What The Dark Holds

By M. M. Crusinberry

A village witch who keeps the dead quiet by remembering them.
A woman who absorbs pain so others can heal without scars.
A boy appointed to wait so no one else has to hope.

In this dark fantasy collection, survival is never free.

Each story follows a community that endures by appointing one person to carry what the rest refuse to face-grief, blame, memory, pain, hope, silence, or truth itself. These roles work. They keep villages intact, conflicts contained, and suffering neatly redirected. Until the cost of containment grows too heavy, and the systems designed to protect everyone begin to hollow out the people who hold them together.

Spare, unsettling, and quietly devastating, these stories explore the danger of outsourcing responsibility and the moral weight of asking one person to bear what should belong to all. There are no chosen ones here-only necessary ones-and when they step aside, break, or walk away, the communities they leave behind must finally reckon with what they've avoided.

Perfect for readers of literary dark fantasy, mythic short fiction, and morally complex worlds where the greatest magic is not power, but permission.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0GK6P33RN
• ISBN13: 9798245867335
• Release Date: January 2026
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 202 Pages
• Weight: 0.61 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 9.0"