If you liked The Secret History, you’ll love these five dark, literary campus novels

If you’re anything like me, finishing The Secret History leaves a strange kind of void. Donna Tartt’s literary debut is one of those once-in-a-decade novels: intellectually rich, psychologically intense, and impossible to put down. 

It’s a story steeped in atmosphere, with characters who linger in your mind and a setting that feels like it exists outside of time. If you’re looking for books matching that experience, I’ve rounded up five novels that channel similar dark academia energy, moral complexity, and obsession-fuelled tension.