Years (decades, centuries, eons) of interminable suffering hang over the gables of Grey House. And while there is no forgiveness or redemption within, the walls of the house encase unrelenting guilt where it remains hidden tapping out its own somber language of confession. Things do more than go bump in the night in “Grey House” Levi Holloway’s tale of horror currently running at Manhattan’s Lyceum Theatre. Things appear suddenly and then are gone; the basement door opens and closes by itself; a rotary phone with a severed cord can ring but cannot make outgoing calls. These “things” are sometimes a bit scary, most often they are as scary as a restaurant menu left on your stoop.

The inhabitants of the cabin are certainly weird but no more frightening than the characters in “The Addams Family” or in any number of B-grade classic horror movies from the last several decades. There are four young girls – Marlowe, Bernie, Squirrel, and A1656 – are barefoot and dressed in pajamas, assorted styles and from different time periods (hint). Additionally, there is a young boy whose name is The Boy and a fifty-something woman Raleigh who is somehow connected to the five creepy children. Raleigh (Laurie Metcalf) has her own macabre aura.

Marlowe, the eldest child, (Sophia Anne Caruso) weaves glossy red threads (hint) from the basement into an oddly shaped tapestry. Bernie (Millicent Simmons), the middle child who is deaf, is busy building what looks like a gas mask on the kitchen table. Squirrel (Colby) works with pliers, measuring tapes, and hammers, A1656 (Alyssa Emily Marvin) interprets for Bernie and tidies up often, and The Boy (Eamon Patrick O’Connell) pieces together a jigsaw puzzle with all black pieces. Not unlike characters from an “Addams Family” episode on steroids. Creepy sorts but not bone-chilling characters like Freddy Krueger, Pennywise, Norman Bates, or Chucky.

After wrecking their car in an accident, the hapless couple Max (Claire Karpen) at this performance) and Henry (Paul Sparks) end up on the doorstep of Raleigh and the “children’s” cabin. This is where the audience expects to need to fasten their seatbelts for a “bumpy ride” and this reviewer needs to tread lightly over the ensuing plot without far too many spoiler alerts. It is enough to say that “the children” do not have strong positive feelings toward cisgender white males (Henry, beware). And Raleigh is more than ready to hand over her duties to a new “mother” (Max, prepare).

Under Joe Mantello’s direction, the plot plods along as best it can with an overwrought and weak script. If it were not for the stunning cast which is held hostage on stage as it maneuvers through Levi Holloway’s fractured horror tale, the exercise would be a total loss. Kudos to Scott Pask (Scenic Design), Rudy Mance (Costume Design), Natasha Katz (Lighting Design), Tom Gibbons (Sound Design).

Although the play itself is not as frightening as one might expect the aftershocks of seeing “Grey House” are palpable and prolonged. Chances are, when the audience members leave the theater, everyone, and everything they encounter might seem odd and more unusual on the streets of the city that never sleeps on the buses, trains, and subways that hopefully will not leave us stranded at an odd cabin the woods.