We Can't Find Elijah

by Zachariah Dracoulis, Elisha Dracoulis (Editor)

When Elijah Morrison vanished on November 13,
1989, his family took all the right steps.

They didn't barrel blindly into the mountains, they called for help as soon as they could, and they waited for the authorities to do their job.
However, after search and rescue efforts are sent in the wrong direction, Elijah's father, Samuel, defies local authorities and federal agents to follow his tracks into the untamed Appalachians.
Alongside his brother, uncle, and cousin, Samuel navigates Elijah's fast-fading trail, fully equipped to face all perils of the wild.
From roaming bears and elusive mountain lions to the arduous trek through the hauntingly beautiful Great Smokies, they thought they were prepared for it all.
As they delve deeper into the mountains, however, it becomes clear that an ancient, unfathomable malevolence is threatening not only the Morrison family's unity and sanity but also their lives...

Prepare to bear witness to the secrets and darkness lurking in the mist-covered Appalachians, leaving you captivated until the chilling end.

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Dark, Ebooks

251 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 21, 2023

Reviews

[Maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one and thought it was a pretty decent mash-up of The Suddering, Dreamcatcher, and Stolen Tongues... all of which I loved. I have not read anything else by this author, but I would be interested to check out more of his work if it is similar to this novella.

[Megan Blazer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book!! The Appalachian mountains are basically my back yard, we have grown up hearing the stories, knowing the folklore.. This book brings it all to life! I loved the descriptions and the bond that the family had while searching for Elijah. I need more! That's the only reason this wasn't a 5* from me, I wanted more at the end!

[LORRIE · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exci8ting

Thi8s was a creepy and thrilling book. It grips you from the start band holds on until the end. I loved it

[Janet (iamltr) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh...

I only finished this to find out what happened to Elijah.

The actual story was fine, not too scary, and the ending was ok.

But I hated the protagonist and his family. But once you dislike who you are supposed to root for, reading their story becomes a drag.

[mgnhlmn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly recommend this Gatlinburg/Smoky Mountain based horror book. I got this book during a "stuff your kindle" day, and I'm absolutely blown away by the quality of writing and fear-invoking storytelling style. I read a lot of horror/thriller, and this took me completely by surprise. It is a quick start, fast paced book that is hard to not gobble up in one sitting. Not many books give me nightmares, but this one did give me one sleepless night as I read it.
I look forward to reading other works by the auther.

[liz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Solid 4/5 until the last page

There were some weird errors, but the story itself was good.

The ending was so short it really felt like the author didn’t know how to end, so they just slapped a period on the last sentence they had and called it good enough.

It was not good enough.

Unless there’s going to be a sequel, I need a book to end with more answers than questions. But maybe that’s just me.

[Lynn craycroft · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ding Dong…is this creature dead????

Of course the first half of the book was s-l-o-w. I’ve decided the irritation I feel when this happens is my own fault. Not being a writer I want something to happen early on to whet my interest. The characters were believable although a-bit wishy washy. I missed a hero. I would NEVER have expected what happened in the end. It was like a punch in the face right around the nose where I possibly smell a sequel. A good read.

[Sabrina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe these type of horror books aren’t for me and go way above my head but I was bored. The characters were so boring and the plot was intriguing enough to read but had I not owned it I probably would have DNF’d it 🙈 I started to think Elijah ran away from these people and was having a way better time than I was reading this book.

[Veronica Hernandez · Rating 5 out of 5]

"We Can't Find Elijah" by Zachariah Dracoulis is a captivating thriller centered on the search for a missing child in the Appalachian Mountains. The desperate measures a parent takes to find their child are both heartbreaking and intense. With its eerie, suspense-filled atmosphere, the story had me hooked from start to finish, and the ending completely blindsided me, leaving me wanting more.

[A R · Rating 2 out of 5]

The horror story is ok for a short escape read, there are lots of sentences without a subject, which threw me off during the read, especially at the end, where it seems the editor did not finish his job.
I would probably not read it again though.

[Sera Loveluck-Frank · Rating 3 out of 5]

I tried to like it..

I tried to like it and the concept of the story line is great...but it got quite confusing at times. Maybe I'm just not clever enough to appreciate the twist because I don't think I fully understood it.

[Erica L · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 🌟 I thoroughly enjoyed this creepy novella. It kept me engaged throughout, and the ending, though unexpected, was intriguing. My only gripe is that I am left wanting more as I have unanswered questions!

Format: Kindle.

[Shonna Mantle Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good horror story

Pretty good horror story. A few editing errors, but that didn't take away from the story. The ending seemed to be pretty quick, after taking a long time to get there.

[A_Friend · Rating 5 out of 5]

We Can’t Find Elijah

Fantastic read, characters and storyline. Keeps you sitting on the edge of your chair and waiting to find out just what is happening, as the young boy goes missing and can’t be found. It’s a rough “ hunt “. to find him. Definitely a must read.

[Robert Vazquez-Pacheco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty Good

I enjoyed this fast paced “paranormal” thriller. Not much to the characters though. I didn’t understand the problems that Sam had with Annabelle. He was more of a PITA than she was. I’ll just say the ending is a surprise.

[Marla Benschoter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Captivating reading

I could not put this book down. Twist and turns here.
The ending was surely a surprise and kinda sad.
Definitely a page turner.

[Mo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one creepy book.

[Glasgowgal · Rating 4 out of 5]

We Can't Find Elijah

An outing in the forest turns out really, really bad. This is an understatement! A fast paced gruesome horror story. Loved the surprise ending!

[C.J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

[alfredo Gonzalez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Agree with other reviews, the ending seemed rushed and without purpose.

[Janine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good introduction to horror for me. Some reactions to events seemed washed over, but otherwise I did enjoy it.

Think I’ll delve more into horror after reading this.

[Cari Frye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Creepy book, Quick read. We just got back from vacation around that area, so I'm glad I waited to read it.
Didn't really care for the ending.

[Donna Brooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok but I felt it was missing something. Started out good but kinda of fizzled at the end. Readable and kept me interested otherwise.

[Robin Periandri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome

We Can't Find Elijah was very intense read and I was clueless so the way to the end.
It really was very fast paced.

[Susan Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very short read, but a great twist ending, literally in the last sentence!

[Diana Rayburn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elijah lives

The book has many twists and turns. Kept me captivated. Unexpected ending. Glad I wasn’t in those woods with a rescue party.

[Jimmy Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short book, but very intense. A child has gone missing, and the family isn't satisfied with the authorities' response. The family steps back to view what to do next and comes up with a plan. The family is capable of a normal rescue and is local. The family decides to go where the military search team was assigned. What could go wrong? Read and find out.

[Sara · Rating 1 out of 5]

Grammar errors were my first issue with this book. Then the plot turned into an exact copy of the Blair witch project. Then to finish it off, the book ended by introducing a new fact that the wendigo requires hosts. I wanted an ominous and haunting story, but this is absolutely not it.

[Elizabeth Bogue · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was not my favorite book, but I wanted to know the story. I was able to read through the first couple of chapters before my brain decided we were skimming the rest of the story just to get to the ending.

[Amanda Hedges · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very suspenseful. The ending was unexpected