I tried so hard to love all these short stories but some of them just didn't hold my attention!

I did enjoy some of them, and the writing throughout was great with the different styles, formats etc but honestly some were more boring and harder to get through !

Thanks to Titan Books for providing me with a free e-ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

In These Hallowed Halls is a dark academia anthology, and as with most short story collections, some stories out more than others. Still, all the stories felt very united in their writing and atmosphere. This book contains stories written by some of the most popular authors in the dark academia genre, and it’s clear by the gorgeously rich writing.

I think that this is a good starting point for everyone wondering what dark academia is, or those who want to dive into the genre but don’t know where to start. These stories cover the good, the bad, and the ugly of academia. Some stories have elements of sci-fi, others incorporate horror, and others just tell the tale of academics.

Each story was really intriguing, but a common thread that I found throughout all of them was that the pacing felt off. The start of the stories really feel like they are setting up for a big plot, but since the stories are so short, there’s a lot of build-up and not a lot of pay-off. As soon as I got invested in a story, it was over. I often felt a bit jarred and confused because of this. Also, none of the stories felt very memorable to me.

I think this book does what it sets out to. It provides a starting point to the dark academia genre, gives you a bite-sized taste of different authors, and shows the many sides to academia that exist. It wasn’t a new favourite by any means, but it was fun to dip in and out of.

To be honest, after reading two first stories I almost dnf’ed this anthology but I am really glad I didn’t 🖤!

In These Hallowed Halls is a Dark Academia anthology with 12 short stories, they all written by different authors and some of them were more fascinating than others.

Most of them were very beguiling and very self sufficient on their own - intriguing dark stories with twists and resolutions.

Couple of them that didn’t work for me - professor sleeping with a student is not necessarily Dark Academia, it is quite ordinary and problematic story and too many books were written about that, fetishizing this kind of relationship is too old for 2023, plus it felt how an unfinished chapter.
Another one was very intriguing with an idea about super computer intelligence but then I read about how smart and very educated female coders are obsessively creating a perfect man? Plus the story became too confusing at the end.

Other stories were more concise and didn’t feel like a part of some larger story, perfect on their own - secret science, accidental murder, shape-shifters and Nordic mythology, hazing at elite boarding school - you have it all. They are beautiful, dark, gothic and fascinating.

Overall it is a great collection of Dark Academia stories and a good introduction if you would like to be familiar with some authors and decided whether you want to read more of their work.

This was so disappointing. Like a dark academic collection of short stories should be fun, right? Well, it wasn't. I only liked Phobos by Tori Bovalino (no surprise since I loved the Devil Makes Three) and the Ravages by Layne Fargo. When it comes to other stories I was constantly checking how much more do I need to read before they were over.

I don't really know what was wrong with them, other than the fact that they had no emotions. They were all extremely flat, and maybe the short stories just don't work for me. But honestly, I'm so glad I don't have to read this anymore. Some of them made sense, like the Hare and the Hound by Kelly Andrew, which had a beginning, a middle an ending, and a plot. But others didn't even have a plot.

Basically, I'm disappointed.

What a selection of stories. As always with anthologies, some stories will work better for you than others. None I actively disliked, some I just felt didn’t really fit into the dark academia genre, but were still good or ok for what they were!

It was the stories that shone that I loved. My favourites were- The Professor of Ontography (so creeped out I can’t deal), The Hare and the Hound, The Unknowable Pleasures (I want to know!) and Pythia.

1000 Ships- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (perfect dark academia vibes, quick, fast paced and so annoyingly a prequel to an existing book which I now very much want to read!)

Pythia- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (for a short story, this somehow felt very long, packed with a lot of complexity, yet somehow read fast? It makes no sense I know. I think I understand this, but do I? It’s classic Olivie Blake, and at the heart of this, it’s a love story with layers of obsession and intelligence.)

Sabbatical- ⭐️⭐️ (a decent short story, quick to read and I wanted to see where it went but I question if this is dark academia. Cowlishaw, the blind rep and the cat were the highlight.)

The Hare and the Hound- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (this was good, very good, good as in I could not stop turning the pages quick enough. Did it’s job brilliantly!!)

X House- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (this puts the dark in dark academia.)

The Ravages- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (FUN!)

Four Funerals- ⭐️⭐️ (another decent short story for what it is, but this was the second story I questioned whether this fitted into the dark academia genre, hence why it’s not a 3 or above)

The Unknowable Pleasures- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (But I wanted to know!!! The tension and longing built, the voyeuristic obsession of Sophie watching them, I thought I’d get answers! A different ending could have made this extraordinary but maybe the ending is wildly appropriate.)

Weekend at Bertie’s- ⭐️⭐️ (Whilst good, I finished this story and felt something was missing, almost as if I got to the end but it wasn’t an ending. Good, but I’m not sure what this was beyond a fever dream of madness.)

The Professor of Ontography- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (I’m completely traumatised.)

Phobos- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (dark ritual trope and how far people will go, finding they’ll surprise themselves in the end. Very solid, this would have been fantastic as a long drawn out story).

Playing- ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (a decent short story, entertaining, and I liked the musical emphasis.)

Dark Academia is always going to hold a special place in my heart and whenever I can read stories related to this genre/ aesthetic I am so blessed! This anthology was absolutely incredible, my fave story was by Olivie Blake (I am obsessed with her writing style😭)

Perfect book for the Fall season!

This was a collection of stories that sparked a new interest in dark academia! It was a great anthology and is certainly something I would suggest to a person who loved o was new to this genre! It was an excellent collection of short stories and certainly while they were short, it kept my attention for each and every story and there were several that took me entirely by surprise.

I was excited to read this anthology of Dark Academia short stories. I thought I knew what the genre entailed, but was interested to find some stories that seemed slightly tangential to my understanding.
I enjoyed about half of them, however the rest fell short of the mark for my tastes and expectations. On the plus side, I’ve discovered some new-to-me authors that I can look out for in the future.
My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own unbiased opinion.

I had high hopes for this anthology because even though I usually don’t love short stories, the idea of a collection of them taking place in a dark academia setting was really appealing to me. Sadly, the majority of these stories were a miss for me, but I enjoyed a couple of them.

➼ 1000 Ships by Kate Weinberg: ★★★★
This was my favorite of the anthology. A prequel to The Truants, this is a story of a college student and her affair with her teacher, who is being investigated for the suicide of another student. The author managed to intrigue me enough to want to read her full-length novel.

➼ Pythia by Olivie Blake: ★
This one was kind of a scif-i story about AI and it intersperses an interview with the narration. It bored me from start to finish.

➼ Sabbatical by James Tate Hill: ★
I would say that calling this story dark academia is a bit of a stretch. It’s a story about a professor who decides to get involved in finding another teacher who has been missing for years. I didn’t like the writing or the story itself.

➼ The Hare and the Hound by Kelly Andrew: ★★★
This one follows a young man who was involved in an accident that resulted in the death of another teenage girl and how he can’t escape his past, no matter how hard he tries. I liked the spooky and paranormal vibes of this one, even though I saw the twist coming from a mile away.

➼ X House by J.T. Ellison: ★★
This story had a very promising beginning, but I ended up being disappointed by the turn it took. It’s about a new teacher infiltrated in a school where several mysterious deaths have taken place in recent months.

➼ The Ravages by Layne Fargo: ★★★
I liked this one. A spooky story about a girl and her cheating girlfriend deciding to play with an ouija and everything that unravels from there.

➼ Four Funerals by David Bell: ★★
This was a story about the aftermath of a school shooting and follows a teacher who blames himself and decides to attend the four funerals of his students. It has some interesting discussions, but overall it wasn’t my cup of tea. I also don’t think this one can be called dark academia.

➼ The Unknowable Pleasures by Susie Yang: ★★★
This one was quite interesting. It’s about an unlikeable young woman getting obsessed with the idea of her teacher and one of her classmates having a secret relationship. I was a little disappointed by the abrupt ending.

➼ Weekend at Bertie’s by M.L. Rio: ★★
I was particularly excited about reading this one because I recently read If We Were Villains and loved it. So I wanted to read more from this author. Unfortunately, I felt kind of meh about this one. It’s about two characters that find the body of a colleague and decide to take her money.

➼ The Professor of Ontography by Helen Grant: ★★★
This story is probably the most spooky of the collection. It had me very intrigued from start to finish, but I wasn’t impressed by the final twist.

➼ Phobos by Tori Bovalino: ★★★
It follows a student who is taking a series of trials in order to become part of a secret society but who has to decide how far she’s willing to go when the society asks her to kill someone. I liked the vibes, although I saw the plot twist coming.

➼ Playing by Phoebe Wynne: ★★
The story of a church organist hinting that the older people who used to go to church and who recently died were actually murdered. I felt quite indifferent about this one. That said, maybe it’s because I read it when I was about to fall asleep, but I was surprised by the ending.

Overall, I didn’t enjoy the majority of these stories and I personally consider that half of them aren’t even dark academia. But I’ll keep an eye on future releases of the authors whose stories I enjoyed.

Some of the stories is not as good as the others but still this is a good collection of dark academia. Would still recommend 💯

3.5 Stars

This was a good selection of short stories that was supposed to fit the dark academia genre. Whilst I did enjoy some a lot more than others it was still an enjoyable read. I felt that some of the stories fit into the genre a lot better than the others.
This book fits it well with the changing of seasons. It also gave me a sneak peak of different authors writing styles which will allow me to check out their books in the future.

Thank you to Netgalley, the Author and the Publisher for an eARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Book Review

book: in these hallowed halls
author: various
genre: fantasy fiction / short stories
rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ .5

Brought to you by popular authors of the genre, in these hallowed halls is a collection of 12 different dark academia short stories from 12 different authors. Think: scholarly with a gothic edge, warm leather + tweed, murder + mystery, chaos + madness, settings at universities, museums, and/or libraries.

The fact that it’s an anthology makes it that much easier to come back to again + again. To start your morning or end your day with a dark academia story here and there feels top-tier with this change in season. With all short story collections, you get a mixed bag of different feels + energies from each story. Some are more moody and atmospheric than others; some I thought were a bit lighter and found myself giggling. I also loved how this introduced me to authors I wouldn’t have otherwise been aware of! My favorite stories (in no order) were:
✺ Phobos by Tori Bovalino
✺ Pythia by Olivie Blake
✺ The Ravages by Layne Fargo
✺ The Hare and the Hound by Kelly Andrew

Much love and thanks to @netgalley and @titanbooks for this ARC 🤎

Not sure what I was expecting but this anthology is an abrupt mix of stories that range from secret societies to cults. Some were memorable, others not so much. This one would really depend on a person's reading taste tbh. It took me a while to finish this because some parts did lose my interest every once in a while. My favourite one was Pythia although I wouldn't call it dark academia.

1000 Ships-
The first story in the anthology does set the tone for the stories to come after it. This one has a full novel, I will probably pick that up too. It was an interesting plot.


Pythia-
This one did blow my mind but at the same time, it's not really Dark Academia. But I loved this one and would have loved a full length novel. The ending honestly sucker punched me.

Sabbatical-
I enjoyed it. It was a good, slow story. Didn't stand out to me that much but that could be because every author here has a word count limit.

The Hare and The Hound -

This one starts out with a bloody prophecy and builds up as a creepy story. I had never heard of this author so was pleasantly surprised by the story.

X House-
Boarding school teenage cliques but make it sinister. The concept was great but the pacing put me off a bit.


The Ravages -
Revenge on a cheating lover? Always love angsty stories and this one was an enjoyable one too with good narration.

Four funerals -
The one story I kept hearing about from everyone and I finally understand why. This one feels a little out of place among the other stories and should definitely come with trigger warnings. Not sure how to feel about it.

The Unknowable Pleasures-
Was great until the ending happened. Scandalous, mysterious but the ending felt anti-climatic.


Weekend at Berties -
I was looking forward to M.L Rio the most and she delivered, in a way. This one had a very interesting plot line and beautiful prose. It's an anthology so I understand that there were too many limitations. Overall a good read.


The Professor of Ontography-

This one borders on horror, although I'm not gonna complain about it. It had a good buildup and a satisfying ending.

Phobos-
This was a surprisingly good one. Creepy, disturbing, and satisfying.

Playing -
Kind of fell flat but it had potential. The prose was good but I didn't connect to it.

I was excited to dig into this anthology because Dark Academia is one of my favorite genres and some of the authors featured in this volume are also favorites. Sadly, I was disappointed and it is hard to put my finger on exactly why. Short stories are not my usual reading and I recognize that they have different advantages and disadvantages in storytelling. The short form can build tension by limiting the frame to a much concentrated time and focussing on only a few characters. Many of the stories in this volume do a great job of putting you in the moment, or in the head of one character, but the payoff wasn't there for me. Perhaps I need a thick book to build the kind of tension I am looking for, and to really pull off the kinds of twists that I enjoy (as much as I will also maintain that Secret History is too long). But instead of "oh wow" as the stories ended, I found myself feeling "meh". and then moving on to the next hoping for more. It made me long for the drawn out slow decent that is more characteristic of the genre. I was also hoping to find new authors to look up their longer works after, but again I don't know that any of these stories grabbed me enough to want to follow through.

Many thanks to Titan Books and Netgalley for allowing me access to an eARC in exchange for a fair review.

Okay, so I’ve suddenly developed an appetite for Dark Academia, though I read The Secret History back in the 90s—I reread it recently and just keep reading what’s being written in its wake. Of course, I had to read and review this anthology. It goes along with my love of darker murder mysteries, but I’m loving the forays into the paranormal/supernatural. Emotionally, I have some unfinished business with Academia—who knows, maybe this will be seeds thrown into the field of a future story.

I just want to say a little something about each story—why I liked it. It’s a 10-star anthology, as far as I’m concerned, an exciting addition to an expanding subgenre.

1000 Ships by Kate Weinberg

This is an origin story for a character in The Truants, even without knowing this, it was a totally engrossing story as a young woman has an epiphany about her relationship with her professor, and her revenge. The Truants is on my Big List of Dark Academia to read soon.

2. Pythia or the Apocalypse Maidens by Olivie Blake

The next story is a potent blend of magic and tech, of ancient and modern. The style is more narrative than the previous story, with a transcript from the questioning of the psychologist involved in the disappearance of--. Well. Magic, tech, and murder. Irresistible.

3. Sabbatical by James Tate Hill

A gritty story set on the campus of a failing community college, the main character a blind professor of Business; perhaps he’s failing and fading too. Everyone is just getting by as they always do when an obsessed former professor knocks on his office door…fascinating in a “watch things go from bad to worse” kind of way.

4. The Hare and the Hound by Kelly Andrew

A fabulous tale of dark magic and tangled revenge steeped in Nordic folklore, this is one of my favorites.

5. X House by JT Ellison

Short, sweet, and disturbing.

6. The Ravages by Layne Fargo

I did not see it coming!

7. Four Funerals by David Bell

A haunting; the aftermath of a school shooting. Very well done.

8. The Unknown Pleasures by Susie Young

I think this is about how obsession can take on a life of its own, and how hard it is to live in our own skins sometimes.

9. Weekend at Bertie’s by ML Rio

I really looked forward to this one because of If We Were Villains, one of the best books I read this year. Two characters cut from the same creepy, ambitious cloth –kind of an enemies to allies thing.

10. The Professor of Ontography by Helen Grant

This scared me the most. I can’t get rid of the image from the last scene. Well done!

11. Phobos by Tori Bovalino

Fantastic twist. This is my favorite story.

12. Playing by Phoebe Wynne

Very Shirley Jackson

I really enjoyed this collection, There was a lot of variety amongst these short stories and I liked some of them more than others, but they all fit the dark academia vibes. This book will be perfect for the change of season, particularly with a pot of tea!

Say it with me, “A School Setting DOES NOT Make the Story Dark Academia.” This anthology claimed to be dark academia, but it added no value to the aesthetic whatsoever. Kate Weinberg's contribution was the only one I liked and I am looking forward to reading her book very soon.

2 stars for Kate and Kate alone.

I did not finish this one, it was not for me, I couldn't relate to the characters, and just did not care for the story.

Amazing collection of dark academia stories from authors I was really looking forward to hearing from! I really enjoyed all of these stories, but honourable mention to 1000 Ships which I felt was a true, unsparing recount of the institutionalised misogyny in academia. Bunny was also inventive, psychological and such a juicy revenge story! Oh, and Layne Fargo could write anything and I think I would read it.

Dark academia is a genre I've always adored, and when I stumbled upon this anthology my interest was immediately peaked. Add to that the fact that M. L. Rio contributed to this - her novel is still one of my all time favourites - and I just had to read this. Well... let's just say this is a mixed bag. There were some gems in it, but also some stories where I really wondered why they would be categorized as dark academia at all. Dark academia does not just mean "school setting" after all.

To give a very short overview:
1000 Ships by Kate Weinberg - apparently this was more or less just an ad for Weinbergs novel 'The Truants', of which this story was a prequel, a peak into the past of what I think is the protagonist of said book. While the subject matter was interesting, I didn't care about that protagonist at all and the whole thing felt pointless. Also wasn't really dark academia, I would say.

Pythia by Olivie Blake - I'm not sure I would call this dark academia either, but the premise was super intriguing and I really enjoyed this story. The fragmented narrative, with interview snippets woven into the story, was interesting to read and there was a really cool twist. One of my favourites.

Sabbatical by James Tate Hill - Honestly, I really really didn't like this. Disturbing portrayal of mental illness and generally just pointless, nothing even remotely dark academia about this.

The Hare and the Hound by Kelly Andrew - another one of my favourites. Magical realism-ish story about one pitiful guy's descent into basically madness because of a terrible thing in his past. Really good and atmospheric.

X-House by JT Ellison - intriguing concept, but I feel this really needed more pages to really work. It felt unfinished, which made the (admittedly predictable) twist ending feel kind of cheap.

The Ravages by Layne Fargo - a fun story about revenge on a cheating ex, which I really enjoyed reading, but will ultimately be forgotten quickly.

Four Funerals by David Bell - again, nothing dark academia about this but I was still intrigued because it deals with the aftermath of a school shooting and the guilt of a surviving teacher who blames himself. Definitely triggering. Didn't work as a short story for me but could have been an interesting book, I guess, though not one marketed as well. Dark academia.

The Unknowable Pleasures by Susie Yang - the protagonist in this one is super unlikeable and her actions are deplorable, but I do feel like that was the point and it really pointed a mirror at the fetishization of LGBTQ relationships, especially mlm ones, and the obsession that goes along with it. If you've ever seen one of those haha fun tiktoks of a girl filming two guys that "would be a hot couple", yeah, this is a story about that kind of behaviour, though it also goes deeper than just that - in the end, it's about creating a fantasy to ignore the deep unsatisfaction of your own life. Absolutely brutal ending, too. One of my favourites.

Weekend at Bertie's by M.L. Rio - it's M.L. Rio so I already knew I'd love the writing, and it's an intriguing premise but ultimately it was just missing something for me. Still, definitely one of the best stories in this collection.

The Professor of Ontography by Helen Grant - well this one completely hit me out of nowhere. I read this at night, safe and sound in my bed, and it creeped me out so much I had to turn my lights on. Definitely more horror than anything else, but damn, this would have made such a good long novel. Would definitely read it.

Phobos by Tori Bolivano - predictable ending, but real dark academia vibes and very interesting characters. Honestly would have loved to read a novel version of this, but the short story works perfectly well.

Playing by Phoebe Wynne - couldn't really get into this one. It was a bit too obvious from the start for me, which made me not care about what was going to happen.

And that's it. My favourites were, in no particular order, Pythia, The Hare and the Hound and The Unknowable Pleasures, with The Professor of Ontography, Weekend at Bertie's and Phobos coming in at a close second. Everything else was meh at best, and very few of them I would actually consider dark academia. This was probably the moist disappointing aspect of this anthology - but at least some of the short stories within where still a joy to read. 3 stars overall.