Dark Fantasy Books To Start Reading

Maeve Abenthy has endured a lot in her young life. Several years ago, her father, now considered a traitor by a magical society, forced her to live undercover using an alias. But one day, she receives a letter from an anonymous sender that proclaims that her father is innocent. Now Maeve searches for the meaning of the letter to investigate the truth about her father. Maeve must enroll as an apprentice at The Otherwhere Post where she will learn magical skills such as scriptomancy; a magical skill where one can write enchanting letters. As Maeve navigates this school, she finds herself getting too close to danger while also finding herself unexpectedly pining for her advisor who may already know her true identity.

Lennon feels like her life is one big mediocre joke. Her fiancé, an esteemed professor is currently cheating on her with her best friend and her life is going nowhere. Feeling discouraged about not getting into graduate school and her farce of a relationship, Lennon decides that maybe she should just end it all. As she drives to the middle of nowhere to quietly end her misery, she hears the payphone ring. She picks up the receiver and is greeted by an operator that sounds like a combination of voices of the people she knows in her life. The bizarre operator congratulates her on being accepted into the prestigious, yet unknown Drayton College where she is offered a full ride if she can pass their entrance exams. However, these aren’t typical university tests a graduate student would expect. After proving herself, Lennon discovers her new school focuses on the unique skill of persuasion and that the skill is deadly.

Once a promising alchemist, Helena Marino is now a prisoner — of war and of her own mind. Her Resistance friends and allies have been brutally murdered, her abilities suppressed, and the world she knew destroyed. In the aftermath of a long war, Paladia’s new ruling class of corrupt guild families and depraved necromancers, whose vile undead creatures helped bring about their victory, holds Helena captive. According to Resistance records, she was a healer of little importance within their ranks. But Helena has inexplicable memory loss of the months leading up to her capture, making her enemies wonder: Is she truly as insignificant as she appears, or are her lost memories hiding some vital piece of the Resistance’s final gambit?

Arguably one of the most popular dark fantasy series in modern literature, Anne Rice created a cult following with her vampire tales. With Prince Lestat, the world of vampires remains in complete disarray. Vampires who were unbothered in their deepest sleep are now rising and killing other vampires. However, these vampires are still determining who or what this unknown force is and why they are compelled to adhere to its commands. Readers will travel with Lestat, his on-and-off again companion Louis de Pointe du Lac, and Armand as they try to get to the bottom of this emotional, dark mystery fantasy.

Sciona has always felt like she’s had something to prove. Despite being orphaned at age four, Sciona, who lives in the seemingly progressive city of Tiran, desires to do something nobody, especially no woman has ever done before; become the first girl student to be admitted to the magical school of High Magistry. Sciona’s ambitious spirit allows her to outshine her academic peers as she transforms into a highmage. However, just when she thinks she’s finally proved herself, she discovers more powerful beings want to see her fail. As a result, they pair the rising highmage with a janitor to be her lab assistant. Unbeknownst to Sciona and the peers who selected him, the janitor possesses a power that even Tiran mages cannot control.

This long-standing series begins several hundred ago when a Black Widow witch has premonitions about the future of the Dark Kingdom. Her prophecies slowly manifest when the Dark Kingdom anoints its new Queen. The new queen is also a witch, and while still young, she will grow to be more powerful than the High Lord of Hell. Since the Queen is the key to all the power throughout the kingdom, people, especially men, plot to scheme and manipulate their way into her good graces to further their agendas.

Jump into the world of Mercedes Thompson who by day is a mechanic who repairs rides for vampires and by night turns into a shapeshifting, magical walker who can transform into a coyote. After all, she was raised by werewolves despite her inability to evolve beyond being a coyote. Despite that, Mercedes has made a decent life for herself in the state of Washington as a successful business owner with her mechanic shop. Even though she often has strange clients, nothing beats her next-door neighbor; an intimidating werewolf, and her former boss; an unsightly gremlin. As Mercedes weaves through her paranormal life, she meets a new client, a young werewolf who can’t control their powers yet. Mercedes must choose to make peace with her past with her distant werewolf family and help her scary neighbor find a teen who is on the run.

The follow-up to the immersive world of Black Leopard, Red Wolf is the perfect revenge for fans of the Sogolon, a witch who is at least 200 years old. Sogolon can occupy different bodies and transfer her spirit, making her the perfect opponent for Tracker. Readers will get a front-seat view of how witches deal with systemic issues such as patriarchy and misogyny in a world where they are feared and hunted. While this book focuses on Sogolon’s point of view, she sometimes shares her journey in the third person. Although, she possesses a body she can also encapsulate their memories, which makes her a compelling unreliable narrator.

Travel to the Midwest in this dark, sometimes twisted paranormal fantasy between a head vampire and a vampire hunter. Anita Blake is someone who can typically fly under the radar in St. Louis. She is petite, creative, unassuming but, most importantly, lethal. For her day-to-day job, she’s an animator and she must bring the dead back to life for the authorities while ensuring the dead stay in line. But now that vampires are being murdered, the head vampire, Jean-Claude, hires her for her services to track down who is behind the murder of all the vampires across town. Anita doesn’t date vampires; she only kills them but finds herself enamored with one of the city’s most powerful vampires. Filled with steamy romps, witty banter and dark romance, this is a series you won’t want to put down.

This dark fantasy saga is set in Nigeria and centers on a young girl named Bata. Bata lives with recurring nightmares that she cannot stop. When she finds herself standing right outside of her cousin’s door who is preparing to get married, she is horrified to learn that not only is her cousin trapped but she is being haunted by a ghost who was previously engaged to her cousin. After summoning supernatural-like powers to fight the matrimonial ghost bride, Bata finds herself in a world filled with dead brides. An immersive mix of family secrets, paranormal horror and forgotten romances makes this dark fantasy is a multi-genre-blending hit.

This middle-grade dark fantasy is ideal for readers who want to challenge their imaginations. At only 12 years old, Alex Wise is more than ready to battle anything. As summer heats up, Alex feels like his entire world is collapsing. First, his best friend tells him they will be away for the entire summer. Then, his now former friend and sometimes crush Sky, who he still has complicated feelings for, is going on a cruise while he remains home. As Alex tries to prepare for what he believes will be an uneventful summer, Alex concludes that he is being stalked by some creepy monster. But none of that prepares Alex for what will happen next.

Can being clairvoyant be deadly? This dark fantasy, speculative mystery-fantasy follows Whitney, who can see death in motion in the manifestation of dark clouds. Ever since she was a child, Whitney has lived with this haunting talent and has made it her mission to help people. While she isn’t always successful, she knows that her spirit is in the right place to help others. That’s until she saves someone who later is responsible for a deadly school shooting. The events torment her, and she slowly becomes reclusive to try to hide her shame and guilt. However, when she receives a secret note in her locker, she realizes someone knows about her special gift. Now Whitney must watch her back because this mysterious person wants to get revenge on her for saving a killer.

Dive into this middle-grade urban fantasy where the real power lies in the hands of magicians in Echo City, Brooklyn. Kingston is experiencing a transitional period in his life as he finds himself moving back to the location where his father was last seen. However, he soon realizes that his father’s disappearance is also connected to the lack of power nobody seems to have. His father’s absence impacted everyone’s magical abilities, forcing some magicians to move away while others remained bitterly. Kingston refuses to accept that his father’s home is just a mere skeleton of its glory days from the past. When Kingston finds a secret box in his father’s home, he encourages his cousin and childhood friend to investigate what happened to his father. However, the closer they get to the truth, the sooner they realize they could be next to go missing.

Dive into this queer, dark fantasy where romance and authority cross stars. Guo Changcheng needs a job, so it comes as no surprise when his father pulls some strings to get him hired at the Ministry of Public Security. In his new position, Guo, who is normally charming, suave, and poised meets the reserved, elusive Professor Shen Wei at the university where he’s investigating a brutal incident that involves the supernatural. Shen Wei is the opposite of Guo, and even though Guo finds him almost irresistible, he tries to stay focused on the job at hand. Even though Guo prefers to play it cool, he is as sharp as he is coy as his arcane knowledge is a deadly combination to be reckoned with. Ultimately, the professor and Guo team up to solve this gruesome incident.

For a truly unforgettable, gruesome dark fantasy that draws influence from RPG games such as Dungeons and Dragons, this tale is both eerie and enjoyable. This wildly, almost believable tale revolves around a spellcaster named Laudna who believes she has a voice that is mentoring her. Laudna needs a friend because she’d endured many horrific experiences throughout her life and considers the voice her friend. While this dark fantasy is a treat for gamers, non-gamers can still appreciate this monstrous fantasy without diving into the backstory of the Critical Role fandom.