The experiment began with skepticism and a jar pulled from the back of the medicine cabinet. Instead of soothing coughs, the menthol-scented balm was dabbed onto cotton balls and tucked into forgotten corners: behind dressers, along windowsills, near the bed where those midnight visitors liked to appear. The house soon smelled faintly of eucalyptus and camphor, and something unexpected followed: the spiders seemed to retreat. Fewer webs appeared overnight. Walls once dotted with motion stayed still.

Maybe it was coincidence. Maybe the strong scent truly confused their senses. Either way, the atmosphere shifted from tense vigilance to cautious relief. Paired with sealed cracks, tidier rooms, and a bit more light in dark corners, the old house felt less like a haunted maze and more like a home again. Not perfectly spider-free, but finally, mercifully, livable.