Cracks in the Earth Above
- Author
- Eli Krohn
- Narrator
- Sean Patrick Hopkins
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Publish Date
- 29 December 2026
- Run Time
- 9 hours
- Format
- Audiobook
What to expect
A dark, propulsive tale of affliction and transformation that fuses the seductive bargains of Stephen King’s Needful Things with the aching heart of Patrick Ness’s A Monster Calls.
Owen Lawrence’s secondhand botany book is talking to him, leaving messages on loose papers and bookmarks. He isn’t sure how it works or what the book is trying to accomplish, but when it offers him a reward in exchange for a simple task, he can’t help but accept.
An unmarked package arrives at Lori Ellis’s doorstep. Inside is a strange plant with gray flower petals and a note with instructions. A few quick bites of this plant, claims the note, and Lori’s recently diagnosed lung cancer will be no more.
In time, Owen and Lori’s miraculous gifts arrive. Owen with a promotion and new girlfriend. Lori breathing fresh, hopeful air. Both are telling themselves it’s a coincidence. A stroke of luck. But something dark and patient has been trading in desperate wishes for a long time, and every gift comes with a price. Owen and Lori are about to learn that the earth doesn’t just take the dead. Sometimes, it asks first.
Critics Review
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“Eli Krohn’s speculative horror debut, Cracks in the Earth Above, is an arresting portrait of regular people caught up in the weird. Part creature-feature and part cautionary tale, the prose is by turns playful, fantastic, and horrifying—you won’t be able to look away.”
Kendare Blake, #1 New York Times bestselling author
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“With characters who are simultaneously deeply broken yet utterly relatable, Cracks in the Earth Above had me hooked from the first page. Eli Krohn crafted a dark, vividly atmospheric world unlike anything I could have imagined, leaving me with an unsettled sense of wonder long after I turned the last page.”
Jessica Freeburg, co-author of Monsters of the Midwest and Piper
User Reviews
No reviews yet.
Details
- Author
- Eli Krohn
- Narrator
- Sean Patrick Hopkins
- Duration
- 9 hours
- Release Date
- 29 December 2026
- ISBN
- 9798236036238
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Genre
- Horror and supernatural fiction
Synopsis
<p><strong>A dark, propulsive tale of affliction and transformation that fuses the seductive bargains of Stephen King’s <em>Needful Things</em> with the aching heart of Patrick Ness’s <em>A Monster Calls.</em></strong></p><p>Owen Lawrence’s secondhand botany book is talking to him, leaving messages on loose papers and bookmarks. He isn’t sure how it works or what the book is trying to accomplish, but when it offers him a reward in exchange for a simple task, he can’t help but accept.</p><p>An unmarked package arrives at Lori Ellis’s doorstep. Inside is a strange plant with gray flower petals and a note with instructions. A few quick bites of this plant, claims the note, and Lori’s recently diagnosed lung cancer will be no more.</p><p>In time, Owen and Lori’s miraculous gifts arrive. Owen with a promotion and new girlfriend. Lori breathing fresh, hopeful air. Both are telling themselves it’s a coincidence. A stroke of luck. But something dark and patient has been trading in desperate wishes for a long time, and every gift comes with a price. Owen and Lori are about to learn that the earth doesn’t just take the dead. Sometimes, it asks first.</p>
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