"They" is a Short Story by Robert Barbour Johnson that was originally published in the January 1936 issue of Weird Tales. It was posthumously collected along with Johnson's other horror stories in Far Below and Other Weird Stories on November 14, 2021. "Far Below" itself is in some manner related to "They", be that as a sequel or a Spiritual Successor.
One July evening, the protagonist hikes through Dead Man's Canyon. He meets an old man named Collins who tells him to hurry along because safety lasts only until sundown. The protagonist retorts that the old man himself doesn't appear concerned. This segues into an explanation by Collins about all he knows that's happening in Dead Man's Canyon. There are creatures that no one alive has ever seen. They come out only at night but keep tabs on the surroundings during the day. Sometimes, they try to dunk a boulder on him. If they have the opportunity, they capture humans and ritualistically kill them on a slab they've set up as altar. Collins has lost his granddaughter to the mountain creatures and his friend Timmons has lost his son. That's why they're working together keeping others safe. The mountain creatures have proven impossible to exterminate and they take down any warning signs put up, so the two men alternate who gets to play sentinel for a day and warn passers-by to keep walking. With sundown near, Collins urges the protagonist to make haste to return to civilization, assuring him friends of his will soon come pick him up. The protagonist heeds the advice and hurries, reaching a busy road timely. There, he's stopped by four men in a car who ask him about Collins's whereabouts because they are to pick him up. They joke about the kind of stories Collins tells, leading the protagonist to believe the old man was making it all up. It takes him some time to realize that the four men were all armed and then one day he reads about Timmons's death from being struck by a boulder. Wisely, he never returns to Dead Man's Canyon.
Johnson followed up "They" in 1939 with "The Silver Coffin" and "Far Below", the both of them too embracing the setup of an unnamed protagonist being spoken to by a guard against the supernatural. But where "The Silver Coffin" concerns a singular vampire, "Far Below" is alike to "They" in that it concerns multiple, elusive, and ill-defined humanoid carnivores with a particular liking for human prey. Both creatures are referred to only as "They" and "Them" and neither group likes daytime. The "Far Below" also makes it a point that there are many populations of ghouls around the world, opening up the possibility that the mountain creatures of "They" are ghouls too. On the other hand, unlike the ghouls of "Far Below" the mountain creatures don't mind light other than sunlight and they're hinted to be much smaller.
"They" provides examples of the following tropes:
- Ambiguously Related: The old man the protagonist talks with for most of the story is revealed to be named "Collins" at the end. Earlier, he mentioned one Mike Collins who'd lost his dogs to the mountain creatures. The two share a last name, but are not confirmed to be related.
- And You Thought It Was a Game: The protagonist believes that Collins is not all there anymore in his old age and despite that Collins's stories about the mountain creatures put the protagonist on edge, the latter believes them to be made up. He considers handing the old man over to an alienist only moments before Collins mentions that the mountain creatures sometimes try to harm him by throwing rocks at him. Immediately, a big stone strikes a nearby tree, which is the first true evidence the protagonist witnesses that something is amiss in Dead Man's Canyon.
- Angry Guard Dog: Mike Collins once sicced his big guard dogs on the mountain creatures when they were noisy to see if the dogs would bring anything back. Instead, he never saw the dogs again.
- As the Good Book Says...: Collins, referring to the Bible as the Holy Writ, quotes Psalm 91:6—"The pestilence that walketh in darkness"—to explain his idea of why the mountain creatures do not come out during the day.
- Cigarette of Anxiety: The protagonist lights himself a cigarette when Collins' talk about the creatures makes him nervous. Not that he's willing to admit that to himself as the reason for his smoke break. It's easier to blame the altitude.
- Creepy Child: The mountain creatures have never been seen by humans, but their footprints have. They look like those of little babies.
- Death of a Child: Of the four confirmed human deaths at the hands of the mountain creatures, at least little Sue is certain to have been a mere child. Those who found her mangled remains never dared tell her mother, who is still waiting for her return.
- The Ghost: Samuel B. Timmons is Collins's colleague, with whom he alternates protecting passers-by in Dead Man's Canyon. It is Collins who is on guard duty when the protagonist passes through and Timmons is only made mention of by him and later four friends of the two men. The protagonist returns home and one day is reminded of his encounter when he reads about Timmons's curious death in the newspaper.
- Hope Spot: After being told by Collins about the inhumane and dangerous creatures making the mountains unsafe, the protagonist hurries his way back to civilization. Once he reaches a road, he meets four friends of Collins's who are on their way to bring him home safely. The four men crack a joke about Collins being a harmless old coot with harmless old coot stories, prompting the protagonist to believe, to his relief, that there weren't any monsters after all, just a convincing old man half off his rocker. It takes him a while to question why each of the men was armed with a rifle and why they looked so pale and determined just like Collins did.
- Human Sacrifice: It's implied that the mountain creatures ritualistically slaughter their prey, though whether in sacrifice to a god or as a mere culinary tradition is unknown. There's a slab nearby where they are holed up during the day that vaguely looks like it was put there to serve as an altar and, indeed, what was left of Roy Timmons and Sue was found on top of it. Possibly during other nights too, but definitely during the full moon do the mountain creatures come out to dance and holler around the slab, even if they don't have prey, which speaks for the slab's cultural significance to the mountain creatures.
- Locked Out of the Loop: The mother of Sue has never been told about her daughter's brutal murder because those who discovered the girl's remains deem the hopeless wait for Sue's return more merciful than the knowledge what the girl's final moments were like.
- Lunacy: The mountain creatures follow the waxing and waning of the moon for their spirited rituals and in particular value the time of the full moon. They grow more bold around that time and the locals have learned to be extra careful during those days.
- No Name Given: The protagonist who meets Collins in Dead Man's Canyon and talks with him for a while is not once referred to by name.
- Non-Answer: When the protagonist asks the four men for confirmation that nothing dangerous is camping out in the mountain, the reply he receives is: "Dangerous? Why, Mister, what could there be? This here's a civilized country, ain't it?" At the time, it puts him at ease, even though he never got his confirmation.
- Outliving One's Offspring: Sam Timmons and Collins respectively have lost a son and a granddaughter to the mountain creatures. It is what motivates them to sit around all day in Dead Man's Canyon to warn passers-by to keep moving and what motivates their hope of one day shooting one of the critters. The mother of Sue also lost her child to the mountain creatures, but because of the horrible condition the little girl was found in, Collins and the others decided to deny knowledge of Sue's whereabouts. Her mother is still waiting for her to come home.
- Weakened by the Light: The mountain creatures only come out of hiding after dark. For this, some of the locals believe that the sun hurts the creatures' eyes. On the other hand, the creatures themselves use torches when they're doing their rituals and Collins believes that their nocturnal habits are just another aspect of their monstrosity.
- Would Hurt a Child: The mountain creatures care not whether they capture adult or child and neither do they show children any mercy in the way they kill their catch.
