Cells

"Cells" is a short Cthulhu Mythos story by American author Jeffrey Thomas. It was first published in the September 1993 issue of Deathrealm by TAL Publications.
==Synopsis==
Dr. Carl East and his terminally-ill wife Violet attempt to enact a plan which will allow her to transcend her physical form and inhabit an artificially-created protoplasmic mass - dubbed a Shoggoth - which they believe she will be able to sculpt to meet her own needs. Using excerpts from the blasphemous Revelations of Glaaki and Carl's extensive medical expertise they put their scheme into action, making sure to create several of the inert Shoggoths in case the first try is unsuccessful.
On the night of Violet's death, when Carl sees no evidence of his wife's manifestation in the new bodies, he flies into a rage and attacks all of the inert husks, smashing his equipment in the process. When later he hears noises from the destroyed lab and his wife's voice calling his name, he returns with hopes of seeing his wife happily inhabiting one of the masses, but something has gone horribly awry: her consciousness has been scattered throughout all of the entities, unable to manifest properly in any and in terrible pain. When she begs him for a merciful release, he pours gasoline over them both and prepares to light a match.
==Behind the Mythos==
Another of the authors whose works the Easts are said to have read in preparation for their mind transferral are those of Colin Wilson, who has written extensively on the subject of existentialism, and has also authored his own Cthulhu Mythos fiction.
==Publication History==
Since it’s debut in Deathrealm in 1988, "Cells" has also appeared in the collection of Thomas's own works Unholy Dimensions in October 2005.
Category:Jeffrey Thomas works
Category:Expanded Mythos Works