"Our House on Coffey Hill"

**"Our House on Coffey Hill"** is the fifth tale in the twenty-fourth episode of the sixth season of the Nolseep Podcast. In it, a woman tries to find out her family's secrets. Written by Rona Vaselaar, it has a runtime of 41:10 and was performed by Erika Sanderson. It is the 756th tale overall on the podcast.

## Summary

A sprawling, extremely old family called the "Coffeys" have a immense and illustrious history. The centerpiece of this legacy is a large mansion sitting on top of a hill overlooking a town, simply called The House. The family has been living in the House for over three-hundred years, and many unexplained disappearances have happened inside.

A granddaughter of the family, Sami, finds herself out of work. She tries to help her mother, who is obsessed with chronicling the Coffey family history, sort through all her files. On one occasion Sami questions her on all the disappearances that have happened in their family over the years, to which she refuses to respond.

The only Coffey that lives in the House at the moment is Sami's great Aunt Gladys. Gladys is considered the black sheep of the family, with many members suspecting she had something to do with the disappearance of her younger sister Ethel from the House over fifty years previously. Gladys breaks her back falling down the stairs and asks Sami if she wants to make some extra money by moving in and taking care of her. She accepts, although she is wary of her aunt's true motives.

Gladys resides in one of the first-floor bedrooms, with Sami having the entire second level to herself. While exploring the House, she stumbles upon Ethel's old room, kept exactly like it was decades previously. Sitting on the bed is a teddy bear with a bright ribbon that Gladys replaces every time it fades in color.

As the weeks pass, Sami explores more of the House and notices that her aunt appears to be watching her. While in the basement, she finds a large crate of items that Ethel and Gladys used to share. At this point, she realizes the fall down the stairs and placement of the crate was intentional, but she can't think why.

Gladys manages to drive a wedge between Sami and her mother by telling sob stories about how everyone has abandoned her. Late one night, her mother calls and the pair end up getting into a loud fight. Angry and hurt, Sami storms down the hall into Ethel's room only to find an extra door in the wall that wasn't there before. She grabs the teddy bear before heading inside.

Behind the door is an endless series of hallways, all draped in black and dusty. After hours of walking, she comes upon a small room and finds Ethel sitting on a bed. Ethel asks if Gladys sent her before explaining that the hallways are a place created by feelings of hatefulness and resentment felt by the Coffeys. The countless family members that disappeared entered the hallways fueled by the own grudges and can leave anytime they want, but choose not to. The only way to be truly free of the grudges are to apologize and understand one another. The House is bound the Coffeys, living in their blood.

Sami shows Ethel the bear and explains that she's been in there a lot longer than she thinks. Ethel realizes that for the few days she's been inside, over fifty years have passed outside. Sami leads her through the space and back into the room, down the stairs and into Gladys' bedroom.

Ethel runs up to her sister and apologizes for whatever grudge they held. After saying the words, she dies and her body decays until there's nothing left but bones. Gladys begins screaming in agony and Sami flees the house, never to return. She apologizes to her mother and calls the police. When the cops show up, they find Gladys dead in her bed clutching Ethel's bones. The family theorizes that Gladys murdered her sister and kept the remains in the attic all this time.

After the whole affair is over, many Coffeys think it's time to tear the House down. Sami and her mother strongly object, secretly wanting to lead all the others trapped in the hallways out of hatred back into the natural world by helping them set aside their grudges.