The Dark Academia book sub-genre makes a statement in many literary styles, including mystery, horror, historical fiction, and fantasy.

Various classic works of literature, particularly those from the medieval and Renaissance periods, make the list of Dark Academia canon.

Gothic literature, with its focus on dark, eerie, and macabre themes, is one important genre in Dark Academia literature. Gothic literature, such as the works of Edgar Allan Poe, often explores the darker aspects of human nature and society.

Romanticism, with its focus on emotion, individualism, and the natural world, is also influential in Dark Academia. This is seen in the movement’s emphasis on mood and atmosphere, as well as the use of natural and historic settings.

The works of Shakespeare and Tolstoy, which often have themes of magic, death, and the supernatural also play a central role in Dark Academia.

These works often have themes of magic, death, and the supernatural, which are also central to the Dark Academia aesthetic.

One of the main themes of Dark Academia literature is a morbid longing for the picturesque at all costs, which turns into an obsession that drives academics to the dark part of the academic aesthetic.

Dark Academia literature heavily deals with themes of obsession, elitism, and the darker sides of human psychology.

A critique – the dark in dark academia stands for the dark side of academia, typically symbolized in literature with death, murder, or other morbid consequences.