This was a great collection of dark academia authors all within the pages of one book. Like with most short story collections, I did find that I enjoyed some more than others and that it was a reading experience that benefited from dipping in and out across a longer period of time rather than reading back to back. However, this would make a lovely collection for anyone who loves the dark academia atmosphere and for people who want to get a taste for the writing styles of a group of brilliant authors writing today!

In These Hallowed Halls is an anthology of 12 new-to-this-volume short fiction fantasy pieces by well known authors. Released 12th Sept. 2023 by Titan Books, it's 368 pages and is available in hardcover and ebook formats. Paperback format due out from the same publisher in Sept 2024. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links throughout.

This is a nice collection of varied short "dark academia" themed fiction from 2023 and all are appearing for the first time in this collection. The editors have done a good job of blending the (very) disparate works into a somewhat cohesive whole. Their introduction is erudite and interesting, and shows a glimmer of the selection processes. As always, some of the included authors will be less familiar to each reader, and as always, there are good "name drop" titles to add to readers' TBR piles.

The stories are varied, there were (as always) some which didn't grab me personally, but all were well written and competently plotted. They were mostly in the 4 star range(ish) with a smattering of really standout stories. This is a well curated solid anthology of stories in the 3-5 star range.

One reason I prefer collections and anthologies is that short fiction is really challenging. It's spare and the author doesn't have a wealth of wordage to develop characters or the plotting. Well written short fiction is a delight. I also love collections because if one story doesn't really grab me, there's another story just a few pages away. I can only recall a few times where I've read a collection (or anthology) straight through from cover to cover as I did this one.

Four stars on average. It's a diverting read.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

I really enjoyed this dark academia themed anthology. There’s just something about the dark academia setting that draws me in and doesn’t want to let go. Some of my favorite authors are included in this one— and it was fun to get to switch gears throughout the book going from one story to the next. Definitely recommend!

Unfortunately I think that anthologies are just not generally for me, as I really need a throughline of something to latch onto throughout the book and hold my attention. Many of the individual writers featured are extremely talented, and I have enjoyed or plan to read longer works by them.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

Been a while since I was approved for this title and I didn't actually get around to reading it all before the title expired, but the few stories I did read inspired me to buy the book and read the rest. Great to curl up under a blanket with.

I was interested but there were some stories (most of them) that were missing maybe more plot, other more time and there were some that I didn't like at all. Overall 🌟🌟🌟

What could I want more than a Dark Academia anthology? Some stories were thematically relevant, gripping, moody and twisty. Other stories were a bit of a stretch for what I would classify as dark academia.

I really enjoy short story anthologies, and was thrilled to have the opportunity to a dark-academia focused one, especially with stories from ML Rio and Olivie Blake. While I didn't dislike this book when I was reading it, I ultimately found it forgettable and there were only one or two out of the entire connection that I would have rated more than 3 stars. Ultimately, I think there are better short story recommendations out there that I would recommend instead.

Thank you to the publisher for the gifted eARC!

Rating an anthology is always hard because you’re bound to love some stories, like some, and dislike others. It’s a whole spectrum to rate here 😂 Overall, I’d say I had high hopes and this collection didn’t really meet them. I’d say it’s not even dark academia, it’s just most stories set in some kind of educational institution, but it’s not dark academia per-se. It’s just mostly teenagers behaving badly, dressed in private school uniforms or located in the library. Barely any of them features the “pursuit of knowledge” or obsession that usually characterizes dark academia; it lacks the depth and intrigue that makes dark academia compelling. It doesn’t really hit the mark for me, but that doesn’t mean there’s no stellar stories in here!

this is an absolutely wonderful collection. i am a huge dark academia fan, so it is no surprise that i loved reading this. i read one short story a week because i didn’t want to fly through the book haha.

there are a range of authors here that i have read, and some that i had not had the pleasure of reading yet. that is what i love about collections - they introduce you to new authors but with a short burst so you can get a taste of what they are writing.

sometimes with short stories, i struggle to connect to the story and characters but this was not the case here. every story was written with such great care and love that i was able to really get into the writing.

as always, thank you so much for this copy!

I love short story collections and this one, all with a dark academia setting, was really appealing to me.

As with anthologies like this, some styles of writing were more suited to my tastes than others, and some of the stories made more of an impact than others.

I’d say that this isn’t going to stick in my mind as one of the more memorable collections of short stories I’ve read but I did enjoy it and would really recommend it to dark academia fans (of which there are many!) looking for a snack sized bite between novels.

As someone who has recently semi-retired from a career in education, I must admit that the first term of the school year, from September to Christmas, holds a certain degree of nostalgic charm for me. As the nights begin to get darker earlier and the Summer turns to Winter, my own thoughts remind me of both unlimited opportunities and longer nights of reading, with a good cup of tea close by.

It seems that I’m not the only one to think so. These seasonal changes are for me a sign that another year is nearly over, unless you are a university or college student. There the academic year is a new beginning. For many leaving to go to college and university it is a time of excitement, something both thrilling and even a little scary.

In These Hallowed Halls taps into this nicely. ‘Dark academia’ has now become a genre reference, conjuring up ideas of higher education, the arts, and literature, scholarly learning with a touch of dark secrets, darkened libraries and ancient places of learning. As you might expect in an anthology of Dark Academia, all of this is noted, and what we have is an diverse range of stories here. There are stories set in the past (well, the 1980’s), the present and even the future, dealing with learning of all sorts from ancient arcane knowledge to future AI data.

But most of all it is about the relationships between the characters involved. Quite often here the stories are about the friends and enemies created in these hotbeds of learning. Many of the tales deal with relationships between mentors and students, professors and scholars, students and graduates.

I must admit that generally often none of these groups come off too well. There are teachers cheating with students, students cheating on other students, one story where the students fail to disclose that their mentor has died in order to gain profitably from the situation, all of which emphasise that dark element to the plots. At the same time, I appreciated the point that there’s often a joy of studying, of being able to research, of the excitement caused by the possibilities of discovering things unknown to counterbalance this darkness. University can be fun and exciting, and this too is part of the setting.

Particular favourites for me were The Hare and the Hound by Kelly Andrews, a story that had elements of folk horror entwined with in it, J. T. Ellison’s X House gave me a contemporary update to the frat houses seen in movies such as Animal House, Helen Grant’s The Professor of Ontology, which was a contemporary take on “What’s behind the door?”, Four Funerals by David Bell reminded me that there are many victims in a school shooting, M. L. Rio’s Weekend at Berties rather made me think of Alfred Hitchcock’s stories in its murder-mystery setting, Tori Bovalino’s Phobos was a strong story of secret societies whilst Phoebe Whynne’s Playing finished the collection off strongly with a story with a certain nod to Robert Bloch.

There were none I disliked, but oddly Pythia by current hot-property Olivie Blake, who may be one of the main draws to this collection, was the story I liked least. It didn’t quite work for me, although I liked what it was trying to do. I’m sure others may disagree!

In short, In These Hallowed Halls delivers an eclectic range of stories from many of the newest and brightest genre writers. It is a book ideal for settling down with on a colder Autumnal night, or indeed dipping into as you start that new educational journey. (Cup of tea optional!) If you are a fan already , I think you’ll love it, or if you’re looking for somewhere to start, to try the subgenre, I can think of nowhere better at the moment.

One of my favourites of the year!

Thank you so much, Titan Books and NetGalley, for giving the chance to read this book in exchange of an honest review.

In these hallowed halls: a dark academia anthology is everything I could have hoped for from a short story collection and more. I was absolutely drawn by names like Olivie Blake and Tori Bovalino, who I love with all my heart and this anthology let me discover more and more magnificent new authors and I'm gonna be forever grateful.
I love Dark Academia and everything surrounding it and this anthology is absolutely perfect. In these 12 short stories the reader will be able to follow these complex and magnificent, often morally gray, characters in their adventures and stories. From revealing sinister truths about missing professor, deadly rituals, seances for revenge, obsessions, lies, secrets and death and I loved every single story.
Deliciously sinister and creepy, intense and beguiling. 10/10

Perfect for spooky season! The vast difference in quality of storytelling threw me off . There were a few that were incredible (Pythia) and a few that were terrible (four funerals) , not sure how they share the same space!

A brilliant collection of perfectly gothic short stories that not only introduced me to some new authors but also made for great reading throughout the week. A great starting point into the world of dark academia, The Ravages and Pythia were particular favourites of mine from this collection. I highly recommend picking this up!

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for my eARC

I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed some of these stories as much as I did! The Layne Fargo story blew me away. I really liked Susie Yang's as well. There were a few others that were excellent. I can't bring myself to read M.L. Rio's. but I hope to get to it one day.

This was a wonderful dark academia anthology, with some fantastic authors on board! A great starting point for anyone who's new to Dark Academia and wants to get a feel of what it entails and the kind of vibe to expect. I particularly enjoyed 1000 ships- felt familiar, a little like My Dark Vanessa

I always love collections of short stories, there’s just something so fun about jumping into different tales all within one publication!
The authors of this one truly peaked my interest, Olivie Blake was my main reason for picking this up as well as my love of dark academia.

I think this definitely bridges into themes of horror, lgbtq+, mystery, thriller and so much more! I think there’s definitely something for everyone and this would be the perfect start to someone’s dark academia reading journey.

My favourite stories were:
• Pythia by Olivie Blake (I don’t think I was surprised by this as Olivie’s writing wows me everytime)
• 1000 Ships by Kate Weinberg - what a way to make me feel a strong NEED to pick up the Truants to see more of this character.
• The Ravages by Layne Fargo - tapping into that horror/revenge element that I LOVE.


That’s just the top three, there were only a select few I didn’t really enjoy which is amazing out of a book containing so many new authors for myself. I will definitely be looking into many of these authors now.

Thank you netgalley!

Thank you NetGalley and Titan Books for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was really disappointed with this. I expected it to be thrilling and a collection of amazing pieces with such emotion as these writers of dark academia have done in their own books. I am sad to say, it really lacked this and felt flat. This may be because the stories were so short and the writers tried to pack as much as they could into it, that it just felt so rushed and you didn’t get a good feel of the characters, so couldn’t possibly connect with them. This may just be my personal preference - I don’t read short stories much for this reason. Nevertheless, the writing was good.