Most of this anthology fell flat for me (as anthologies unfortunately seem to do for me) but there were a few standouts! Here are my brief thoughts on each story:

Tallow's Cove by Erica Waters - 4 stars
Intriguing, and I liked the ending, but it didn't captivate me throughout.

Utilities by Genevieve Cogman - 3 stars
Very confusing but I really liked the ending.

Destroying Angel by Jamison Shea - 2 stars
Very weird and disturbing, and it didn't really do anything? Selfcest is not for me.

Within the Loch by Elspeth Wilson - 2.5 stars
I feel like this should've been right up my alley, but I just found it confusing and it didn't feel like it had any impact on me.

Advanced Dissection by Taylor Grothe - 3.5 stars
I liked this one! The ending, not so much, but for the majority, this was creeping me out and felt very unique.

God, Needy, Enough with the Screaming by Olivie Blake - 5 stars
Olivie Blake you need to make this into a full length novel because what the hell!!! So good and creepy and twisted!

Poisoned Pawn by de Elizabeth - 4 stars
I feel like this could have had a much better ending but I was invested, I liked the chess setting and the reveals.

Open Book by Kit Mayquist - 2 stars
Boring! It didn't do anything, although I loved the premise

A Short List of Impossible Things by Faridah Abike-Iyimide - 4 stars
I really liked this! Very sad, dealt with grief really well, I loved the form of letters telling the story. Beautiful!

The Harrowing of Lucas Mortier by MK Lobb - 3 stars
This really felt like it was going somewhere... and then it just didn't.

The Coventry School for the Arts by Ariel Djanikian - 4 stars
I really liked this! Haunting and honestly quite sad. It was mysterious and intriguing, I'm just not sold on the ending.

The Magpies by Kate Alice Marshall - 3 stars
I love the concept but the execution didn't work for me.

I rarely read anthologies, but this one I really enjoyed.

These Dreaming Spires start with a disclaimer from editors – in these anthology they're trying to move the strict genre borders that the readers expect from dark academia stories. And for me, that was a huge incentive to read this book. Dark academia can unfortunately be repetitive, so it's a perfect book if you're looking for fresh takes on the genre.

And the authors deliver. We have some excellent stories here that I would love to read more of. There are ghosts, damned books, personal hells, secrets and, of course, magic.
All of them are of course, revolve around universities or schools of different kinds. The characters are quite diverse, and I was pleasantly suprised by how many of them were queer.

Overall, I really enjoyed these stories, and will definitely check out other books by some of the authors.
If you like reading short stories and enjoy dark academia vibes, then I can highly recommend this book.

This is a wonderful collection of short stories from some of the best authors in the dark and spooky realm of books. The stories range from spooky ghost stories to dark academia that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Each story is wonderful, but my two favourites are Tallow's Cove from Erica Waters, which is a spooky haunted church story, and God, Needy, Enough with the Screaming from Olivie Blake, which is a dark academia tale of sorts.

This is the perfect book for Halloween, spooky season, or just if you are in the mood for a spooky tale. Highly recommend.

Had so much fun reading this! So many great short stories from some many talented authors. It was nice!

These Dreaming Spires is an anthology of 12 dark academia short stories. I was originally intrigued because some of these short stories were written by some of my favorite authors, like Olivia Blake. I’m glad I had this opportunity because I also found new authors that I thoroughly enjoyed!
While some stories did drag, I liked the book overall. I would highly recommend it!

Thank you, Titan Books & NetGalley for my gifted advanced book copy 💕

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

As with all short story collections, some were great and some didn't quite hit the mark for me. The editors highlight in the opening note that the aim of the collection was to push the boundaries of what constitutes as Dark Academia, which I would say it did to varying successes. There were a few I felt had a very...loose connection to the sub-genre.
However, I am really glad I read it, especially during the first week of September. A little Dark Academia appetizer, if you will.
As always, Olivie Blake is a standout voice. Everything she writes makes me laugh and squeal and squirm in a way only she can achieve. Her contribution was by far my favourite. So quintessentially her.
I also really enjoyed A Short List of Impossible Things - super reminiscent of the Emily Wilde trilogy.
Open Book was also gorgeous, oozing with atmosphere.

Thank you to Titan Books and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC. All opinions are my own.

These Dreaming Spires is an anthology of 12 short stories all based in the realm of dark academia. There are touches of urban fantasy, horror, magical realism, and sci fi amongst other genres woven into the dark academia throughout the anthology and it is a great mix of interesting reads.

Out of the 12 there were 4 I didn’t really enjoy a great deal, 4 that were good, and 4 that I loved. Tallow’s Cove, Poisoned Pawn, A Short List of Impossible Things, and The Magpies in particular all stood out to me for different reasons.

Tallow’s Cove was one of those stories that just stuck in my mind afterwards. The somewhat supernatural obsession and captivation, the teases of a deeper level to it, the touch of cyclical death. It just immediately staked a place in my head and was a fantastic way to start off the anthology. It gave me some Piranesi vibes and I am a HUGE Piranesi fan!

Poisoned Pawn felt slightly more YA in tone and digs into the academia themes of stress and pressure that comes from being a high achiever and the struggle to balance studies and intellectual pursuits with relationships. Everyone has had someone in their life who meant a lot to them and disappeared from it, it changes you, and bumping into them again after a long time would be stressful and push you to your mental limits.

A Short List of Impossible Things is an epistolary novel writing letters to their beloved from their adventures researching impossible things. I was engrossed the whole way through, this is the only story that challenged Tallow’s Cove for the top spot for me. It is wonderful and the very small amount of world building we get left me so intrigued and wanting to discover more, however it definitely works better in this format so that desire I am happy to leave unfulfilled. It leaves things to the imagination but does enough to allow your imagination to flourish.

The Magpies is a bit darker and gorier than the others and leans into some body horror, which isn’t usually my thing, but on this occasion I was hooked. It looks into alternative realms that are incomprehensible to humans, the burning desire for academics to uncover the incomprehensible, and why some things maybe are incomprehensible for a reason. This felt very Lovecraftian to me and is absolutely something I could see in one of his stories!

Thank you Titan Books for the ARC!

I really loved most of these short stories. It was so cool to see the various authors takes on dark academia, and how despite all having different things they focus on. Whether you are someone who has been chewed up and spit out by academia, or you just like the aesthetic, these stories are for you! My personal favorite was the second one.

This was a great read for getting into the autumnal mood. It perfectly captured the vibe it promised; academic, creeping, tense, and dark. The collection of as really cohesive and I loved the book as a whole, conceptually. It approached dark academia from a lot of different angles and tropes and had a really diverse array of stories. I’ll definitely be checking out its predecessor mentioned in the Introduction. Some stories I liked more than others, and I think my favorites were by Jamison Shea and MK Lobb.

These Dreaming Spires is an anthology of 12 dark academia short stories. It opens with an introduction explaining that while the collection does include some stories which are more traditional dark academia, they have intentionally pushed the boundary of what constitutes dark academia, and have included innovative examples of dark academia which push into other subgenres. I definitely feel this in the stories - some mash up dark academia with different subgenres that you might not expect, and it definitely feels like the authors had fun with them! It's a really varied collection because of all the genre hybrids.

Normally with anthologies, I say that not all of the stories will work for all readers but that there'll be something for everyone. But with These Dreaming Spires, every single one of these short stories was 4 or 5 stars for me. Quite a few are gory, disturbing, and creepy. Some are really creative - I never would have imagined dark academia within a Virtual Reality university! It's just an amazing collection by fantastic authors!

"Get ready to go to the top of the class, people, because a brand new term is about to begin..." - Introduction by Marie O'Regan and Paul Kane

Disclaimer: I received an Advance Reader Copy from Titan Books and NetGalley but this is my voluntary and honest review.

Note: I will publish my reviews on Goodreads, Fable and StoryGraph in the month of release (September) as requested in the publisher notes. I'll come back and update this feedback page with the review links on 1st September.

Note 01/09/2025 - Review now added to Goodreads, StoryGraph and Fable and review links added below.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this advanced reader's copy and the opportunity to this early. Review has been posted on Waterstones and Goodreads.

I was so glad to see there would be another dark academia anthology after I read In These Hallowed Halls as an ARC a few years ago. These Dreaming Spires features some of my favorite authors so I was excited to see what they had cooked up for me. There's something for everyone in these stories and it's a great introduction to each of the authors' unique writing styles. I really enjoyed this anthology!

On the introduction, the curators expressed the want to further explore the dark academia subgenre and take it to lengths it hasn't been before. And that they did.
In These Hallowed Halls we have a wide variety of short stories, varying from your run-of-the-mill suspicious murder in an academic setting to a university entirely operated in people's brains, on a metaphysical plane. It also focuses a lot on magic, be it dragons, magic books or other dimensions. In short stories collections it's important to have range, and I feel like they found the soft spot here, where all stories are different but not so much that you feel like they don't belong here.
The highlight for me is Olivie Blake's story. I am a fan so this is very biased, but I just think it was the strongest one. I must say the beginning is more hard-hitting, towards the end I started to feel like I had enough, but by then it was almost over, so this was a good length.
This is a must read for everyone that loves dark academia. I ended up with a list of new authors to check out too, which is always good.

These Dreaming Spires is ideal reading for the nights that draw closer and bring a chill to your skin. This is great for both Dark Academia fans and those looking to dip a toe in the murky waters, as it both pays homage to and expands the genre.

Dark Academia is one of my favourite genres – the atmosphere and the unique stylings really align with my reading taste. There is something about that slow descent into madness and encircling atmosphere of paranoia and secrets hidden behind gleaming smiles that always lands with me as a reader. Therefore it was no surprise that I thoroughly enjoyed In These Hallowed Halls and had to pick up the follow-up anthology which delivers more tales from a whole host of writers.

This is a treasure trove of talent with stories that will surprise and delight you even as they may send shivers down your spine. The format allows you to pace at your convenience, whether you wish to savour a few stories or devour them all in one go. All of these writers make the most out of the short space they have. These stories are sharp and slick with fascinating takes on the genre that push the boundaries. Like the first collection, it expands the definition and expected beats of the genre, taking us to unexpected locations and characters. You get a great sense of each person’s style with their perspective on the genre filtering into their story.

All of these were enjoyable and I would read expanded versions, though I enjoyed the bite of the condensed space of the short story form. I did have a few particular favourites though: Utilities by Genevieve Cogman, Within The Loch by Elspeth Wilson, A Short List of Impossible Things by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, The Harrowing of Lucas Mortier by M. K. Lobb and God, Needy, Enough with the Screaming by Olivie Blake.

These Dreaming Spires is a wonderful way to explore the works of a variety of writers, allowing you to discover new favourites. Curl up and let the stories unfold around you.

Last year I reviewed In These Hallowed Halls, an anthology that delved into the world of Dark Academia. (“Think Harry Potter, but for grown-ups”, I was told by one fan.) As one of the themes that are very popular at the moment, I was not surprised to see it do very well. I said in my review that “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.”

With this in mind then, we now have a second anthology, although in their introduction Marie & Paul state that this book was commissioned first. (Ah, the complexities of book publishing!)

Anyway, this time around we have 12 stories continuing to deal with things dark, nasty and creepy in the halls, bedrooms, canteens and libraries of academia – just in time for a new term. (Anybody would think these things were planned, wouldn’t they?)

I always think that if a story collection is to succeed, then the first story is paramount, setting the scene for what is to follow.  With this in mind, then Tallow’s Cove by Erica Waters is a good start. I felt like this coastal college with a deserted church was real; it gave me a touch of the M R James.

For contrast, Utilities by Genevieve Cogman is a science-fictional tale where students live and study in a virtual college. Nicely done on the whole, although I found that the ending was a little weak.

Destroying Angel by Jamison Shea involves a magic book, doppelgangers and a lone outsider expelled from university. A revenge tale, which was quite icky in places (although not the ickiest in the collection – more later.) and as a result has trigger warnings at the beginning of the story. Also has sex scenes.

Within The Loch by Elspeth Wilson is a story of a school in decline and its odd relationship with its nearby loch – or rather what is in the loch. A nice folk-horror story, with an element of nostalgic “Goodbye Mr. Chips” embedded within it.

Advanced Dissection by Taylor Grothe, as the title suggests, involves a degree of body horror and is the ickiest story in the collection in my opinion. Involves werewolves and body dissection and therefore understandably also has trigger warnings from the start.

God, Needy, Enough With The Screaming by Olivie Blake. Olivie is a big name in the genre at present, and I suspect her name on the cover will sell many copies of this anthology, although I was a little disappointed by this one. Seraphina Fenwick is in a mental institution, for reasons that become apparent as the story progresses. A touch of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest here, as Seraphina interacts with her surrounding fellow patients and the reason for her incarceration is revealed. It’s an odd tale, deliberately unsettling, but not one that I thought was entirely successful.

Poisoned Pawn by De Elizabeth is about championship chess and the tumultuous relationship between two ex-lovers. I really liked this one – it involves the desire to succeed, whatever the cost. If you liked Walter Tevis’s The Queen’s Gambit, I think you’ll like this one.

Open Book by Kit Mayquist is a story that tells us of an archivist and his relationship with a student who is obsessed with a particular book. Solid – I felt that I should have liked this one more than I did.

A Short List of Impossible Things by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé is the story that I liked least in the anthology. Isadora Lex writes letters to Artemis, telling him of her thesis research. Perhaps it was meant to be, but I found Isadora really, really annoying, as in whiny and shallow. Where some may see the character as whimsical, I found her irritating. The twist in the tale to conclude things was a major “Huh?” moment for me. I guess every collection should have at least one story a reader dislikes, and this was the weakest story for me by far.

The Harrowing of Lucas Mortimer by M. K. Lobb involves young Lucas, a student affected by the appearance of a strange woman. With references to Dante’s Inferno and Milton’s Paradise Lost, this one deals with redemption, horror and the consequences of events in Lucas’s past.

The Coventry School for the Arts (how many of these stories set in America have British names?) by Ariel Djanikian tells of a young girl forced to live with her emotionally distant father at an Art School, where he teaches as an artist. One of those stories where things are not what they seem to be, a reminder that sins of the past will need paying for in the end.

Lastly, The Magpies by Kate Alice Marshall is a story where two girls open a portal to another world with grave consequences. Touching on Lovecraftian cosmic horror, I found that this story rounded the collection off nicely.

All in all, These Dreaming Spires shows you that the sub-genre still has ideas to give. Folk horror, cosmic horror, body horror, stories set in the past, present and future, and showcasing a pleasing number of new-to-me authors, the collection is engaging, varied and diverse enough to cover a range of stories that should again satisfy any fan of the genre, evoking images of academia and student life that will resonate with dark academia fans (dark academics?)

If I had any niggles, I will say that I didn’t think that this book was quite as strong nor as varied as the first. I can’t think of any stories I disliked in These Hallowed Halls, whereas this time around.. well, you can’t win every one. (Having said that, I rather expect story collections from different authors to be a mixed bag.)

As a general rule of thumb, if there are more hits than misses, then I count that as a win. And in this regard, These Dreaming Spires is most definitely a win. Based on this anthology, there’s more stories to be told in the future.

These Dreaming Spires was a fantastic collection of dark academia where basically every story was a hit for me. I have to say the real stand out was Utilities for me but I did love all the others. As always the collection might not be a hit for everyone and every story might not be your cup of tea but what I do love about the Titan Books anthologies is they give a nice cross section of the subgenres under the overarching theme. This, in my opinion, is brilliant because you can find your niche in a genre and often find some new instant buy authors too!

As always thank you to the publisher for the advanced copy to review, my reviews are always honest and freely given.

I have a love-hate relationship with short stories, but do usually enjoy them when written by authors I already know and like. Such was the case here. I LOVED the Olivie Blake - but I always love her writing. She manages to create such complex characters - even in short formats - and throw them into fascinatingly complicated situations that are dark and snarky and marvelously intricate. I am also a regular fan of Kate Alice Marshall, and enjoyed her tale as well. I was a huge fan of Genevieve Cpgman's Invisible Library series, but have struggled with her other works; such was the case here, in which I could not find the threads of her tale and follow it at all. As far as the rest of the collection, on the whole I did not enjoy the stories much. I typically found myself interested in the openings, but then either confused or left wanting by the endings (although to be fair, that happens a lot with short stories for me, as they tend to not have enough characterization to satisfy). On the whole this was not my favorite anthology...

I thoroughly enjoyed this collection of short stories, which have a wide range of subjects within the dark academia genre, from spooky ghost stories, science fiction and fantasy. There’s themes such as madness, obsession, the dangers of technology, circumnavigating grief and the question of what is reality.

There’s something for everyone in this collection and it would be perfect for the upcoming autumnal months and spooky season.

Some of my favourites from this collection include Tallow’s Cove by Erica Waters, The Coventry School of the Arts by Ariel Djanikian and God, Needy, Enough with the Screaming by Olivie Blake.

The dark academia book of brilliance that will introduce a reader to new authors, establish old favourites and immerse them into all parts of this genre.