In These Hallowed Halls: A Dark Academia Anthology Edited by Marie O’Regan and Paul Kane

A beguiling, sinister collection of 12 dark academia short stories from masters of the genre, including Olivie Blake, M.L. Rio, Susie Yang and more!

 

In these stories, dear student, retribution visits a lothario lecturer; the sinister truth is revealed about a missing professor; a forsaken lover uses a séance for revenge; an obsession blooms about a possible illicit affair; two graduates exhume the secrets of a reclusive scholar; horrors are uncovered in an obscure academic department; five hopeful initiates must complete a murderous task and much more!

Publisher: Titan Books  | Genre: Dark Academia/ Anthology  | Source: Publisher | Rating: see below

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I picked this one up. It was sent to me a few years ago, I wasn’t sure if I was going to read it then I ended up needing to read one of the stories for  a work event ,so I decided to finish the entire anthology.

Given that this was labeled as ‘Dark Academia’ I was expecting the stories to actually fit within that label. Yeah, I was wrong. Out of the 12 stories, only 3 of them are actual ‘Dark Academia’ stories. Just because they feature a student, member of faculty, a school/university setting doesn’t make them dark academia. There’s a difference between dark academia as an aesthetic and dark academia as a literary subgenre and I think that a lot of authors are getting the two confused.

While I do recommend 3 of the stories (Phobos, The Department of Ontography, and The Hare and the Hound), I’m struggling to recommend this book as a whole. The genres vary as does the age ranges of the stories.

My average rating for this book is a 3. If I were to rate it solely on the fact it was labeled as a ‘Dark Academia’ Anthology, then I would have to rate it a 1.5.

If you want to see a quick recap of each story and my thoughts, please see below.

Overall, this was a quick book to read but it wasn’t the best book to read. If you go into it thinking of it solely as an anthology, you would probably enjoy it more than I did. 

1,000 Ships by Kate Weinberg  (Rating: 2.5)

This is a prequel to The Truants and follows Lorna’s early days at university and her affair with a professor.

I don’t feel as though there was enough content for this to have been included in an anthology. The story doesn’t hold up on its own. There’s too many loose threads, it’s as though the short story starts in the middle of a story. As a prequel to The Truants, (I’ve not read it), I’m sure it works great but it fails for a standalone. I gave it a 2.5 because I did find it intriguing and it made me want to know more.

Pythia by Olivie Blake (Rating: 3)

Dr. Thorn is being deposed by an attorney, who she believes is seeking answers in the deaths of two students at Dephi who were working on a supercomputer. Although there’s more going on with the computer and the questioning than was first revealed.

This was a well-developed story. Normally something like this wouldn’t have been my cup of tea as I’m not in to tech type stories but this one offered enough to keep my attention.

Sabbatical by James Tate Hill (Rating: 2.75)

Tate, a professor at a struggling university, finds himself accosted by a former professor seeking out a missing professor from his days at the university. As Tate seeks answers, he gets more than he bargained for.

This was a little too long and went around in circles for a bit. Sadly, it had no real direction and felt as though the author just threw everything at the wall to see what would stick.

The Hare and the Hound by Kelly Andrew (Rating: 4)

When Bunny was 14 a fortuneteller told his destiny and, while he would have liked to have believed it was nonsense, he knew the day the rabbit crossed his path all of it was true. Now his perfectly neat life is spiraling out of control.

I enjoyed this one. It’s based off a Nordic folktale and, while I wouldn’t classify this as ‘dark academia’, it’s one of my favorites in the anthology.

X-House by J.T. Ellison (Rating: 3)

Something strange is occurring at X-House, a remote, private all-girls school, and Mia, the new teacher, is more than what she seems. Determined to get to the bottom of what’s happening, she soon finds herself a victim.

This was the first story in the anthology that fit the ‘dark academia’ genre. While this one had potential, it was a little too YA for my taste and ended up being predictable and mundane.

The Ravages by Layne Fargo (Rating: 3)

When Renee discovers her girlfriend kissing another woman, she sets out to make her appear crazy by evoking the ghost of poet, Viola Vance.

This was a decent revenge story with nice timing and a frantic tone. While it was set on campus, this still wasn’t ‘dark academia’. I do think this was one of the stronger stories in the anthology.

Four Funerals by David Bell (Rating: 2.5)

A teacher feels responsible for a school shooting so he attends the funerals of the victims.

I’m not sure what the point of the story was. While it had legs, it never fully took off. Not my favorite in the book.

The Unknowable Pleasures by Susie Yang  (Rating: 2.5)

Sophie finds herself growing obsessed with her professor but things are complicated, as the professor seems obsessed with another student. How far is Sophie willing to go?

While this did fit the ‘dark academia’ genre, the story was vague and needed a bit more meat to it. It wasn’t as memorable as some of the other stories.

Weekend at Bertie’s by M.L. Rio (Rating: 3.5)

When Lou stumbles upon her professor dead at the bottom of her basement stairs, she’s dazed until another student, Daniel, arrives and reveals just how much they can both benefit from Bertie’s death.

This was an okay read. It was better than most in the book, still not dark academia. I have to give the author credit for their nod to Weekend at Bernie’s.

The Professor of Ontography by Helen Grant (Rating 4.5)

When Phoebe stumbles upon a seemingly abandoned building on campus labeled, ‘Dept. of Ontography’, she’s immediately intrigued but finds the door locked. Unable to let her curiosity go, she and her friend, Charlie, return on a drunken night out, although Charlie is never seen again. When she returns to the university as a professor, she’s determined  to get answers, both about the mysterious department and Charlie’s disappearance.

This one has to be my favorite story in the entire book. It’s dark, creepy, and everything dark academia should be. The suspense and pacing was brilliant. Highly recommend this one. While this one was my favorite, it’s not at a 5 because I think a few things could have been explained further. This one really should have been a full-length novel.

Phobos by Tori Bovalino (Rating: 5)

Mila had one task left to finish before she’s inducted into the Order of Prometheus, a secret society that has the ability to open any door you want to walk through and clean up any mess you make along the way. Although the task she has to complete is too much to ask, but she doesn’t realize how far she’s willing to go until she’s pushed to the edge.

This was a fantastic story, one that I’m going to be thinking about long after I’ve finished the book. It’s dark academia combined with secret societies, which is the perfect blend. It has a nice even pace, rounded characters, and a somewhat open ending. This also gives the vibes of a Lifetime movie or a Christopher Pike novel.

Playing by Phoebe Wynn (Rating: 2.5)

Grace is obsessed with being the best organist around, so obsessed that people around her are starting to wonder just how far she’d go to be able to play the organ just one more time.

This was my least favorite of the book. I found both Grace and her obsession to be annoying. 

Hello October and Welcome to Blogtober 2025

Hello, My Lovelies, I hope you’re all doing fantastic. My autumn-loving heart is thrilled that it’s finally October. I’m ready for cooler temps, foggy mornings, colorful leaves, round pumpkins, and spooky stories. I have so many fun things to do and fun places to visit this month. I’m also excited that it’s the first day of Blogtober. I have so many fun posts scheduled for this month.

 

To kick off October and Blogtober, I’ve included an October Bucket List. It will also be up on my Instagram page. Feel free to grab the graphic below and join in!

My life has been exceedingly busy lately and I’ve been wanting to slow down and enjoy the little things. When I started a new junk journal in September, I decided to start it with a list of things that I wanted to do to help me slow down, if for a moment or two, and enjoy the start of fall. It was random things such as enjoy a sunset, pull out my cozy sweaters, visit the new acai place that opened in my town, and start a gratitude ritual.

They weren’t big events, but they were events that allowed me to take a minute or two and be in the moment and in the season. They allowed me moments of calm in the chaos and it was something that I wanted to carry over into October.

I decided this would be something fun to share with all of you. The prompts are not strict. You can interpret them anyway that you like.

If you want to join in on the fun, there will be a check-in post every Saturday in October.  

 

 

What are you looking forward to this October?