Reviews with content warning for Murder - In These Hallowed Halls

Reviews tagging 'Murder'

In These Hallowed Halls by Marie O'Regan, Paul Kane

7 reviews

bzliz's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

3.0

I took the average of my individual story ratings to get the over all rating. My biggest complaint with some were that they didn’t have anything really going on, were a prequel I had no stakes in, or didn’t fall into the Dark Academia bubble in my opinion. I prefer Dark Academia with magical/mystical elements and/or mystery elements so anything lacking that feels boring to me. My standouts were The Hare and the Hound, Phobos, and The Professor of Ontography, the last of which I liked so much that I retroactively lowered ratings of other stories that weren’t as good. My least favorite was Four Funerals which didn’t feel like Dark Academia to me and was more like a sad reflection of the reality of American schools these days.

1000 Ships - 2/5
Pythia - 4/5
Sabbatical - 2/5
The Hare and the Hound - 5/5
X House - 4/5
The Ravages - 3/5
Four Funerals - 1/5
The Unknowable Pleasures - 2/5
Weekend at Bertie’s - 2/5
The Professor of Ontography - 5/5
Phobos - 5/5
Playing - 3/5

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aileron's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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dixiecarroll's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

3.5

A little disappointing, but I’m not sure what I was expecting. Some of the stories were incredibly compelling and well done, but others were a little lacking. I am not sure each author was well suited for short stories, but I must say that a lot of these were so freaky to read right before bed. Worth the read for sure, but I wouldn’t get expectations too high!

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daydreamsofbooks's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

That being said, I had extremely high hopes for this but oh well.

• 1000 Ships by Kate Weinberg ⭐️⭐️⭐️

-A very basic student-teacher affair that has a twist of revenge. It is a prologue or first chapter, I believe, in the

author’s debut novel.

-Good, just not that special.

• Pythia by Olivie Blake ⭐️

-A very wordy sci-fi story about AI called Pythia that is unnaturally humane.

-Would be a very very trashy and boring Black Mirror episode. SO boring.

• Sabbatical by James Tate Hill ⭐️

-A professor finds himself involved in searching for another professor who’s been missing for years.

-Comically bad!

• The Hare and the Hound by Kelly Andrews ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

-Follows the mc who is haunted by a past tragic mistake and a misfortunate prophecy that involves meeting a bunny, a girl, or possibly both in one body, or is there more to it?

-For fans of surrealism; I personally loved it.

• X House by J. T. Ellison ⭐️⭐️💫

-A new professor joins a school in which murders have been occurring one after the other.

- The plot twist was good, but the story lacked depth and good build-up to the end. Lost potential..

• The Ravages by Layne Fargo ⭐️

-Sapphic relationship where one person is cheating and the other finds out and seeks revenge.

-Zero dark academia! It felt like a parody.

• Four Funerals by David Bell ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

-A professor blames himself for a school shooting that resulted in four funerals, which he attends.

-Very interesting discussion on the effect professors could have on students and the blurred lines between fiction and reality in the mind of writers.

• The Unknowable Pleasures by Susie Yang ⭐️⭐️💫

-A student is obsessed with a relationship she believes is happening between a professor and a student.

-Fun read but very anticlimactic. Again, where is the dark academia?

• Weekend at Bertie’s by M. L. Rio ⭐️

-Two people find their colleague’s body at her home and plot stealing her money.

-Horrible. Horrifying. Terrible. Bad writing, bad plot, pointless narrative, and what exactly is dark academia about this?

-M. L. Rio’s novel If We Were Villains is amazing, though.

• The Professor of Ontography ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

-Best going into this one knowing nothing. Very spooky, intriguing, and heartbreaking.

• Phobos by Tori Bovalino ⭐️⭐️⭐️

-Secret society trials that get more and more horrific.

-Reminded me of The Secret History in its depiction of pretentiousness and academic privilege.

• Playing by Phoebe Wynne ⭐️

-A church organist suspects that the church’s elder people dying of accidents are actually being murdered.

-Very predictable, monotonous, and have I asked..Where is the dark academia??

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Mass/school shootings, and Death

Minor: Classism

This is a “Dark Academia Anthology” with barely any proper dark academia. Because just because a story is set in a school/college or follows a professor or a student, doesn’t make it an automatic fit into the dark academia genre. That being said, I had extremely high hopes for this but oh well. • 1000 Ships by Kate Weinberg ⭐️⭐️⭐️ -A very basic student-teacher affair that has a twist of revenge. It is a prologue or first chapter, I believe, in the author’s debut novel. -Good, just not that special. • Pythia by Olivie Blake ⭐️ -A very wordy sci-fi story about AI called Pythia that is unnaturally humane. -Would be a very very trashy and boring Black Mirror episode. SO boring. • Sabbatical by James Tate Hill ⭐️ -A professor finds himself involved in searching for another professor who’s been missing for years. -Comically bad! • The Hare and the Hound by Kelly Andrews ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ -Follows the mc who is haunted by a past tragic mistake and a misfortunate prophecy that involves meeting a bunny, a girl, or possibly both in one body, or is there more to it? -For fans of surrealism; I personally loved it. • X House by J. T. Ellison ⭐️⭐️💫 -A new professor joins a school in which murders have been occurring one after the other. - The plot twist was good, but the story lacked depth and good build-up to the end. Lost potential.. • The Ravages by Layne Fargo ⭐️ -Sapphic relationship where one person is cheating and the other finds out and seeks revenge. -Zero dark academia! It felt like a parody. • Four Funerals by David Bell ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 -A professor blames himself for a school shooting that resulted in four funerals, which he attends. -Very interesting discussion on the effect professors could have on students and the blurred lines between fiction and reality in the mind of writers. • The Unknowable Pleasures by Susie Yang ⭐️⭐️💫 -A student is obsessed with a relationship she believes is happening between a professor and a student. -Fun read but very anticlimactic. Again, where is the dark academia? • Weekend at Bertie’s by M. L. Rio ⭐️ -Two people find their colleague’s body at her home and plot stealing her money. -Horrible. Horrifying. Terrible. Bad writing, bad plot, pointless narrative, and what exactly is dark academia about this? -M. L. Rio’s novel If We Were Villains is amazing, though. • The Professor of Ontography ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ -Best going into this one knowing nothing. Very spooky, intriguing, and heartbreaking. • Phobos by Tori Bovalino ⭐️⭐️⭐️ -Secret society trials that get more and more horrific. -Reminded me of The Secret History in its depiction of pretentiousness and academic privilege. • Playing by Phoebe Wynne ⭐️ -A church organist suspects that the church’s elder people dying of accidents are actually being murdered. -Very predictable, monotonous, and have I asked..Where is the dark academia??

macliffe's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

The only story I really loved was The Haré and The Hound, which had some really interesting psychology and a satisfying ending that left my mind racing. The Unknowable Pleasures, The Professor of Ontogeaphy, and Playing were also pretty satisfying explorations of obsession. Sabbatical and Four Funerals felt like they could have been good but we’re underdeveloped. X House freaked me out. The other stories I skimmed. With the amount of skimming that I did, I felt like I couldn’t give this anthology a high rating even if I liked certain stories more than a 2/5.

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readingwithgoose's review against another edition

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medium-paced

3.5

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chronicacademia's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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