In the Haunted Darkness is a short story by Michael R. Collings set to the backdrop of H. P. Lovecraft's fictional Cthulhu Mythos. It first appeared in the World Horror Convention 2012, Salt Lake City, Utah, Souvenir Book.
Synopsis[]
The unnamed narrator, who is plagued by debilitating tinnitus, is attempting to catalogue the many noises he hears in and outside of his head while attempting to sleep. In doing so, he somehow manages to project his consciousness outside of his body, travelling through space to the outer fringes of the solar system. There, an unseen - and innately evil - presence tells him that he is not ready to travel so far, and flings him back to Earth to land deep beneath the sea (likely in R'lyeh) where he encounters an entity (intimated to be Cthulhu) which offers him a release from his condition, and learns a ritual which will "restore the Outer Ones to their ancient place within the universe...and condemn humanity to slavery, to torture, and to death."
The story concludes with the narrator awakening and debating with himself whether or not he should enact the ritual and be free of his torment.
Behind the Mythos[]
In the Haunted Darkness was released as part of the eBook anthology The Cthulhu Mythos Megapack by Wildside Press in 2012.