nihil occultatum.

Donna Tartt | 'The Secret History'

because i’ve seen the same 10 books on every list and all the books are good but there’s more to dark academia than the secret history

The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood - about a group of friends from university who are bound together by their destructive relationships with one seductive classmate

The Catcher in the Rye by J D Salinger - obviously not underrated in general but I’ve never seen this book mentioned in dark academia rec lists

Vicious by V E Schwab - a mix of dark academia and superhero, this story reveals what happens when a student goes too far in trying to prove his theory

Long Black Veil by Jennifer Finney Boylan - a group of university friends go through a harrowing experience when one of their friends is murdered; very reminiscent of the secret history while still being fresh and original; an own voices queer story

How to tell if the rec suits your specific preffered kind of dark academia;

Classics (c)

Based on real events (r)

Modern take on an old story(m)

contains fantasy elements (f)

High fantasy (hf)

modern setting or set today (t)

time travel to the past(t*)

worth it for the knowledge/ having read or seen it makes you dark academia even if the thing itself isn't inherently da (w)

style wise da (s)

plotwise da or da characters (p)

The actual Rec:

Movies:

kill your darlings(m,s,p,r)

Imitation Game(m,p,w,r, (s arguably ),

Dead poets society(c,p,c),

pride and prejudice(c,s),

Enola Holmes (m,f,s,p)

The picture of Dorian Grey (c,m,f,s,p)

Billy Elliot (m,r,p)

The devil all the time (m,p,w)

I am not an easy man (t,w,f, (p arguably) (okay this one is a bit of a reach but its really good, and weirdly intellectual, I promise!!)

Books:

the picture of Dorian Grey(c,w,s,p,f),

Pride and Prejudice(w,s,p),

A secret History by Donna Tart(c,w, ?I haven't read it yet),

Romeo and Juliet(c,w,)

The Magicians by Lev Grossman (f,t,p, (s arguably)),

Harry Potter(f,t,s,(p arguably)),

Raven Cycle (series)(f,t,p),

Infernal devices,(m,f,s,p)

Mythos, Heroes, Troy (series) by Stephen Fry (w,p,f,m)

Narnia Series (c,w,s)

A gentlemans guide to vice and virtue (m,f,(s&p arguably))

Red, white and royal blue (t,p)

Rubyred (series) (t,t*,p,s,f)

Six of Crows duology (p,s,f,hf)

Shows:

Magicians(f,t,p),

Sherlock, (m,t,p,(s arguably))

Lock and Key (f,t,s)

Ratched (m,p,(s arguably))

The Queens Gambit (m,p,s,w)

His dark materials (c,m,p,s,f)

Shadow and Bone (s,p,f,hf)

How to get away with murder (t,p)

Elite (t,p)

Politician (t,p)

American Horror story (m,t,f,r,s partially)

Penny Dreadful (p,s,f,m)

Hannibal (t,p,s,m,c)

+(Bonus) any poetry book, musical, theatre play or documentary)

"Be strong, saith my heart; I am a soldier; I have seen worse sights than this"

-Another Country by James Baldwin is my fav classic of all time i literally cannot recommend it enough !!!! click here for the summary!

-Tchaikovsky is my favorite classical composer ever- highly suggest Swan Lake and the 1812 overture, v good basics 2 listen 2 if you wanna get into him !

-Shostakovich is another good composer, my fav song by him is Allegro non troppo

-not technically a classic, but i adore Der Marquis Von Keith by Frank Wedekind!!! highly suggest anything by him tho hes a fantastic author

-i Do Not like poetry, but i am obsessed with all of Allen Ginsbergs works omgggggg. obv Howl is his most famous and i would recommend reading that, but my personal fav is A Supermarket in California

So I’m currently reading “The Great Mughals and Their India” by Dirk Collier and as a person who has never dabbled into history before, it is very much engaging !!

• song of achillies - madeline miller

• the illiad - homer

• the secret history - donna tartt

• the picture of dorian gray - oscar wilde

• dracula - bram stoker

• frankenstein- mary shelly

• the stranger - albert camus

• the great gatsby - f. scott fitzgerald

• anything by plato

• metaphysics - aristotle

• the princess saves herself in this one - amanda lovelace

• sappho’s poetry

• hamlet - shakespeare

• pride and prejudice- jane austen

• the strange case of dr. jekyll and mr. hyde - robert louis stevenson

• in cold blood - truman capote

• the last man - mary shelly

• dead poets society - nancy kleinbaum

• little women - louisa may alcott

• talking with psychopaths and savages - christopher berry-dee

• into the water - paula hawkins

• unfinished tales - j.r.r tolkien

• wilfred owen poems

• norse mythology - neil gaiman

• milk and honey - kaur

• they all love jack - bruce robinson