralleled by the work of her sister. “Jane Eyre” takes readers on an adventure through the life of the heroine as she grows spiritually and psychologically throughout the novel.
“Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley
This classic horror novel depicts the life and experiments of a scientist, Victor Frankenstein, who brings to life a man-like creature that turns into a wretched being.
Readers interested in the power of science and technology and what it means to be sentient can delve into this story showcasing natural and classic science fiction characteristics.
“The Picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde
“The Picture of Dorian Gray” is one of those books that hits you in your soul and stays there for a while.
“As Dorian Gray sinks into a life of crime and gross sensuality, his body retains perfect youth and vigor while his recently painted portrait grows day by day into a hideous record of evil, which he must keep hidden from the world,” the Goodreads description of the novel reads.
Oscar Wilde intimately weaves superficiality with delicacy and identity to truly paint a picture of a battered, changed and morally fated character.
Fantasy
“Serpent & Dove” by Shelby Mahurin
The first book in the “Serpent & Dove” trilogy follows a witch who escapes her coven to find shelter elsewhere, a place where witches are hunted and burned. In a gripping tale of love and fate, Mahurin crafts the war between witches and Church with a unique modernity that leaves readers on the edge of their seats.
“The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue” by V.E. Schwab
This novel is set in 1714, when a young French woman becomes immortal. You guessed it, this bargain comes with a price: she is forgotten by everyone she meets. After an adventurous 300 years, Addie meets someone in a bookstore who remembers her name…
Fiction
“The Secret History” by Donna Tartt
In this lowkey detective story, readers follow a group of Classics students who attend an elite college in New England. The story is told by one of the students in this group who reveals how one of their friends was murdered.
This story has it all: betrayal, passion, corruption, friendship and evil. Sounds like dark academia.
“The Maidens” by Alex Michaelides
For readers interested in Greek mythology and psychological thrillers, “The Maidens” is the perfect book. When a member of a secret society of female students, The Maidens, is murdered, a group therapist begins to obsess about what sinister evil might lie under Cambridge University.
“Bright Young Women” Jessica Knoll
A September 2023 release, “Bright Young Women” is set during the 1970s when an infamous murderer changes the lives of survivors. Two women join forces to uncover the truth and pursue justice, no matter the cost.
“[‘Bright Young Women’] proposes a new narrative inspired by evidence that’s been glossed over for decades in favor of more salable headlines—that the so-called brilliant and charismatic serial killer from Seattle was far more average than the countless books, movies, and primetime specials have led us to believe, and that it was the women whose lives he cut short who were the exceptional ones,” the Goodreads description of the novel reads.
