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Dark Threads: A Gathering of Dark Fantasy Tales
Three Worlds. Three Fates. One Thread of Darkness.
In this collection of haunting dark fantasy tales, mortals and spirits alike wrestle with destiny, sacrifice, and the cost of power.
In The Breath Borrower, a sacred thief of breath must choose between duty and mercy in a city where life and death hang on a whisper.
The Withering follows a lone scholar through the dream-infested Underland, seeking a cure for a dying world—even as her own body fades.
And in Vapors of Misuse, a cursed twin races against time to use forbidden magic against a ruthless tyrant—before he is consumed by the very power he wields.
These are not stories of easy victories or neat endings. They are stories of survival, of sacrifice, and of what lingers when hope is gone.
In this collection of haunting dark fantasy tales, mortals and spirits alike wrestle with destiny, sacrifice, and the cost of power.
In The Breath Borrower, a sacred thief of breath must choose between duty and mercy in a city where life and death hang on a whisper.
The Withering follows a lone scholar through the dream-infested Underland, seeking a cure for a dying world—even as her own body fades.
And in Vapors of Misuse, a cursed twin races against time to use forbidden magic against a ruthless tyrant—before he is consumed by the very power he wields.
These are not stories of easy victories or neat endings. They are stories of survival, of sacrifice, and of what lingers when hope is gone.
98 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 12, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 23, 2026
This book was entered in The Wishing Shelf Book Awards. This is what our readers thought:
Title: Dark Threads: A Gathering of Dark Fantasy Tales, Vol.1
Author: Kat Farrow
Star Rating: 3 Stars
Number of Readers: 15
Stats
Editing: 8/10
Writing Style: 7/10
Content: 6/10
Cover: 2/5
Of the 15 readers:
11 would read another book by this author.
7 thought the cover was good or excellent.
14 felt it was easy to follow.
11 would recommend this book to another reader to try.
Of all the readers, 4 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘plotting a story’.
Of all the readers, 5 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘developing the characters’.
Of all the readers, 6 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘writing style’.
10 felt the pacing was good or excellent.
11 thought the author understood the readership and what they wanted.
Readers’ Comments
Female, 39
I really enjoyed this collection, although I’ll admit it took me a little while to settle into the first story. The Breath Borrower is wonderfully atmospheric, with its strange world of silent holy servants, stolen breath, and a protagonist carrying an enormous amount of emotional baggage. The idea of someone literally carrying another person's breath inside a third lung is such a brilliant fantasy concept.
The Withering was probably my favourite of the three. The Underland is beautifully strange and creepy, and I loved the masks, the chicosk spirits, the enormous owl, and the glowing creatures. It felt like stepping into a nightmare that was also strangely beautiful.
The final story, Vapors of Misuse, had some great ideas and a strong sense of danger, though I found parts of it a little harder to follow than the other two. Overall, this is a dark, imaginative collection with some genuinely memorable world-building. Definitely not light fantasy, though—the author is very clear about that!
Male, 52
Three stories, three very different worlds, and quite a lot of darkness.
I liked this collection more than I expected to. The Breath Borrower grabbed me immediately with its unusual premise, while The Withering had the most vivid setting for me. The Underland is wonderfully weird.
Some of the stories felt a little dense in places, and I occasionally wanted a clearer explanation of what was happening, but I think that’s partly the nature of dark fantasy. Not everything is handed to you neatly.
A creative and occasionally unsettling collection. I’d be interested in reading more from these worlds.
Female, 61
Well, this was dark!
And I mean that in a good way. I enjoyed the fact that these stories don’t offer easy answers or tidy endings. There is a real sense throughout the collection that survival comes at a price, and sometimes the choices available to the characters are all terrible ones.
My favourite was The Breath Borrower. Najidah’s story is emotionally powerful, particularly when her past catches up with her. I also really enjoyed the strange, almost dreamlike quality of The Withering. The Underland was full of wonderfully bizarre imagery.
I did find the collection a little uneven. Some sections were gripping, while others felt slower and more complicated than necessary. But the ideas are strong, and the author clearly has a vivid imagination. If you like fantasy that leans toward the unsettling, the strange and the morally complicated, this is worth a look.
Male, 44
I’m going to be honest: I wasn’t completely sold on every story, but there’s no denying that Kat Farrow has imagination.
The Breath Borrower was the standout for me. The concept is excellent, and the story builds some real emotional tension around the question of whether Najidah can obey her duty while still holding on to her own sense of right and wrong. That one had me properly invested.
The Withering was beautifully strange, although I sometimes felt overwhelmed by the number of unusual creatures, symbols and ideas being introduced. I liked the atmosphere more than I liked the pacing.
Overall, a solid dark fantasy collection with some genuinely original concepts. Not every story worked equally well for me, but there was enough here to make me want to see what the author does next.
Female, 35
I read this over a couple of evenings and, honestly, it gave me some very strange dreams afterwards!
The worlds are imaginative, the creatures are wonderfully creepy, and the characters are often put in impossible situations. I particularly loved the idea of the Underland in The Withering. It’s the sort of setting where you keep thinking, “That’s fascinating,” immediately followed by, “Actually, no, I definitely do not want to go there.”
The collection is definitely not for anyone looking for cosy fantasy. There’s violence, death, suffering and some genuinely disturbing moments. A few passages felt a bit heavy-handed for me, and I occasionally wanted the stories to move faster, but overall I liked the ambition.
Dark, unusual and definitely memorable.
Male, 68
A mixed bag, but an interesting one.
The strongest element across these stories is the imagination. The author creates unusual worlds with their own rules, strange magic and unsettling creatures. I especially enjoyed the opening story, where the concept of “borrowing” breath is both imaginative and central to the emotional conflict.
I found The Withering more difficult to connect with at first, although the Underland itself is an excellent creation. There are some wonderful images in that story, particularly the masks and the strange spirits. The final tale had plenty of tension, though I felt the plot occasionally became a little too complicated.
This is not a collection I would recommend to someone wanting straightforward fantasy with clearly defined heroes and villains. The stories are darker and more morally ambiguous than that. But if you enjoy imaginative fantasy with sacrifice, strange worlds and a strong sense of danger, there is plenty here to appreciate.
To Sum It Up:
“A dark and imaginative collection of haunting fantasy tales filled with strange worlds, difficult choices, sacrifice, survival, and memorable characters.” The Wishing Shelf Book Awards
Title: Dark Threads: A Gathering of Dark Fantasy Tales, Vol.1
Author: Kat Farrow
Star Rating: 3 Stars
Number of Readers: 15
Stats
Editing: 8/10
Writing Style: 7/10
Content: 6/10
Cover: 2/5
Of the 15 readers:
11 would read another book by this author.
7 thought the cover was good or excellent.
14 felt it was easy to follow.
11 would recommend this book to another reader to try.
Of all the readers, 4 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘plotting a story’.
Of all the readers, 5 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘developing the characters’.
Of all the readers, 6 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘writing style’.
10 felt the pacing was good or excellent.
11 thought the author understood the readership and what they wanted.
Readers’ Comments
Female, 39
I really enjoyed this collection, although I’ll admit it took me a little while to settle into the first story. The Breath Borrower is wonderfully atmospheric, with its strange world of silent holy servants, stolen breath, and a protagonist carrying an enormous amount of emotional baggage. The idea of someone literally carrying another person's breath inside a third lung is such a brilliant fantasy concept.
The Withering was probably my favourite of the three. The Underland is beautifully strange and creepy, and I loved the masks, the chicosk spirits, the enormous owl, and the glowing creatures. It felt like stepping into a nightmare that was also strangely beautiful.
The final story, Vapors of Misuse, had some great ideas and a strong sense of danger, though I found parts of it a little harder to follow than the other two. Overall, this is a dark, imaginative collection with some genuinely memorable world-building. Definitely not light fantasy, though—the author is very clear about that!
Male, 52
Three stories, three very different worlds, and quite a lot of darkness.
I liked this collection more than I expected to. The Breath Borrower grabbed me immediately with its unusual premise, while The Withering had the most vivid setting for me. The Underland is wonderfully weird.
Some of the stories felt a little dense in places, and I occasionally wanted a clearer explanation of what was happening, but I think that’s partly the nature of dark fantasy. Not everything is handed to you neatly.
A creative and occasionally unsettling collection. I’d be interested in reading more from these worlds.
Female, 61
Well, this was dark!
And I mean that in a good way. I enjoyed the fact that these stories don’t offer easy answers or tidy endings. There is a real sense throughout the collection that survival comes at a price, and sometimes the choices available to the characters are all terrible ones.
My favourite was The Breath Borrower. Najidah’s story is emotionally powerful, particularly when her past catches up with her. I also really enjoyed the strange, almost dreamlike quality of The Withering. The Underland was full of wonderfully bizarre imagery.
I did find the collection a little uneven. Some sections were gripping, while others felt slower and more complicated than necessary. But the ideas are strong, and the author clearly has a vivid imagination. If you like fantasy that leans toward the unsettling, the strange and the morally complicated, this is worth a look.
Male, 44
I’m going to be honest: I wasn’t completely sold on every story, but there’s no denying that Kat Farrow has imagination.
The Breath Borrower was the standout for me. The concept is excellent, and the story builds some real emotional tension around the question of whether Najidah can obey her duty while still holding on to her own sense of right and wrong. That one had me properly invested.
The Withering was beautifully strange, although I sometimes felt overwhelmed by the number of unusual creatures, symbols and ideas being introduced. I liked the atmosphere more than I liked the pacing.
Overall, a solid dark fantasy collection with some genuinely original concepts. Not every story worked equally well for me, but there was enough here to make me want to see what the author does next.
Female, 35
I read this over a couple of evenings and, honestly, it gave me some very strange dreams afterwards!
The worlds are imaginative, the creatures are wonderfully creepy, and the characters are often put in impossible situations. I particularly loved the idea of the Underland in The Withering. It’s the sort of setting where you keep thinking, “That’s fascinating,” immediately followed by, “Actually, no, I definitely do not want to go there.”
The collection is definitely not for anyone looking for cosy fantasy. There’s violence, death, suffering and some genuinely disturbing moments. A few passages felt a bit heavy-handed for me, and I occasionally wanted the stories to move faster, but overall I liked the ambition.
Dark, unusual and definitely memorable.
Male, 68
A mixed bag, but an interesting one.
The strongest element across these stories is the imagination. The author creates unusual worlds with their own rules, strange magic and unsettling creatures. I especially enjoyed the opening story, where the concept of “borrowing” breath is both imaginative and central to the emotional conflict.
I found The Withering more difficult to connect with at first, although the Underland itself is an excellent creation. There are some wonderful images in that story, particularly the masks and the strange spirits. The final tale had plenty of tension, though I felt the plot occasionally became a little too complicated.
This is not a collection I would recommend to someone wanting straightforward fantasy with clearly defined heroes and villains. The stories are darker and more morally ambiguous than that. But if you enjoy imaginative fantasy with sacrifice, strange worlds and a strong sense of danger, there is plenty here to appreciate.
To Sum It Up:
“A dark and imaginative collection of haunting fantasy tales filled with strange worlds, difficult choices, sacrifice, survival, and memorable characters.” The Wishing Shelf Book Awards
February 12, 2026
What do magic, poison, and dark secrets have in common? They are all brought together in one volume called Dark Threads: A Gathering of Dark Fantasy Tales by Kat Farrow. Dark Threads brings together three distinct stories into one volume. It can be best described as a collection of short stories or three tales that immerse us in three mythical worlds.
The author builds out the reader’s understanding by movement and a sort of directed exploration as seen in this passage: “I look to the west tower of the temple and see the pendulum lantern swinging in the window. After a few passes, the color changes from pale yellow to dark orange. A signal that time is running out.”
What becomes clear as each tale unfolds is that the protagonists are right in the middle of their life-and-death struggles. Each character has their own special abilities.
“Breath Borrowers” are blessed creatures and directed not to speak. They do, however, attack. How they combat and wrestle with evil and their own power is the subject of this first tale. It comes down to choice: the choice of giving a life to take a life. Readers will enjoy the tension between reckoning with one’s conscience and fulfilling a sacred mission that requires dealing out death.
In the mystery-building, “The Withering,” the author takes us along a tale through the Underland in search of a cure. There is bartering with ethereal and scary creatures that wear masks. The protagonist, Neela, must make life-and-death decisions on whom to trust, as reflected here: “The chicosk guarded and cared for them. But there were other things in the Underland. Things that fed off the thoughts as much as tended them.” Neela has to escape this Underland, but not everything is as it seems. Change, perception, and sacrifice run throughout this dark tale.
In the “Vapors of Misuse,” the third tale, the author weaves in the backstory from a great calamity that befalls a society three generations ago. Off-world class envy and politics are front and center throughout this short story as two twins work and fight for survival. The Reapers, Larrin and Silvy must use their combined power to overcome an insidious evil.
The antagonist, Vyanna, holds a special vendetta against the twins. She knows them, and they know her. All she wants is absolute power, and to get it, she is prepared to steal theirs, as seen in this confrontation with her and her henchmen:
Vyanna placed cold, fleshy fingers upon his chin and raised it to peer up into his eyes. She studied his face for a moment, then grabbed his left wrist and stretched his arm toward her. Larrin resisted the urge to react. He didn’t have the strength to end her now. Even with the strength of all the Harvests they had saved, he wasn’t sure he could; but he knew he must try… soon.
Power, influence, and vengeance form the scaffolding that sets up this dark tale of survival.
Across all three stories, the author spins together a series of what seem to be insurmountable challenges. Without giving anything away, each protagonist and their antagonist bring together deadly skills that only they can wield, but always at a cost. Readers of fantasy and far-off worlds will enjoy the novel revelations and sustained tension that are explored throughout Dark Threads
The author builds out the reader’s understanding by movement and a sort of directed exploration as seen in this passage: “I look to the west tower of the temple and see the pendulum lantern swinging in the window. After a few passes, the color changes from pale yellow to dark orange. A signal that time is running out.”
What becomes clear as each tale unfolds is that the protagonists are right in the middle of their life-and-death struggles. Each character has their own special abilities.
“Breath Borrowers” are blessed creatures and directed not to speak. They do, however, attack. How they combat and wrestle with evil and their own power is the subject of this first tale. It comes down to choice: the choice of giving a life to take a life. Readers will enjoy the tension between reckoning with one’s conscience and fulfilling a sacred mission that requires dealing out death.
In the mystery-building, “The Withering,” the author takes us along a tale through the Underland in search of a cure. There is bartering with ethereal and scary creatures that wear masks. The protagonist, Neela, must make life-and-death decisions on whom to trust, as reflected here: “The chicosk guarded and cared for them. But there were other things in the Underland. Things that fed off the thoughts as much as tended them.” Neela has to escape this Underland, but not everything is as it seems. Change, perception, and sacrifice run throughout this dark tale.
In the “Vapors of Misuse,” the third tale, the author weaves in the backstory from a great calamity that befalls a society three generations ago. Off-world class envy and politics are front and center throughout this short story as two twins work and fight for survival. The Reapers, Larrin and Silvy must use their combined power to overcome an insidious evil.
The antagonist, Vyanna, holds a special vendetta against the twins. She knows them, and they know her. All she wants is absolute power, and to get it, she is prepared to steal theirs, as seen in this confrontation with her and her henchmen:
Vyanna placed cold, fleshy fingers upon his chin and raised it to peer up into his eyes. She studied his face for a moment, then grabbed his left wrist and stretched his arm toward her. Larrin resisted the urge to react. He didn’t have the strength to end her now. Even with the strength of all the Harvests they had saved, he wasn’t sure he could; but he knew he must try… soon.
Power, influence, and vengeance form the scaffolding that sets up this dark tale of survival.
Across all three stories, the author spins together a series of what seem to be insurmountable challenges. Without giving anything away, each protagonist and their antagonist bring together deadly skills that only they can wield, but always at a cost. Readers of fantasy and far-off worlds will enjoy the novel revelations and sustained tension that are explored throughout Dark Threads
November 23, 2025
Kat Farrow’s Dark Threads is a collection of three short, dark fantasy stories. Each one explores a different, gloomy world full of desperate people. “The Breath Borrower” is about a holy thief who steals breath from the living to give to the dying. “The Withering” follows a scholar trying to save her world as it, and she, fade away. The last story, “Vapors of Misuse,” is a bleak tale of two twins bound by magic and a thirst for revenge against a tyrant. All three stories are tied together by themes of sacrifice, grim choices, and magic that costs way too much.
Farrow builds these worlds that feel incredibly heavy and real. You can almost smell the back alleys in “The Breath Borrower” or feel the chill of the Underland in “The Withering.” It’s not flashy writing. It’s solid and direct, and it uses that simplicity to hit you hard. I felt a real sense of dread and hopelessness seeping from the pages. These stories are not about heroes. They are about survivors, and the writing makes you feel the weight of that survival. It’s an impressive feat, making things feel so gloomy yet so compelling.
What really stuck with me were the ideas. The magic systems are brutal. The whole idea of a third lung for borrowing breath was new to me, and it was wrapped up in so much guilt and duty for the main character. The final story, “Vapors of Misuse,” was just a gut-punch of an idea. The magic, the blood ritual, the twin-bond, the “Seizing,” it was all so tangled and dark. I found myself thinking about the characters long after I finished. They aren’t always likable, but their motives are powerful. They are driven by things like revenge or a desperate, fading hope, and that felt incredibly human, even in these dark fantasy worlds.
Dark Threads is a heavy read, and I mean that as a compliment. The stories are tough, and the endings are not neat, tidy bows. They’re bloody, and they’re sad, and they feel earned. I would definitely recommend this book. If you love your fantasy truly dark, and you like stories that make you feel something real and gritty, you should pick this up.
Farrow builds these worlds that feel incredibly heavy and real. You can almost smell the back alleys in “The Breath Borrower” or feel the chill of the Underland in “The Withering.” It’s not flashy writing. It’s solid and direct, and it uses that simplicity to hit you hard. I felt a real sense of dread and hopelessness seeping from the pages. These stories are not about heroes. They are about survivors, and the writing makes you feel the weight of that survival. It’s an impressive feat, making things feel so gloomy yet so compelling.
What really stuck with me were the ideas. The magic systems are brutal. The whole idea of a third lung for borrowing breath was new to me, and it was wrapped up in so much guilt and duty for the main character. The final story, “Vapors of Misuse,” was just a gut-punch of an idea. The magic, the blood ritual, the twin-bond, the “Seizing,” it was all so tangled and dark. I found myself thinking about the characters long after I finished. They aren’t always likable, but their motives are powerful. They are driven by things like revenge or a desperate, fading hope, and that felt incredibly human, even in these dark fantasy worlds.
Dark Threads is a heavy read, and I mean that as a compliment. The stories are tough, and the endings are not neat, tidy bows. They’re bloody, and they’re sad, and they feel earned. I would definitely recommend this book. If you love your fantasy truly dark, and you like stories that make you feel something real and gritty, you should pick this up.
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