I could be missing it, but I feel like I've combed all through the journal, and don't see an entry for these in the new journal. I honestly even forgot these existed until I decided to randomly make a weaponized blandfruit since I had too much food.

I haven't played much in the last couple weeks, but I didn't see anything about ghouls getting a buff, however, with my +5 plate armor, over the course of about 10ish ghouls, I had to use 3 health pots, and they were constantly hitting me for 5-6 per hit. Sometimes more. Even dm-300 only hit me a handful times, and never for more than 1-2.