If a book gets tagged as ‘Dark Academia’ then heck yes we’re going to scope it out. That goes for YA titles like Goldy Moldavsky’s ‘The Mary Shelley Club’ which we are featuring on this episode of ‘The Dark Academicals’ podcast.

The summary reads as follows:

“When it comes to horror movies, the rules are clear:

x Avoid abandoned buildings, warehouses, and cabins at all times.

x Stay together: don't split up, not even just to "check something out."

x If there's a murderer on the loose, do not make out with anyone.

If only surviving in real life were this easy...

New girl Rachel Chavez turns to horror movies for comfort, preferring stabby serial killers and homicidal dolls to the bored rich kids of Manhattan Prep...and to certain memories she'd preferred to keep buried.

Then Rachel is recruited by the Mary Shelley Club, a mysterious society of students who orchestrate Fear Tests, elaborate pranks inspired by urban legends and movie tropes. At first, Rachel embraces the power that comes with reckless pranking. But as the Fear Tests escalate, the competition turns deadly, and it's clear Rachel is playing a game she can't afford to lose.”

Right off the bat the writing style is very different to what we would often find for a Dark Academia title, but does it have enough of the other elements of the criteria to make it fit? (We detail the genre framework in every episode, or you can check out our “intro” episode if you missed it which will give you all the details).

In this episode we discuss:

• Latinx representation

• Horror movies and horror tropes, specifically the ‘final girl’

• Parallels with ‘The Secret History’

• The importance of atmosphere and tension in dark academia

You can listen to it here:

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TEXTS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• ‘The Mary Shelley Club’/’The Last Girl’ by Goldy Moldavsky

• The Final Girl Support Group’ by Grady Hendrix

• ‘Final Girls’ by Riley Sagar

• ‘The Secret History’ by Donna Tartt

• ‘If We Were Villains’ by ML Rio

• ‘Madam’ by Phoebe Wynne

• ‘Kill the Boy Band’ by Goldy Moldavsky

‘The Mary Shelley Club’ is listed on bookshop.org, which supports independent bookshops, and with whom we are affiliated with, as ‘The Last Girl’ (it’s UK title). Buying a book through our link supports them, and supports us!