Introduction -- Triassic park -- The treasure of Cerro Negro -- Bikers, bombs, and the death-o-meter -- Microbes in meteorites? -- Life in deepest, darkest Africa -- Hunting for water and carbon -- The subterranauts -- A lot of breaks and one lucky strike -- Life beneath the ice -- The worm from hell -- Epilogue -- Appendix A: Chronology of the exploration of subsurface life -- Appendix B: Chronology of the meeting of the U.S. DOE's SSP meetings.