Dark Academia: an autumn reading list for the aesthetic obsessed

As the nights grow longer and autumn draws in, the season for curling up with a good book has arrived. But the question of what to read makes itself known. There is no better genre than Dark Academia to suit this time of year: crime, spookiness and romanticised university life will surely set the mood for this month.

The problem is, you’ve finished The Secret History and don’t know what to read next. So, to put an end to the search, here is a short collection of stories to keep you entertained throughout the coming weeks. Though, if you do end up re-reading The Secret History, I won’t blame you!

 My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk

Torn apart by political upheaval, the lavish world of sixteenth century Istanbul is a rich backdrop to the intrigue of court. When the kingdom’s best miniaturist is found dead, his murder is traced to a mysterious commission from the Sultan himself.

A group of artists have been charged to illustrate a book that documents the height of Ottoman power. However, their task must remain a secret, or it will send shockwaves through the artistic world with its controversial Western style.

As the mystery of the illustrator’s demise unfolds, the other illustrators discover that their lives are also endangered by their task. The Sultan gives them three days to uncover the truth, but a clue may lie within the half-completed masterpiece itself.

Throughout this novel, we are invited to decipher who out of Pamuk’s cast of characters match the killer’s account and Pamuk masterfully blends psychological thriller with a symposium of artistic debate to create a chronicle of rivalries and romances that remain pertinent to this day.

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

Alex Stern can see ghosts. Ever since she was a child, apparitions of the dead would plague her daily life. After a horrific tragedy derails her previous life of substance abuse, her strange powers come to the attention of Yale University.

At her hospital bedside, they offer her a position at the Ivy League College on the condition that she polices their wayward secret societies filled with the social elite. Their recent occult activities have been drawing the attention of malignant spirits and they must be supervised.

Haunted by her past, Alex has a chance to get her life on track. But after the disappearance of her mentor and star student, Darlington, she must face the corruption of Yale’s underground dealings alone and unravel the mystery of Darlington’s whereabouts.

As if The Secret History met The Picture of Dorian Gray, this novel is a fabulous staple of Dark Academia and a must-read for this autumn.

Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu

Pre-dating Dracula by twenty six years, Carmilla is one of the original Vampire tales. It begins with the news of a terrible sickness that plagues the young women of Austria.

Laura lives with her father and governess in a derelict Schloss, one of the many ancient castles in the Austrian forests. When Laura receives news of a friend, withering mysteriously until her abrupt and tragic death, she believes herself safe behind the walls of her family’s castle.

But when a carriage crashes in the woods nearby and a mysterious stranger seeks refuge in her home, danger closes in with the irresistible Carmilla. Fraught with both fear and desire, Laura battles the feelings she has for her new companion and the horror that something is desperately wrong with this ethereal woman, all while Laura grows steadily weaker with each passing night.

This short and startlingly modern tale oozes dread and gothic terror that keeps the reader in its grasp until the final page. Carmilla was one of the key influences behind Bram Stoker’s masterpiece and an essential read for lovers of vampire fiction.

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

As much as a chilling tale is perfect for the autumn months, sometimes we need a break, and I decided to include a more lighthearted book to balance out the more eerie reads.

Emily Wilde is a professor at Cambridge, working on an encyclopaedia documenting the Fae. Her research has taken her across the world and her latest destination is to a remote village in Scandinavia where she is studying the Hidden People.

Emily is content with her own company and her faithful dog Shadow, however, her peace and tranquillity is interrupted with the arrival of the charismatic Wendell Bambleby, another fellow at Cambridge. Though vexed by his arrival, Emily continues her research but realises there is much to discover about her colleague Wendell and the secrets he keeps as well.

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries is a wholesome story narrated through journal entries that give the book its cosy feel, perfect for those seeking a more whimsical read.