Dark Academia For Beginners

What comes to mind when you think about dark academia?

For me, it’s a story full of knowledge, exploration, and the horrific or supernatural.

But what is dark academia, really?

The Origins of Dark Academia

No one truly knows where the term “dark academia” comes from, but the general consensus is that it stemmed from The Secret History by Donna Tart, which was published in 1992. It’s recognized as a subgenre for literature and fantasy, and often involves key storytelling elements, which I’ll highlight in a moment.

The visual aesthetic appeared on Tumblr around 2015 and is a mix of academia (old books, school uniforms, rainy study dates, ancient colleges, a thirst for learning) and the unnatural (occult symbols, cults, monsters/ghosts, magic), and emits a sense of nostalgia for the past.

Key Elements of Dark Academia

Below are a few of the elements to look for/ use when dealing with Dark Academia. They are:

A dark, descriptive setting based around a school, museum, library, or other institute of learning
Academic elements like classical music, rich wood tones, old books, coffee, handwritten letters, and knowledge
Gothic elements like secret passages, rainy or snowy days, hidden motives, old bricks, a sense of being watched, and the macabre
Multi-dimentional characters that are passionate but flawed or haunted.
Themes of knowledge, discovery, and mystery thoughout your story
A conflict that’s either mysterious (like a murdered professor or a secret society) or supernatural (like a vampire in the tower or a haunted library) or Psychological (an obsession, a descent into madness) or all three
An end goal that may be morally ambiguous or unacceptable in society
A sense of nostalgia and/or a romanticism of learning
A balance of dark and light- be it in the description or the tone

Adding these elements will give your story that dark academia feeling, and you can combine and modify them as needed to fit the story.

Dark Academia Examples

Here are my favorite books, TV shows, and movies that embody the Dark Academia trope.

Books I’ve read:

Books I plan to read:

TV Shows I’ve watched:

The Magicians (Available on Tubi or the CW)
A Discovery of Witches (Available on Netflix)
Wednesday (Available on Netflix)
The Librarians (Available on Netflix)
Constantine (Available on Amazon Prime)
Supernatural (Available on Netflix until December 19th, then on Amazon Prime)
BBC Sherlock (Available on Hulu)
The Umbrella Academy (Available on Netflix)

Movies I’ve watched:

Frankenstein (2025) (Available on Netflix)
The Mummy (1999) (Available on Pluto TV and Amazon Prime)
The Mummy Returns (Available on Pluto TV and Amazon Prime)
Phantom of the Opera (Any version)
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Available on Pluto TV, Paramount+, and Amazon Prime)
Night at the Museum (Available on Disney+)
Beauty and the Beast (1991) (Available on Disney+)

To Recap:

Dark Academia is a subgenre that’s full of mystery, nostalgia, and a passion for knowledge- even at the expense of others.

It’s generally set in a school (college, academy, etc.), museum, or library, but you can also use gothic structures (castle ruins, mansions, churches) or even an adventure setting (on a ship, in the jungle, on a train, in the desert)- as long as you use plenty of description to set the atmosphere.

It’s often dark and moody, focusing on the haunting past instead of the bright future, and creates tension through mystery and paranormal events.

The main point, though, is that the protagonist is involved in learning something new, or teaching others, as they navigate through the events of the story- even at the cost of their own sanity.

What’s your favorite work of Dark Academia? Let me know in the comments below!