In that case everything worked fine and there was no bug. However, the entire system for ghouls is really bad.
It is one of the oldest enemy systems in the game. When I made it, ghouls were super strong and fighting them was basicaly meant to be game over. That's why they spawn sprinting once they see you and they never stop spawning in their sprinting state. Players were not meant to survive fighting them.
Over time, I added more weapons, abilities, I make the game go on forever instead of ending after the first year and I added other things that made ghouls weaker. But their behaviour stayed the same.
Next update I'm working on is focusing on new wellness system, which I'm going to talk about later, but I will also fix some text typos and completely rework the way ghouls work.
My plan is as follows: Caves will have a heat system. Killing enemies and staying in them for too long raises heat. Once it reaches certain number, you get a sound warning, like you do now. If you stay in the caves longer and kill more enemies, ghoul will spawn.
Ghouls will be slower than the player, but they can pass through walls and follow you all the time. Once they get very close, about three tiles, they will start sprinting and attack the player. If you win, that ghoul will be gone, but he will respawn again if you enter and leave the cave. He will still be in his slow moving state, so no more sprinting ghouls rushing you as you enter.
If you rest, work or train, the heat will reset and you will be able to explore again without them bothering you for a while.
That's basicaly it. In the future I will make this system deeper, so more and stronger ghouls start spawning if you keep killing them, but the plan I have for future version should be a huge improvement over the current system.
Also, I have a forum section on the main page. You can create a thread in the general section or post some suggestions if you want. It will definitely make longer conversations like this easier to read.