‘Dark Academia’ (12 of the best dark academia books of all time) is a genre of fiction attracting a lot of attention. Its aesthetic centres on higher education, traditional lifestyles, Gothic architecture, ancient art and poetry, classical literature, elite college life, psychological manipulation, and the embrace of darkness.
To try out this genre reach for the recently published ‘When We Were Killers‘ (May, 2025) by C. F. Barrington (C F Barrington – | Author).
The summary is as follows: The salt-scented quadrangles of St Andrews University greet misfit Bejant Finn Nethercott with indifference. Founded in 1413, the institution sits in a town which is forever ancient and always young. It is a place where privilege counts and those from wealthy backgrounds bray like donkeys with entitled voices along its medieval streets. Its graduates go on to run countries and corporations.
Finn is quickly seduced into a new circle of friends – four history scholars obsessed with the deepest roots of ancient Scotland. They sweep him away on ecstatic adventures to forgotten castles and faerie lochs. There is always a price to be paid and Finn will discover the darker sides of his new friends: deadly rivalries, midnight rituals, and a desperate search for a long-lost hallucinogen. He is sucked into a world where he can’t trust what he’s seen each night. Certainties and trust dissolve into a nightmare, and obsession is shown to be deadly.
Should you be captivated by this genre proceed to ‘The Secret History‘ (1992) by Donna Tartt (The Secret History: A murder mystery that thrills 30 years on – BBC Culture) (The Secret History by Donna Tartt – Scott’s Book Review), the title which is credited as the inspiration for much of Dark Academia.
Listen to C.F. Barrington promote his book here C.F. Barrington introduces When We Were Killers
First published 2025
432 pages in Head of Zeus
ISBN-13 : 978-1804545751
C. F. Barrington