In These Hallowed Halls: A Dark Academia anthology

by Paul Kane

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

In These Hallowed Halls is an anthology of 12 new-to-this-volume short fiction fantasy pieces by well known authors. Released 12th Sept. 2023 by Titan Books, it's 368 pages and is available in hardcover and ebook formats. Paperback format due out from the same publisher in Sept 2024. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links throughout.

This is a nice collection of varied short "dark academia" themed fiction from 2023 and all are appearing for the first time in this collection. The editors have done a good job of blending the (very) disparate works into a somewhat cohesive whole. Their introduction is erudite and interesting, and shows a glimmer of the selection processes. As always, some of the included authors will be less familiar to each reader, and as always, there are good "name drop" titles to add to readers' TBR piles.

The stories are varied, there were (as always) some which didn't grab me personally, but all were well written and competently plotted. They were mostly in the 4 star range(ish) with a smattering of really standout stories. This is a well curated solid anthology of stories in the 3-5 star range.

One reason I prefer collections and anthologies is that short fiction is really challenging. It's spare and the author doesn't have a wealth of wordage to develop characters or the plotting. Well written short fiction is a delight. I also love collections because if one story doesn't really grab me, there's another story just a few pages away. I can only recall a few times where I've read a collection (or anthology) straight through from cover to cover as I did this one. 

Four stars on average. It's a diverting read.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.