S13 · E7
October 6 · 23 min
Counted on this page — what you have heard stays on this device, so it is not something the list can be paged by.
- TD
S13 · E6September 22 · 46 minEpisode 13.6: ‘Solace House’ by Will Maclean
And so we find ourselves at the end of another season. And what a cracker of a book we finish with! “In the summer of 1993, broke student Alex Lane joins a team clearing out Solace House, a Victorian mansion bequeathed to the university by a reclusive hoarder called Flayne. The other students are a mixed bunch, but Alex quickly falls into a close friendship with the lively, redheaded Ella. When the crew begins sorting through piles of junk, they stumble upon Flayne's journals, in which he details his obsession with his missing mother, his discovery of a place called Bewise, and - most mysteriously - his belief in another realm lying parallel to ours, along with coded instructions as to how it might be reached. As the students delve deeper into the house's secrets, one of them becomes obsessed with deciphering Flayne's strange opus and its promise of another world... and they may be willing to sacrifice everything, and everyone, to get there.” In this episode we discuss: Representation of female characters Pace vs plot vs payoff When literary and genre fiction collide Unreliable narrators
- TDS13 · E5September 8 · 38 min
Episode 13.5: ‘An Arcane Inheritance’ by Kamilah Cole
The was inevitable. Just a glance at the summary tells you this book was always heading towards a spot on the podcast: “Ellory Morgan is determined to prove that she belongs at Warren University, an ivy league school whose history is deeply linked to occult rumors and dark secrets. But as she settles into her Freshman year, something about the ornate buildings and shadowy paths feels strangely…familiar. And, with every passing day, that sense of déjà vu grows increasingly sinister. Despite all logic, despite all reason, despite all the rules of reality, Ellory knows one thing to be true: she has been here before. And if she can't convince brooding legacy student Hudson Graves to help her remember a past that seems determined to slip through her fingers as if by some insidious magic…this time, she may lose herself for good.” In this episode we discuss: Elite institutional gatekeeping and abuse. Third person vs first person narratives. Where this book sits as a subgenre (of a sub genre?) Is it Dark Academia? Checking against our genre framework.
- TDS13 · E4August 25 · 42 min
Episode 13.4: ‘Rottenheart’ by Kat Dunn
It’s no secret that we love Kat Dunn and ‘Hungerstone’ - have you listened to our interview with Kat? - so it was inevitable that we’d have to read and discuss ‘Rottenheart’. Revenge me. For I am murdered . . . Odette and Cecilia are young women, living between their grand homes in Hampstead and the imposing, ancient Herne House in Suffolk. Though Odette's artist mother Lydia keeps a tight grasp on her, she and her beloved Cecilia are mostly left free to roam, to learn and to love. But when Lydia inexplicably sickens and dies, a dark veil falls. As the funeral rites are performed, Odette's aunt, the cold and implacable Claudine, increasingly takes charge of the household, while her father retreats to his study. Odette, lost in grief, disappears into the shadows. But as Claudine is announced as Odette's new stepmother, a sinister presence in the house makes itself known. To her horror, Odette realises that despite her death, Lydia never really left. And now she wants revenge . . . Inspired by Hamlet, the ultimate revenge tragedy, Rottenheart is the stunning new sapphic gothic horror novel from Kat Dunn, the lauded author of Hungerstone and Bitterthorn. Set in the 1890s, this a story of love and grief, mothers and daughters, death and madness. A sapphic reimagining of ‘Hamlet’? No more needs to be said, honestly. In this episode we discuss: - ‘Hamlet’, Shakespeare, the ‘Romantics’ and the power of skilful intertextuality - The men benefitting from the vilification of women - The intertwining of the Gothic and dark academia
- TD
S13 · E3August 4 · 47 minEpisode 13.3: ‘The Rabbit Club’ by Christopher J Yates
If you’ve been with us since Season 8, you may recognise the name of this week’s author as we read his novel ‘Black Chalk’ back in 2024. Now Yates is back with another dark academia novel that has had it’s praises shouted from the rooftops. When Ali McCain, an eighteen-year-old from Los Angeles, is accepted at Oxford, it’s a chance to fulfil his dreams. To study English literature in England; to meet true intellectuals; and to glimpse the life he might have lived had his father—British rock star Gel McCain, legendary frontman of the Pale Fires—not abandoned him and his mother when he was a toddler. But not long after he arrives at the storied campus, Ali is drawn into a dark, disorienting world where events grow more and more curious by the day. Trading on his father’s name, he gains entry into one of Oxford’s oldest and most selective secret societies, the Saracens. As he immerses himself in this rarefied world, he inadvertently sets in motion a series of events that might culminate in disaster. A mind-bending literary house of mirrors, replete with bookish allusions and Easter eggs ranging from Brideshead Revisited to King Lear, The Rabbit Club is an arresting work of dark academia by the category’s finest writer. We were interested to explore how a second novel by Christopher J Yates would go for us, and whether it would live up to the dark academia comparisons In this episode we discuss: A reflection on an interview with the author where he stated that he doesn’t plot his novels, and how that showed itself in the text and structure The intertextuality of the novel; how it succeeds and how it fails The desperate want to be British You can listen to it here: Episode 13.3: 'The Rabbit Club' by Christopher J Yates The Dark Academicals Podcast RSS TEXTS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE ‘The Rabbit Club’ by Christopher J Yates ‘Black Chalk’ by Christopher J Yates ‘The Secret History’ by Donna Tartt ‘If We Were Villains’ by ML Rio ‘Brideshead Revisited’ by Evelyn Waugh ‘King Lear’ by William Shakespeare Sylvia Plath ‘Pale Fire’ by Vladimir Nabokov Virginia Woolf ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ by Lewis Carroll Ted Hughes ‘His Dark Materials’ by Philip Pullman ‘Ninth House’ by Leigh Bardugo ‘Rottenheart’ by Kat Dunn OTHER MEDIA MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE ‘Saltburn’ (2023) ‘The Riot Club’ (2014) Please sign up to The Dark Academicals Book Club mailer for exclusive book club content, extra episodes and special content!
- TD
July 23 · 6 minAnnouncing The Dark Academia Journal - we wrote a book (journal)!
‘The Dark Academia Journal’ will be published on 10 September 2026 by Wildfire and you can pre-order it right now!
- TD
S13 · E2July 21 · 33 minEpisode 13.2: ‘When We Were Monsters’ by Jennifer Niven
Jennifer Niven is a huge name in YA, most known for ‘All the Bright Places’ which was released in 2015 and neither of us had read her since then. As soon as we saw a 2025 dark academia release from her that was compared itself to ‘The Secret History’ we had to revisit this author of the golden age of YA. Eight students walk into an exclusive writers’ retreat, but only one will walk out with a life-changing opportunity to realise their creative dreams. Effy is piecing together a story about the tragic betrayal that led to her mother’s death. Arlo hopes to publish a novel – but he’s also trying to start a new chapter with Effy after he broke her heart and ghosted her three years earlier. Their mentor is Meredith Graffam, enigmatic writer, director and actress, whose compelling accounts of her own near-death experience on the same retreat decades before continue to spark controversy. But this celebrated teacher is not all she seems, and her students gradually realize they are fighting for something much more primal than academic advantage. As Graffam’s unorthodox teaching methods push them past breaking point, they reveal their darkest secrets, take unthinkable risks and slowly start to turn on one another. But Graffam never expected they would turn on her . . . We’re so intrigued to see the comparison plays out and what it’s like reading Jennifer Niven ten years later. In this episode we discuss: The jarring name of the school, Brighton and Hove, when Brighton and Hove is a famous British city The way that multiple POVs affect the dark academia vibe How ‘When We Were Monsters’ acts as a YA entry point for dark academia You can listen to it here: Episode 13.2: 'When We Were Monsters' by Jennifer Niven The Dark Academical Podcast RSS TEXTS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE ‘When We Were Monsters’ by Jennifer Niven ‘All the Bright Places’ by Jennifer Niven ‘The Haunting of Hill House’ by Shirley Jackson Ali Hazelwood ‘Frankenstein’ by Mary Shelley ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ by Oscar Wilde Sylvia Plath ‘Voice Like a Hyacinth’ by Mallory Pearson ‘A Study in Drowning’ by Ava Reid ‘The Rabbit Club’ by Christopher J Yates ‘Black Chalk’ by Christopher J Yates Please sign up to The Dark Academicals Book Club mailer for exclusive book club content, extra episodes and special content!
- TD
S13 · E1July 7 · 36 minEpisode 13.1: ‘Bound’ by Ali Hazelwood
Welcome to Season 13! We’re kicking off with an audio-only novella from one of our very favourite authors, Ali Hazelwood, as she tackles dark academia and paranormal romance in ‘Bound’. A reluctant con artist and a professor with too many secrets are bound by an arcane text-in more ways than one. Veronica "Vero" Mercer grew up with grifters for parents, and she knows her way around a con. When grad school bills pile up and her friends are in trouble, she turns her art history skills into a forgery side hustle. It's supposed to be a short-term deal, but her work draws the attention of Dr. Viktor Ashworth, a reserved, very British professor. Instead of turning her in, Ashworth kidnaps her-politely-and makes an unusual offer: forge a mysterious ancient manuscript for him. Soon Vero finds herself spending long nights with Viktor, bent over rare vellum samples and obscure inks. But as the con grows riskier, Vero has to wonder: what does Viktor really want, and why can't she stay away? How will Ali Hazelwood tackle dark academia? In this episode we discuss: We grapple with listening to spicy romance via audiobook… How does dark academia integrate with paranormal romance? The way that the atmosphere draws on so many paranormal and supernatural classics You can listen to it here: Episode 13.1: 'Bound' by Ali Hazelwood The Dark Academicals Podcast RSS TEXTS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE ‘Bound’ by Ali Hazelwood ‘Bride’ by Ali Hazelwood ‘Mate’ by Ali Hazelwood ‘The Vampire Chronicles’ by Ann Rice OTHER MEDIA MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE ‘The Vampire Diaries’ (2009-2017) ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ (1997-2003) Interview with the Vampire’ (2022-2025) The Vampire Lestat’ (2026-) Please sign up to The Dark Academicals Book Club mailer for exclusive book club content, extra episodes and special content!
- TD
S12 · E6April 14 · 38 minEpisode 12.6: ‘The Library at Hellebore’ by Cassandra Khaw
This is it! The last episode in for this season! Can you believe we’ve done 12 of these now? So we’re going out with a bang with some horror in the form of ‘The Library at Hellebore’. Is it… dark academia though? Well… In this episode we discuss: Body horror and the effects of being a horror-first narrative The technical delivery of the story and what we enjoyed (and how we wished it was longer!) Academic horror, eldritch lore and folk tales, the parts that made us feel queasy
- TDS12 · E5March 31 · 49 min
Episode 12.5: ‘The Incandescent’ by Emily Tesh
It’s time for one of our most anticipated books of the season: Emily Tesh’s ‘The Incandescent’. A magic school? Check. Demons? Check. An entirely different perspective? Check. Dr Walden is the Director of Magic at Chetwood School and one of the most powerful magicians in England. Her days consist of meetings, teaching A-Level Invocation to four talented, chaotic sixth formers, more meetings and securing the school's boundaries from demonic incursions. Walden is good at her job - no, Walden is great at her job. But demons are masters of manipulation. It's her responsibility to keep her school with its six hundred students and centuries-old legacy safe. But it's possible the entity Walden most needs to keep her school safe from . . . is herself. Will it live up to our expectations and establish itself among the dark academia canon? In this episode we discuss: - What it looks like when dark academia comes from the teacher rather than the student - An unexpected exploration of what our schools looked like compared to Chetwood - A discussion around how the system is failing schools, students, and teachers
- TD
S12 · E4March 17 · 48 minEpisode 12.4: ‘Boys With Sharp Teeth’ by Jenni Howell
We’re heading to Huntsworth Academy for this episode of the podcast, and returning to YA, with Jenni Howell’s Boys With Sharp Teeth. Seventeen-year-old Marin James has spent her entire life living in the shadow of the exclusive Huntsworth Academy. So when her cousin’s dead body is found in a creek on school property, Marin knows exactly who’s to blame: Adrian Graves and Henry Wu, the enigmatic, yet dangerous leaders of the school's ecosystem. Swapping her ragged T-shirts for a crisp prep school uniform, Marin infiltrates Huntsworth to exact her revenge. But her quest for vengeance is quickly muddied by a confusing attraction to her new life, and to the two dysfunctional and devastating boys who understand her better than anyone ever has. When Marin uncovers a dark, eerie secret hiding behind Huntsworth's ivied gates, the lines between justice and vengeance, love and hate, and the real and supernatural begin to crumble –and nothing is as it seems. Welcome to Huntsworth Academy. Will we finally get a YA novel that we can comfortably call dark academia? In this episode we discuss: - Our very different feelings about this book… - Does the supernatural elements undermine the dark academia vibes? - An unexpected foray into discussing the ‘People We Meet on Vacation’ movie…
- TD
S12 · E3March 3 · 47 minEpisode 12.3: ‘The Monk’ by Matthew Lewis
It’s time for our Dark Academia adjacent title of the season! And we’re doing it in Gothic style. ‘The Monk’ is one of those books that both of us have wanted to read for a long time.
- TDS12 · E2February 17 · 47 min
Episode 12.2: ‘We Love You, Bunny’ by Mona Awad
Back in season three we dove in Mona Awad’s ‘Bunny’ with no idea what we were getting into, and even less idea how foundational a text it would be for this podcast and our discussions around dark academia and genre. We were both fascinated with how Awad would revisit Sam and the Bunnies, even though it’s not dark academia as we know it. In the cult classic novel Bunny, Samantha Heather Mackey, a lonely outsider student at a highly selective MFA program in New England, was first ostracised and then seduced by a clique of her saccharine sweet, rich girl cohort (who call one another ‘Bunny’). An invitation to the Bunnies’ Smut Salon leads Samantha down a dark rabbit hole (pun intended) into the violently surreal world of their off-campus Workshops where monstrous creations are conjured with wondrous yet deadly consequences. When We Love You, Bunny opens, Sam has just published her first novel to critical acclaim. But at a New England stop on her book tour, her one-time frenemies, furious at the way they’ve been portrayed, kidnap her. Now a captive audience, it’s her (and our) turn to hear the Bunnies’ side of the story. One by one, they take turns holding the axe, and recount the birth throes of their unholy alliance, their discovery of their unusual creative powers ― and the phantasmagoric adventure of conjuring their first creation. With a bound and gagged Sam, we embark on a wickedly intoxicating journey into the heart of dark academia: a fairy tale slasher that explores the wonder and horror of creation itself. Not to mention the transformative powers of love and friendship, Bunny. Frankenstein by way of Heathers, We Love You, Bunny is a prequel and a sequel, and an unabashedly wild and totally complete standalone novel. Open your hearts, Bunny, to a dazzlingly original and darkly hilarious romp in the Bunny-verse from the queen of the fever dream, Mona Awad. How is ‘We Love You, Bunny’ going to reframe our ideas of ‘Bunny’? How on earth will Awad follow up on her landmark fever dream novel? In this episode we discuss: Can a prequel or sequel undermine the original novel? Does that happen with the Bunnyverse? The unexpected link between ‘Katabasis’ and ‘We Love You, Bunny’ - Alice down the rabbit hole The unexpected segway into a slasher
- TD
S12 · E1February 3 · 1 hrEpisode 12.1: ‘Katabasis’ by RF Kuang
Season twelve is here and we’re kicking off the season with one of the biggest releases of the latter half of 2025: RF Kuang’s dark academia fantasy, ‘Katabasis’. We had a rocky time wth ‘Babel’, but we’re taking another chance on Kuang for her latest novel about a pair of academics taking a journey into Hell to rescue their professor. Everything about the synopsis ticks our boxes, and even though the reviews have been a bit more mixed than with ‘Babel’, we’re optimistic about this one.
- TD
S11 · E6Sep 9, 2025 · 45 minEpisode 11.6: ‘And He Shall Appear’ by Kate van der Borgh
It’s already time for the finale of season eleven! This season has truly flown by and we’re hoping to send it off with another brilliant 2025 release. Kate van der Borgh’s debut novel, ‘And He Shall Appear’, has been recommended for fans of ‘The Secret History’ and ‘Saltburn’ so hello, that’s us! It sounds like a deliciously dark and addictive read and in this episode we have a look to see how well it matches up to our Dark Academia framework. In this episode we discuss: The power of secondary characters The reinvention of the self, especially at university Campus novels
- TD
S11 · E5Aug 26, 2025 · 45 minEpisode 11.5: ‘Spoilt Creatures’ by Amy Twigg
This episode of the podcast has been an evolution. If you’re a reader of our Substack (if not, um why?) then you’ll probably be confused that ‘Spoilt Creatures’ is making an unexpected appearance on season 11. Let me tell you, it was a journey to get here. The previous title we picked wasn’t right for the podcast and then option two was putting me (hi, it’s me Sophie) into a reading slump and I’d only just escaped one, so we changed tacks one more time. Thankfully it stuck and we both raced through 'Spoilt Creatures’. THEY THOUGHT THEY KNEW EVERYTHING ABOUT US. THE KIND OF WOMEN WE WERE. Iris seeks a different kind of life. Promise comes in the form of Hazel, who lives at Breach House - a women's commune on a remote farm. At Breach House, the women live and eat in abundance, are guided by landscape and ritual, all while under the leadership of their gargantuan matriarch, Blythe. But is Breach House truly the haven it seems? When an unforgivable transgression comes to light and power struggles intensify, the women find themselves hurtling towards an act of devastating violence that will threaten everything they've fought to create. Cult-y sad women making bad decisions in literary fiction with dark academia vibes? Yep yep yep. But how strong are those dark academia vibes? In this episode we discuss: - The intersection of cults, high education and secret societies - The rise and reign of femgore - literary feminist horror - The trend of women creating their own curriculums
- TD
S11 · E4Aug 12, 2025 · 43 minEpisode 11.4: ‘Voice Like a Hyacinth’ by Mallory Pearson
It was the cover of ‘Voice Like a Hyacinth’ that initially caught our attention, but as soon as we realised it was a tricksy novel about female friendship featuring obsessions, a ritual and a creepy professor? We needed to get that on The Dark Academicals ASAP. The intersection of art and dark academia is always one that’s interesting and provides a different view of academic focus to what we usually see and explore on the podcast. Five young women eager for success rely on the unspeakable to make their dreams come true in a chilling novel about martyrdom, ritual, and obsession by the author of We Ate the Dark. Art student Jo Kozak and her fellow classmates and best friends, Caroline, Finch, Amrita, and Saz, are one another’s muses—so close they have their own language and so devoted to the craft that they’ll do anything to keep their inspiration alive. Even if it means naively resorting to the occult to unlock their creativity and to curse their esteemed, if notoriously creepy, professor. They soon learn the horrible price to be paid for such a transgressive ritual. In its violent aftermath, things are changing. Jo is feeling unnervingly haunted by something inexplicable. Their paintings, once prodigious and full of life, are growing dark and unhealthy. And their journey together—as women, students, and artists—is starting to crumble. To right the wrong they’ve done, these five desperate friends will take their obsession a step too far. When that happens, there may be no turning back. ‘Voice Like a Hyacinth’ sounds like it will fall in that familiar place between a literary thriller and dark academia, but there’s only one way to find out!
- TD
S11 · E3Jul 29, 2025 · 50 minEpisode 11.3: ‘Arcana Academy’ by Elise Kova
We’re both suckers for fantasy romance so when that intersects with dark academia? Just give it to us. This season is really delivering on making us read authors we’ve wanted to try for ages and never gotten to as we’re reading Elise Kova’s very much anticipated new releases, ‘Arcana Academy’. This launches a new series about illegal magics, tarot, royalty and a deal gone awry. We’re very, very excited for this one. A woman who wields magical tarot cards lands herself in a false engagement with the headmaster of a mysterious academy in this first instalment of an enthralling fantasy romance series from the bestselling author of A Deal with the Elf King.Clara Graysword has survived the underworld of Eclipse City through thievery, luck, and a whole lot of illegal magic. After a job gone awry, Clara is sentenced to a lifetime in prison for inking tarot cards-a rare power reserved for practitioners at the elite Arcana Academy. Just when it seems her luck has run dry, the academy's enigmatic headmaster, Prince Kaelis, offers her an escape-for a price. Kaelis believes that Clara is the perfect tool to help him steal a tarot card from the king and use it to re-create an all-powerful card long lost to time. In order to conceal her identity and keep her close, Kaelis brings Clara to Arcana Academy, introducing her as the newest first-year student and his bride-to-be. Thrust into a world of arcane magic and royal intrigue, where one misstep will send her back to prison or worse, Clara finds that the prince she swore to hate may not be what he seems. But can she risk giving him power over the world-and her heart? Or will she take it for herself? We absolutely love the sound of this and we can’t wait to get stuck into this chunker. We’re hoping for some swoon and danger as well as those dark academia vibes that we’re always craving. In this episode we discuss: - The richness of the magic system, and the lack of the general world-building - Clara and Kaelis: a potential love story of the ages? - Sophie’s internal struggle of reading this alongside a fantasy giant and the consequences she inflicted on herself
- TD
S11 · E2Jul 15, 2025 · 38 minEpisode 11.2: ‘Northanger Abbey’ by Jane Austen
It’s that time of the season - dark academia adjacent time! Our adjacent title for this season is a book from one of my literary heroes and one of my most beloved writers, Jane Austen. It’s the first time we’re tackling Austen on the podcast and we’re going to be delving into the world of the Gothic satire or parody with ‘Northanger Abbey’. Though ‘Northanger Abbey’ is one of the last published Austen novels as it was published posthumously, she wrote it towards the late 18th Century when she was in her very early 20s, following her first visit to the city of Bath.
- TD
S11 · E1Jul 1, 2025 · 43 minEpisode 11.1: ‘Blood Over Bright Haven’ by ML Wang
Welcome to Season 11 of The Dark Academicals! We’ve got a heck of a season coming up for you this summer and our first title of the season is a book that has received a whole lot of love since it was traditionally published earlier this year, and the author is already beloved after only two releases. We’ll be tackling ‘Blood Over Bright Haven’ by ML Wang.