Final yr I reviewed In These Hallowed Halls, an anthology that delved into the world of Darkish Academia. (“Suppose Harry Potter, however for grown-ups”, I used to be instructed by one fan.) As one of many themes which are highly regarded in the intervening time, I used to be not stunned to see it do very properly. I stated in my evaluate that “If you’re a fan already, I feel you’ll like it, or in case you’re on the lookout for someplace to start out, to strive the subgenre, I can consider nowhere higher in the intervening time.”
With this in thoughts then, we now have a second anthology. This time round we’ve 12 tales persevering with to take care of issues darkish, nasty and creepy within the halls, bedrooms, canteens and libraries of academia – simply in time for a brand new time period. (Anyone would suppose these items have been deliberate, wouldn’t they?)
I all the time suppose that if a narrative assortment is to succeed, then the primary story is paramount, setting the scene for what’s to comply with. With this in thoughts, then Tallow’s Cove by Erica Waters is an effective begin. I felt like this coastal school with a abandoned church was actual; it gave me a contact of the M R James.
For distinction, Utilities by Genevieve Cogman is a science-fictional story the place college students reside and examine in a digital school. Properly accomplished on the entire, though I discovered that the ending was just a little weak.
Destroying Angel by Jamison Shea includes a magic ebook, doppelgangers and a lone outsider expelled from college. A revenge story, which was fairly icky in locations (though not the ickiest within the assortment – extra later.) and in consequence has set off warnings initially of the story. Additionally has intercourse scenes.
Inside The Loch by Elspeth Wilson is a narrative of a college in decline and its odd relationship with its close by loch – or relatively what’s within the loch. A pleasant folk-horror story, with a component of nostalgic “Goodbye Mr. Chips” embedded inside it.
Superior Dissection by Taylor Grothe, because the title suggests, includes a level of physique horror and is the ickiest story within the assortment in my view. Includes werewolves and physique dissection and due to this fact understandably additionally has set off warnings from the beginning.
God, Needy, Sufficient With The Screaming by Olivie Blake. Olivie is an enormous identify within the style at current, and I believe her identify on the duvet will promote many copies of this anthology, though I used to be just a little upset by this one. Seraphina Fenwick is in a psychological establishment, for causes that develop into obvious because the story progresses. A contact of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest right here, as Seraphina interacts along with her surrounding fellow sufferers and the explanation for her incarceration is revealed. It’s an odd story, intentionally unsettling, however not one which I believed was totally profitable.
Poisoned Pawn by De Elizabeth is about championship chess and the tumultuous relationship between two ex-lovers. I actually preferred this one – it includes the need to succeed, no matter the fee. For those who preferred Walter Tevis’s The Queen’s Gambit, I feel you’ll like this one.
Open E book by Equipment Mayquist is a narrative that tells us of an archivist and his relationship with a scholar who’s obsessive about a selected ebook. Strong – I felt that I ought to have preferred this yet another than I did.
A Brief Checklist of Unimaginable Issues by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé is the story that I preferred least within the anthology. Isadora Lex writes letters to Artemis, telling him of her thesis analysis. Maybe it was meant to be, however I discovered Isadora actually, actually annoying, as in whiny and shallow. The place some may even see the character as whimsical, I discovered her irritating. The twist within the story to conclude issues was a serious “Huh?” second for me. I assume each assortment ought to have a minimum of one story a reader dislikes, and this was the weakest story for me by far.
The Harrowing of Lucas Mortimer by M. Ok. Lobb includes younger Lucas, a scholar affected by the looks of an odd lady. With references to Dante’s Inferno and Milton’s Paradise Misplaced, this one offers with redemption, horror and the implications of occasions in Lucas’s previous.
The Coventry Faculty for the Arts (what number of of those tales set in America have British names?) by Ariel Djanikian tells of a younger woman pressured to reside along with her emotionally distant father at an Artwork Faculty, the place he teaches as an artist. A kind of tales the place issues usually are not what they appear to be, a reminder that sins of the previous will want paying for ultimately.
Lastly, The Magpies by Kate Alice Marshall is a narrative the place two ladies open a portal to a different world with grave penalties. Relating Lovecraftian cosmic horror, I discovered that this story rounded the gathering off properly.
All in all, These Dreaming Spires exhibits you that the sub-genre nonetheless has concepts to present. Folks horror, cosmic horror, physique horror, tales set up to now, current and future, and showcasing a delightful variety of new-to-me authors, the gathering is participating, different and numerous sufficient to cowl a variety of tales that ought to once more fulfill any fan of the style, evoking photographs of academia and scholar life that can resonate with darkish academia followers (darkish lecturers?)
If I had any niggles, I’ll say that I didn’t suppose that this ebook was fairly as sturdy nor as different as the primary. I can’t consider any tales I disliked in These Hallowed Halls, whereas this time round.. properly, you possibly can’t win each one. (Having stated that, I relatively count on story collections from completely different authors to be a combined bag.)
As a normal rule of thumb, if there are extra hits than misses, then I depend that as a win. And on this regard, These Dreaming Spires is most undoubtedly a win. Based mostly on this anthology, there’s extra tales to be instructed sooner or later.
© 2025 Mark Yon
Hardback | Titan Books
THESE DREAMING SPIRES Edited by Marie O’Regan and Paul Kane
September 2025 | 368 pages
ISBN: 978 183 5410 196
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