5 Best Dark Academia TV Shows Of All Time, Ranked

Autumnal colored schoolwear, dark gothic architecture, and lots of books: These are the features that make up the aesthetic of dark academia and, consequently, the best dark academia TV shows. The internet phenomenon began in 2014 on forums like Tumblr and Pinterest, where people were romanticizing education and reading. In the years that followed, fans began identifying books, movies, and TV series where the term was used more literally, with deadly secret societies or supernatural versions of high school.

"Dead Poets Society" and "Harry Potter" movies are like the godparents of dark academia art. "Dead Poets Society" tackles the learning side of dark academia, focusing on the magic and wonder that literature can bring. "Harry Potter" merges the supernatural side of gothic fiction in an educational setting. Several gothic Horror TV shows or teen dramas that end up on dark academia lists have a similar vibe to either of the above movies.

But for the best dark academia TV shows of all time, the series should have to fulfill both criteria. Education and literature, real or fictionalized, or self-discovery must be a central theme to fulfill the academia side of the aesthetic. The series must also lean into the gothic, sinister, or supernatural for the dark aspect.

A key element of dark academia is an obsession with and the study of classical literature, so it only seems fair that a show about one of the authors of the classics makes the list. "Dickinson" was one of AppleTV's pioneering series without a single bad season, adapting the life of 19th-century poet Emily Dickinson (played by Hailee Steinfeld), often revered as one of America's greatest poets.

A usual biographical drama about an author wouldn't normally make the cut for the dark academia genre, but "Dickinson" dips its toes into the supernatural by bringing Dickinson's beautiful worlds from her poetry to life. Wiz Khalifa makes multiple appearances as the personification of death, a recurring theme in Dickinson's poetry, riding into Emily's life on a carriage pulled by spectral horses. In other scenes, Emily jumps forward in time to see her future or dances with a giant bee. It's such an incredibly creative and inventive take on telling the life story of a real-life figure, making "Dickinson" one of the best historical TV shows of all time.

"Dickinson," of course, tackles the academia part through Emily's journey. She is a proud, outspoken lover of literature, on a journey to become a working writer. The lack of a school setting or dark academia fashion means this show can't be higher on the list, even if it captures gothic themes incredibly well.

"Sabrina The Teenage Witch" was a delightful '90s sitcom that turned the usual expectations of witches on their heads with its lead characters — a bright-eyed teenager, a sarcastic black cat, and a pair of kooky aunts. But the 2018 Netflix reboot, "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina," returned the witch more to her historical roots — it's dark, it's violent, and the witches work for the devil. In the series, Sabrina Spellman is a half-mortal, half-witch who is forced on her 16th birthday to decide whether to stay as a mortal or become a full witch and sign her name away to the devil. She rejects this decision and tries to keep her balanced life, attending normal school during the day and witch's school, the Academy of Unseen Arts, at night.

Though the show is not as academically engaged as other dark academia series, it champions self-discovery. Sabrina learns more about her abilities and utilizes them to find the life she wants rather than the life her family expects her to follow. The push and pull between her mortality and her witch origin is the strongest arc of the series, and the show gets darker with each season as Sabrina is pulled away further from her humanity.

Speaking of dark, "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina" is as supernatural as you can get, with vampires, demons, werewolves and Eldritch Terrors all making an appearance across the show's four seasons. Like "Harry Potter," the show features a warped version of education, with Sabrina learning spells instead of math. The misty, sinister atmosphere of Sabrina's town, Greendale, definitely checks off the gothic criteria of dark academia.

Netflix's take on the Addams Family, "Wednesday," became one of the streaming service's biggest shows. The series takes the deadpan, torture-loving daughter from "The Addams Family" and sticks her in Nevermore Academy, a school surrounded by supernatural creatures just as kooky as Wednesday. But Wednesday still finds herself as the oddball at the school, only deciding to stay when she discovers a murder mystery in the area. Alongside the fun mystery plot and "Harry Potter" vibes of the school, what makes the series work is Jenna Ortega's impressive performance as the titular role of Wednesday Addams. She captures the character perfectly.

"Wednesday" doesn't feature as much dedication to education as other dark academia stories, but it still has a fascination with learning as Wednesday digs into her school's history to solve the murders. Plus, the show is filled with literary references that are bound to excite any dark academia fan. Easter eggs include references to Edgar Allan Poe, William Shakespeare, and the "Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde."

The show does a lot better on the supernatural and gothic side, with multiple characters, including Wednesday, honing their occult abilities. "Wednesday" is filled with gothic elements, from the old stone mansion where the school is based to the cloudy, mist-filled environment of the area and the Addams family's gothic fashion. The Nevermore uniform also fits the aesthetic of typical dark academia fashion.

"Deadly Class" feels like a literal translation of dark academia, with its twisted, deadly recreations of school life, including a "Breakfast Club" detention episode that ends with the Yakuza trying to kill the students. Set in the 1980s, "Deadly Class" follows Marcus Lopez Arguello (Benjamin Wadsworth), a disgruntled, Reagan-hating teenager who joins a school for assassins after losing his parents and burning down his orphanage home. The school runs a lot like a normal high school drama, except normal classes are replaced with lessons on murder. Science classes teach you how to create poisons, gym classes show you every way to incapacitate someone, and homework involves finding a person to kill.

But the show uses the unique background to tell a rather relatable coming-of-age story. The children feel trapped under the weight of parental expectations, living in strict social-class groups and figuring out who they want to be. The show can be a little cheesy and one-dimensional at times, but each episode has a deep turn, making it more than just a string of clichés. The story directly addresses the trauma of killing, and there are many delightful twists so the story never feels too safe.

What makes "Deadly Class" a great dark academia TV show is that it captures the dedication to learning in a darker, gothic setting. The school-wear fashion and dark blazers fit the aesthetic. While the school's exterior looks typically American, the interior design feels incredibly gothic with dim lighting, high arches, and graveyards.

Plenty of adults dream of what life would be like if they went to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and "The Magicians" was that dream made real and turned into a nightmare. Syfy's answer to "Harry Potter" is set in a secret American college for magicians. No other show has the perfect blend of the two sides of dark academia, with the main characters having to study to learn new spells rather than performing them naturally.

"The Magicians" brings in elements of another beloved children's story-turned-movie series, "The Chronicles of Narnia." As the students hone their skills, the lead character Quentin Coldwater (Jason Ralph) learns that his childhood book series about children visiting a fantasy world to escape their dull home life is real. But this news creates dangers that threaten Quentin, his friends, and magic in general.

What makes "The Magicians" such a standout series is how dark the story gets. The magic system is complex, and there's a real cost to magic, both physically and mentally, making the series not great for those squeamish about blood. There isn't much gothic architecture or fashion in "The Magicians," but it makes up for it with amazing collegiate fashion any dark academia fan would want to steal and plenty of library visits. These factors make "The Magicians" not only one of the best fantasy series, but also the best dark academia TV show too.