Damianos Eaton and Rickter Han couldn’t be more different. One survived a harrowing near-death experience that left him with questions too big for this world. The other, a cynical supermodel, battles the nightly curse of relentless sleep paralysis. Yet fate—or something darker—draws them both to Vale Academy, a secluded arcane institution that promises to reveal earth-shattering discoveries about the nature of human consciousness.

At Vale, the lines between science and the metaphysical blur. Here, students experiment with astral projection, scrying, and the boundaries of reality itself. Though around each of Vale’s winding corridors, disturbing secrets emerge from the shadows: a student who disappeared without a trace, assignments that border on the inhumane. And as Damianos and Rickter delve deeper into their studies, they uncover a chilling truth: some doors are better left unopened—because the academy's secrets are as dangerous as they are illuminating.

With its gothic allure and philosophical undercurrents, Risen Apes is a dark academia tale where the pursuit of truth could cost more than sanity—it might cost your soul.

For fans of An Academy for Liars, The Atlas Six, True Detective’s Rust Cohle, and The Secret History.

*Content warnings: Suicide and suicidal ideation, death, sexual content