Review: The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud

Title: The Screaming Staircase
Author: Jonathan Stroud
Series: Lockwood & Co. #1
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Release Date: September 17, 2013
Source: Library
Find it Here: Amazon, Goodreads

When the dead come back to haunt the living, Lockwood & Co. step in . . .

For more than fifty years, the country has been affected by a horrifying epidemic of ghosts. A number of Psychic Investigations Agencies have sprung up to destroy the dangerous apparitions.

Lucy Carlyle, a talented young agent, arrives in London hoping for a notable career. Instead she finds herself joining the smallest, most ramshackle agency in the city, run by the charismatic Anthony Lockwood. When one of their cases goes horribly wrong, Lockwood & Co. have one last chance of redemption. Unfortunately this involves spending the night in one of the most haunted houses in England, and trying to escape alive.

Set in a city stalked by spectres, The Screaming Staircase is the first in a chilling new series full of suspense, humour and truly terrifying ghosts. Your nights will never be the same again . . .

My Thoughts:

My friend Katie over at The Book Yurt was so excited to get an ARC of The Whispering Skull from ALA so it really sparked my interest in this series and I decided to pick up a copy of The Screaming Staircase from the library (I also picked up The Whispering Skull from ALA). The Screaming Staircase is about Lucy who is part of a small ghost hunting agency in her little town but suddenly decides to move to London and joins another small ghost hunting agency called Lockwood & Co. The Screaming Staircase takes place in a world much like our own except that ghosts are very prominent and the only people who are able to dispatch of these, sometimes, vicious creatures are kids and teenagers because they are the most susceptible to seeing or hearing them. So these kids, who have talents for picking up ghost signatures, are employed with ghost hunting agencies and have actual jobs instead of going to school.

100 page evaluation: For some reason this book was really hard for me to get into. It’s moved a little bit slow and either it didn't specify the year in which The Screaming Staircase takes place or I missed it. It seems that the year is unknown. Before picking it up I thought this book took place sometime in the 1800s but I was completely wrong. I had to use other clues to pin down a time frame. I really like the world building so far and I’m starting to like the story more.

I’m so glad I pushed through my initial concerns of The Screaming Staircase. The story definitely gets way better from here on out. I thought one hundred pages would be enough for me to get a firm hold on the story and what was going on but it took a little longer than that. The Screaming Staircase is full of dangerous adventures and the characters are able to keep their sense of humor about them but not in an annoying way. I really love the fact that they’re glorified ghost hunters. It’s a very clever premise and Stroud pulls it off very well. I also like that it’s a book about semi-older teenager (16,17) but I has that middle grade feel but not in a cheesy way. It falls somewhere in between middle grade and YA. It has a nice even balance.

The Screaming Staircase was definitely fun and a series I want to continue (I already read The Whispering Skull). I haven’t heard much about it before now and I would definitely recommend it to those who love YA mystery.