"They Thrive in Darkness" is a short Cthulhu Mythos story by American author Ron Shiflet.
Synopsis
Two recently-acquainted Arkham men investigate a mysterious door in one of their basements. After blacking out during an exploration of the tunnel which lies beyond, the man who was visiting wakes up alone in a nightmarish cavern system deep underground. Stumbling through the labyrinthine tunnels, he eventually happens across the other man, who is in the company of a pack of ghouls, a pack which includes a notorious figure from Arkham's past.
Characters
- Owen Blake, a curious man on the road to becoming a meal for a pack of hungry abominations.
- Vincent Underhill, a rare book dealer with a dark family history.
- Richard, a ghoul.
Publication History
"They Thrive in Darkness" was first published by Chaosium in the anthology Arkham Tales: Legends of the Haunted City in July 2006, and again in the collection of Shiflet's own work They Thrive in Darkness: Mythos and Madness in June 2018.
Trivia
- Vincent Underhill claims to be a descendant of the ghoul Richard, who is implied to be Richard Upton Pickman from the H. P. Lovecraft short story "Pickman's Model".
