Bunny Review: Dark Academia's Strangest Horror Entry

Is Bunny worth reading? Here's an honest review of Mona Awad's surreal dark academia horror novel — the weirdness, the satire, and who it's for.

8/12/20263 min read

Bunny Review: Dark Academia's Strangest Horror Entry

If you loved the elite-institution dread of The Secret History and want something that pushes further into surreal horror territory, here's my honest take on Mona Awad's genuinely strange dark academia entry, also featured on our best horror books list.

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Quick Answer

Yes, with a real caveat: this book is deliberately, aggressively weird, and I think it's most rewarding for readers willing to embrace ambiguity and surrealism over a clearly explained plot. If you want The Secret History's dark academia dread with a fraction of the clarity, this delivers something stranger and more disorienting.

What It's About

Samantha, an outsider scholarship student in an elite MFA program, watches with disdain and fascination as a tight-knit clique of wealthy, eerily affectionate classmates — who call each other "Bunny" — conduct strange, ritualistic gatherings. When Samantha is unexpectedly drawn into their group, she discovers the "workshops" they host go far beyond anything resembling normal creative writing exercises.

My Honest Take

I think this book works best if you approach it as surreal satire wearing horror's clothing, rather than expecting a straightforward scary story. Awad is clearly satirizing MFA program culture, femininity, and social exclusion, and the horror elements serve that satire rather than existing as the book's primary goal.

The satire of academic and social cliques is razor-sharp. Awad's portrayal of the Bunnies' cultish, performative affection is both genuinely unsettling and very funny, walking a difficult tonal line successfully.

The surrealism escalates in ways that resist easy interpretation. Without spoiling specifics, the "workshop" content gets genuinely bizarre, and I don't think the book is trying to offer a clean, literal explanation for everything that happens — this will frustrate some readers and delight others.

Samantha's unreliable, increasingly disoriented narration mirrors the book's structure well. As she gets pulled deeper into the group, the narrative itself becomes less stable, which I think is an intentional and effective choice rather than sloppy plotting.

This isn't scary in a conventional sense. If you want visceral fear or dread, this book is closer to uncanny, absurdist horror — deeply weird rather than frightening in a traditional way.

What to Know Before You Start

This is genuinely strange, and that's the point. If you need clear answers and a fully explained plot, this book will likely frustrate you.

It's satire first, horror second. The MFA program and social clique satire is as central as any horror elements.

The ambiguity is intentional. Don't expect the surreal elements to be neatly resolved by the end.

Who Should Read This

  • Fans of dark academia who want something stranger and more surreal than The Secret History

  • Readers who enjoy ambiguous, unreliable narration and satire over straightforward horror

  • Anyone drawn to sharp social satire about academic and social cliques

Who Might Want to Skip It

  • Readers who need clear plot resolution and explanation

  • Anyone wanting conventional horror scares rather than surreal, satirical weirdness

Amazon link: Bunny by Mona Awad

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this similar to The Secret History? Thematically, yes — both explore elite institutional cliques and outsider fascination — but Bunny is far more surreal and satirical, where The Secret History is more grounded and literary.

Does the book explain what's really happening with the Bunnies' rituals? Not entirely, and I don't think that's a flaw — the ambiguity is part of the book's intentional design.

Is this scary, or more unsettling/weird? Closer to unsettling and weird than conventionally scary — go in expecting uncanny surrealism, not jump scares.

Final Thoughts

Bunny is one of the strangest, most divisive entries on our horror list, and I mean that as genuine praise — its sharp satire of academic cliques wrapped in surreal, ambiguous horror rewards readers willing to sit with discomfort and unresolved weirdness rather than a neatly explained plot.