Darkest Academia

Darkest Academia, also known as Gothic Academia and Goth Academia, is an academic aesthetic that incorporates gothic studies, literature, poetry, arts, architecture, music, the occult, and general Gothic related topics. It is related to finding beauty within the darkest places.

Visuals[]

Black and red dominate darkest academia's color palette. Academia visuals typically feature architecture; however, goth academia features Gothic architecture almost exclusively. Skulls, headstones, blood, and other symbols of death are staples in Darkest Academia visuals. Religious and occult imagery, especially related to Christianity, are featured frequently.

Statues, especially marble statues
Crows
The Moon
Swords
Fog
Moths

Philosophy[]

Although both Dark Academia and Light Academia have religious themes that appear infrequently in their visuals, Goth Academia is distinguished by its recurrent use of religious imagery.

Fashion[]

Tweed jackets
Dress shoes
Scarves
Black dress pants
Black turtlenecks
Black Doc Martens
Semi-Baggy Sweaters

Writing[]

Many popular works within Darkest Academia generally have a dark, gothic atmosphere to them. Some of the influential writers are:

Anne Rice
Ann Radcliffe
Arthur Rimbaud
Bram Stoker
Carson McCullers
Charlaine Harris
Cormac McCarthy
Dorothy Allison
Edgar Allan Poe
Emily Bronte
Eudora Welty
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Harry Crews
Horace Walpole
Howard Phillips Lovecraft
Matthew Gregory Lewis
Mary Shelley
Oscar Wilde
Toni Morrison
Truman Capote
William Faulkner

Movies and series[]

Wednesday (2022)
The Pale Blue Eye (2023)
Dracula (1992)
Dracula (2020)
Dracula (2013)
The Order (2019)
Mary Shelley (2017)
The Alienist (2018)
The Lizzie Borden Chronicles (2015)
Salem (2014)
Ripper Street (2012)
Interview with the Vampire (2022)
Interview with the Vampire (1994)
Dorian Gray (2009)
Sleepy Hollow (1999)
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994)
Opera (1987)
Crimson Peak (2015)
Jane Eyre (2011)
Victor Frankenstein (2015)
The Illusionist (2006)
Alias Grace (2017)
Penny Dreadful (2014)
Penny Dreadful: City of Angels (2020)
The Originals (2013)
Legacies (2018)
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (2018)
Charmed (1998)
Constantine (2014)
Grimm (2011)
Supernatural (2005)
The Magicians (2015)
A Discovery of Witches (2018)
The Craft (1996)
The Witch (2015)
The Harry Potter film series
The Crow (1994)
The Raven (2012)
A Christmas Carol (2019)
Rebecca (2021)
The Addams Family (1991)
The Addams Family (1993)
Sherlock Holmes (2009)
Edward Scissorhands (1990)
Sweeney Todd (2007)
Will (2017)
Anonymous (2011)
Gargoyles (1994)

Music[]

Darkest academia music is typically calm and soothing. It is usually relaxed jazz or classical and operatic music, especially violin or piano. Since it is Darkest Academia, the sound and feel of the music are emotional. For example, a piece called "Notre Dame, Notre Potrimoine" by Leon Noel. It is a classical piano piece that has a darker tone. Darkest Academia is not entirely, but for the most part, filled with sombre music. A jazzy example would be, "A Little Death" by The Neighbourhood. A popular artist associated with this aesthetic and similar ones is Hozier.

Proto-Goth and post-punk music like Joy Division, The Cure, Bauhaus, or The Smith also fit this well, both musically and aesthetically.