Preorder “The Elements of Dark Academia”

I’m excited to see my story “The Genius and the Devil” in the anthology The Elements of Dark Academia, publishing in the UK in August 2026 and now available for preorder.  Get free shipping to the US from Blackstones!

Don your best tweed and sharpen your daggers: school is in session.

In this revelatory collection of over two dozen stories, award-winning anthologist Jared Shurin guides us through the hallowed halls of Dark Academia, from its Gothic roots to its boundary-pushing present. Ranging from the mysterious to the fantastic, the romantic and the horrific, these stories explore the hidden secrets of elite institutions, probe our relationship with power, and examine the darkest corners of human nature.

Within these pages, you’ll meet obsessed professors and the students who will do anything to impress them. Artists and musicians who make deals with the devil. Academic rivalries that turn personal, and even deadly. Students who come to study, but learn that ivory towers often contain dark secrets.

On the syllabus, you’ll find:

  • Edgar Allan Poe
  • Evelyn Waugh
  • Dorothy Sayers
  • Carmen Maria Machado
  • M.L. Rio
  • Lev Grossman
  • And many more.

 

The Elements of Dark Academia

New Story: ENTHRALL!

Very excited to share my latest flash story “Enthrall!”, out now in Hex Literary. Children’s games, an endless old house, a mysterious hostess, and my favorite collective narrator.

“The cheese course lay in ruins on the endless table. The parents were too tipsy or sleepy, too busy arguing or laughing or singing, too distracted loosening belts and popping buttons to demand patience, send sharp looks, or worry about offending the great house’s new owner (whoever she was, wherever she was). It was the first time any of the guests had been inside the great house, or attended such an elaborate banquet.

A child whispered, “Let’s play.””

Read the rest at Hex Literary.

2024 Eligibility Post

In 2024, my short story “Bachelorettes on the Devil’s Dance Floor” appeared in Asimov’s Science Fiction (Sept./Oct. 2024). The story is available to read on the SFWA and HWA member sites. Grateful to everyone reading at the end of the year!

New Story! “Bachelorettes on the Devil’s Dance Floor”

I’m thrilled that my newest story, “Bachelorettes on the Devil’s Dance Floor,” has entered the world between the pages of the September/October 2024 issue of Asimov’s Science Fiction. Jealous sisters, resentful besties, and reckless brides–and, of course, the devil (or is he?)–all in time for Halloween.

Read an excerpt and purchase at Asimov’s.

“The building has a rough stone façade, narrow smoke-gray windows, and brightly painted signs in several languages. The bachelorettes line up behind a crush of Asian tourists, each wearing a red lanyard.

“That bar has a shorter line,” Elle says, gesturing across the square. She’d like to get drunk as quickly as possible.

“But this bar’s authentic!” Bea argues. She wants them to remember, later—Bea planned the best trip, Bea found the best bar. She’s nearly forgotten that their attendance is an accident. A mistake, even.

“It’s for tourists,” a man says. It’s the man in the dark coat, the man with the dark eyes. 

His English is just barely molded by German. He smiles at Angie again, and this time she smiles back. “It’s not fit for a bride,” he says. “Wouldn’t you like to see the real Walpurgisnacht?”

Angie plays with the hem of her veil. She knows the plastic tiara and the sash printed “bride” in gold make her alluring—ripe but forbidden. She’s like a true spring maiden under the maypole. She plans to enjoy it.

“Yes,” Angie says.”

Read the “The Getaway” Online

Weird Horror has posted my short story “The Getaway” (Issue #6) to read online.

silhouette of woman with shovel in doorway

“The person stood in the front yard, hunched over, their shoulder blades poked through their long scraggly hair. Strange that I missed it before, but they were oddly colorless—the whole image oddly colorless, like it was taken at twilight or before sunrise. I zoomed in and the image jumped to the porch swing, the black windows behind it, the big round clock beside the door. I dragged my finger on the screen, almost expecting the lawn to be empty—the figure just a glitch or my imagination.

But there they were.”

Read the story at Weird Horror.

“The Getaway” in Weird Horror #6

I calculated our reunion was

In March 2022, Weird Horror published its sixth issue, which includes my story “The Getaway.” It’s inspired by one of my favorite MR James stories, “The Mezzotint,” and captures some of the particular horror of the last couple years. Here’s a snippet:

Print and digital copies are available via the Weird Horror website.

“I calculated our reunion was low-risk—we had quarantined and tested, and if we did get sick, we probably wouldn’t die. Still, I was nervous, double-checking the address, reviewing the different routes, reloading the GPS results. The app showed a grayish, fuzzy photo of the house—taken, I figured, from one of those cars with a camera on top. Compared to the listing photo, the house appeared malnourished, infirm.

That’s when I saw the figure.”