Alison’s Reviews > In These Hallowed Halls: A Dark Academia Anthology > Status Update

Playing by Phoebe Wynn - A brilliant final story in this collection. Very much character driven and such a disturbing character Grace is.

Phobos - I think this could be my favourite story of the 12. Absolutely brilliant

Weekend at Bernie's by ML Rio - a story by this author was a big draw for me and I really enjoyed it. If you like your 80s movies you'll have an idea what this is about. I do love Rio's writing

The Professor of Ontography by Helen Grant - A little predictable but still an enjoyable story. I'm impressed the author squeezed so much into so few pages

Unknowable Pleasures by Susie Yang - I think I must be too tired or something as I didn't really get this story. I feel like I'm missing something but no idea what

The Ravages by Layne Fargo - An interesting little story about love and betrayal set in archives. A little predictable but an OK read

X House by JT Ellison - Well written but not for me I'm afraid. I feel like the author tried to do too much in a small number of pages. There are two povs to contend with and it's quite heavy on description. I think the story told could actually work well as a full length novel, it's a good idea. It just needed more pages to add some depth

The Hare and the Hound by Kelly Armstrong - Not sure I would really call this dark academia but I did like it a lot. Possibly my favourite story so far, I do love a is someone going crazy or are there darker forces at work kind of tale. It also feels like a complete story, well written with fleshed out characters. Something I find rare in short stories.

Sabbatical by James Tate Hill - Really strange story that I really don't know what to make of. I think I liked it, or at least I enjoyed the apathy of the main character but overall it was really bizarre

Pythia by Olivie Blake - I'm a fan of Blake so her story was a big draw for me. It was however probably a mistake to read it while midway through Atlas Paradox. Pythia is quite complex for a short story, some difficult concepts and quite a few characters. It weaves together magic, technology, psychology, academia and social commentary. Maybe too complex for something so short but brilliant writing as always

Just started but already know this is going to increase my tbr.

1000 Ships by Kate Weinberg - A prequel to her book The Truants it definitely falls into the dark category. Despite feeling particularly short it does give a real sense of the characters. A little bit spicy, it's a story of betrayal, jealousy and revenge. Very much enjoyed so have added the Truants to my tbr.