The Dark Academicals

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.

Welcome to The Dark Academicals, the podcast where we delve into the mythos of dark academia one book at a time. Especially when that one book has a cover like this one... Whoever said you can't judge a book by its cover was wrong. But then again, as we dig down into 'Belladonna' we start to discover that maybe it's not everything we were promised it would be? There were definitely some polarising opinions on the reading experience. Was it dark academia though? We did find some common ground there at least!

Welcome to The Dark Academicals, the podcast where we delve into the mythos of dark academia one book at a time. 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. Can this possibly deliver everything it’s promising and hit the right dark academia notes?

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?

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’. 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

‘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:- When the Southern Gothic meets just…the Southern- The atmosphere and the cloying humidity of the novel- 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:- The way that Shirley Jackson pokes fun at horror, while also writing a genuinely terrifying horror novel- The academic approach to studying the occult and supernatural- 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:- Uncomfortable and creepy relationships with power imbalances- The lack of academics- 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:- The lacklustre magic system and world-building- The numerous influences from ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ and ‘Harry Potter’ - 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:- The comparisons to ‘Gossip Girl’, ‘Pretty Little Liars’ and ‘Mean Girls’- How knowledge of the setting (NYC) and the shows it reflected created the setting more than the writing did- 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…