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3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
1000 shapes - Kate Weinberg
A prequel to her novel set at a university following a female student who is having sex with her progress or who stole her writing.
This story was too short and really had no point. It read more like a first chapter for her book that I don’t plan on reading.
Pythia -Olivia Blake
A cult like university believes that their super computer predicts the future, a psychiatrist alongside priests and rabbis and a historical literature researcher are hired to help figure out what has recently gone wrong with the super computer. The story follows a legal interview that is investigating the psychiatrists involvement with the super computer and the deaths of two female students.
An interesting dark academia story addressing relevant topics of doom scrolling and the anxiety of being alive with the current state of things.
Sabbatical - James Tate Hill
An old retired professor turns up on campus and starts harassing different professors and students. He’s clearly not mentally well and is looking for a professor who went missing.
I did not like his writing style and the story was not exciting. It has a vaguely dark academia vibe but is more of a depressed middle aged man holden caulfield vibe. There’s only two women in the whole story and their characters serve 0 purpose. The story has no real message and just seems like the ramblings of a pessimistic man who dislikes academia.
The Hare and The Hound - Kelly Andrew
A boy receives a prophecy at coney island as a child saying that he will chase a white rabbit and end up in the clutches of a wolf and that he is a murderer. He is haunted by bunny iconography hai whole life and called Bunny as a nickname by his friends. In high school he gets in a car crash that kills a girl, now in college he meets a girl who shred uncanny similarities with a white rabbit and Bunny feels that he is slowly loosing his mind.
X House - JT Ellison
An exclusive all girls private school on a cliff side has a reputation of mysterious murders. The new professor appointed attempts to find out what is going on and save her charges. I wish it was longer this one was interesting and spooky!
One of the characters was named Amelia!
The Ravages - Layne Fargo
A sapphic story of revenge when one partner finds out the other has been cheating on her they plan a seance in their London workplace’s archives. A spooky fun little story. The namesake of the collection comes from this one.
Four Funerals - David Bell
A school shooting occurs in an english class after the student had written about a school shooting. Now the professor feels guilt.
This one was boring tbh
The Unknowable Pleasures - Susie Yang
This one was utterly bizarre featuring a ?perhaps queer relationship between student and eccentric professor? viewed at a distance and bossed over by a female classmate. It was voyeristic and felt sorta homophobic somehow. It also didn’t really feel dark academia at all, being set in a school does not make a dark academia. The ending felt bizarre as well and was an attempt and an open ended cliff hanger but was sorta just weird.
Weekend at Bertie’s - ML Rio
Two PhD students stumble on the dead body of their professors when they are taking care of her house while she is supposed to be away. A spooky and fun little story.
The Professor of Ontography - Helen Grant
Two university students discover a mysterious department at school that no one will discuss with them. The boyfriend decides to investigate after a night out and never returns. Spooky and interesting.
Phobos -Tori Bovalino
A student is in a secret society going through an initiation phase. The last step to join is to kill ‘a lesser scholar’. An interesting set up over to quickly and easily.
Playing - Phoebe Wynne
A student who plays the organ at the university cathedral is faced with playing at frequent funerals after a series of deaths.
Spooky but not shocking.
Overall I feel like this selection of authors was sort of odd. I’d only classify a few of these stories as dark academia. I’m also realizing that writing a short story must be very difficult and only a few of the authors pulled off writing captivating ones. The beginning stories were rough.
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
mixed opinions, which isn't strange since this is an anthology. i picked it up because i love dark academia as a subgenre. my favourites were the stories by helen grant, kelly andrew, ml rio, and olivie blake. though i liked the writing in susie yang's story, the theme was so not my thing. i hated the ones by david bell, james tate hill, j.t. hill, and kate weinberg, both theme and writing wise. some also didn't quite fit the dark academia subgenre, but anyway. mostly good, but not perfect.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
fast-paced
A college building does not dark academia make. Dark academia necessitates an obsession, or at least a fascination with the pursuit of knowledge in and of itself, not just the main character being a professor or a student. Dark academia might be a genre born from an aesthetic made up on tumblr in the last decade so maybe I shouldnt take it seriously but if we are using it as a legitimate term, let's use it correctly. And a good number of these stories don't qualify as dark academia under this pretty wide definition.
That being said, in rating the individual stories I didn't take whether they're actually dark academia into consideration, as many would lose out on this.
- 1000 Ships - Kate Weinberg - 3/5
Not bad, but pretty banal. The heroine needed more self respect, I really couldn't sympathize with her.
- Pythia - Olivie Blake - 4.5/5
Great writing and a fascinating subject, loved the subsequent reveals, the ending was a little fast paced but the story gave me hope this anthology will get better as I go on.
- Sabbatical - James Tate Hill - 1.5/5
This gets a two because I don't give ones. Actually, let's make it a one and a half. If you write a self insert (the main character literally has your name!) and then go on about him dating a hot coworker, it should at least have some plot relevance. The story was very disjointed and pointless overall.
- The Hare and the Hound - Kelly Andrew - 5/5
Ooh check check check. This is a great one. Enjoyed the resolution a lot.
- X House - J.T. Ellison - 3.5/5
Interesting set up, had potential, but ultimately makes no sense to me. A little too much, a little too little?
- The Ravages - Layne Fargo - 3/5
Predictable and overexplained.
- Four Funerals - David Bell - 4/5
Well written. Heavy topic.
- The Unknowable Pleasures - Susie Yang - 4.5/5
This is a great one, very relevant, I was actually surprised to see the direction it went in but when I realized what was being said I fell in love with the story. The ending actually disappointed me, it felt so anticlimactic! I understand why it had to be this way for the text to send its message but on the other hand, this is supposed to be a dark academia anthology.
- Weekend at Bertie's - M.L. Rio - 4/5
A nice look into imperfect people's thoughts and ideas in an uncommon situation.
- The Professor of Ontography - Helen Grant - 3/5
A good story, but the writing just couldn't keep me interested.
- Phobos - Tori Bovalino - 4/5
This was *so good*, then I was disappointed, then the last page saved it.
- Playing - Phoebe Wynne - 4.5/5
A very strong ending to the anthology!
Average rating: 3.7
That being said, in rating the individual stories I didn't take whether they're actually dark academia into consideration, as many would lose out on this.
- 1000 Ships - Kate Weinberg - 3/5
Not bad, but pretty banal. The heroine needed more self respect, I really couldn't sympathize with her.
- Pythia - Olivie Blake - 4.5/5
Great writing and a fascinating subject, loved the subsequent reveals, the ending was a little fast paced but the story gave me hope this anthology will get better as I go on.
- Sabbatical - James Tate Hill - 1.5/5
This gets a two because I don't give ones. Actually, let's make it a one and a half. If you write a self insert (the main character literally has your name!) and then go on about him dating a hot coworker, it should at least have some plot relevance. The story was very disjointed and pointless overall.
- The Hare and the Hound - Kelly Andrew - 5/5
Ooh check check check. This is a great one. Enjoyed the resolution a lot.
- X House - J.T. Ellison - 3.5/5
Interesting set up, had potential, but ultimately makes no sense to me. A little too much, a little too little?
- The Ravages - Layne Fargo - 3/5
Predictable and overexplained.
- Four Funerals - David Bell - 4/5
Well written. Heavy topic.
- The Unknowable Pleasures - Susie Yang - 4.5/5
This is a great one, very relevant, I was actually surprised to see the direction it went in but when I realized what was being said I fell in love with the story. The ending actually disappointed me, it felt so anticlimactic! I understand why it had to be this way for the text to send its message but on the other hand, this is supposed to be a dark academia anthology.
- Weekend at Bertie's - M.L. Rio - 4/5
A nice look into imperfect people's thoughts and ideas in an uncommon situation.
- The Professor of Ontography - Helen Grant - 3/5
A good story, but the writing just couldn't keep me interested.
- Phobos - Tori Bovalino - 4/5
This was *so good*, then I was disappointed, then the last page saved it.
- Playing - Phoebe Wynne - 4.5/5
A very strong ending to the anthology!
Average rating: 3.7