A friend recommended the Lockwood & Co. series to me. I bought book one: The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud. I started reading it and ran here to share this middle grade horror delight!
Be happy.
Be excited.
Be prepared for the creepy.
Cover of the 2013 book The Screaming Staircase, book one of the Lockwood & Co. series, written by Jonathan Stroud
Blurb…
A sinister Problem has occurred in London: all nature of ghosts, haunts, spirits, and specters are appearing throughout the city, and they aren’t exactly friendly. Only young people have the psychic abilities required to see—and eradicate—these supernatural foes. Many different Psychic Detection Agencies have cropped up to handle the dangerous work, and they are in fierce competition for business. In The Screaming Staircase, the plucky and talented Lucy Carlyle teams up with Anthony Lockwood, the charismatic leader of Lockwood & Co, a small agency that runs independent of any adult supervision. After an assignment leads to both a grisly discovery and a disastrous end, Lucy, Anthony, and their sarcastic colleague, George, are forced to take part in the perilous investigation of Combe Carey Hall, one of the most haunted houses in England. Will Lockwood & Co. survive the Hall’s legendary Screaming Staircase and Red Room to see another day?
EEEEEEEK! Who’s in?
I am.
Not yet done with The Screaming Staircase, I need the rest of the series…a great and mighty need, and plan to get my horror-loving hands on the remaining tomes. At more than halfway through, I love it.
George, Lockwood, and Lucy arrive at the most haunted house EVER, AND WE WILL INVESTIGATE THE SCREAMING STAIRCASE AND RED ROOM SOON!
*gets silver*
*gets salt*
I am ready.
But I am getting ahead of myself…
The Screaming Staircase starts off with a bang as Lucy and Lockwood fight for their lives against an angry ghost.
Super cool and a bit terrifying, the ghosts in this book threaten to haunt my dreams. Dark and creepy, vengeful and dangerous, never ever let them touch you.
Fantastic characters fill this story! Lucy, gifted with the ability to hear ghosts, joins the Lockwood team. Lockwood, who can see ghosts, runs the company with a bold need to jump in feet first. George, the mighty researcher, holds them together with his calm preparation…or tries to.
In this world, the young have the power to defend the England from the spirits that overrun the land. Some have the gift to see them, others to hear them, and a legend says one powerful lady could talk to the ghosts. As they age, those gifts of sight and hearing fade away. So great, right? Give the power to the kids!
This book is just what I want out of MG horror.
(a few hours later) Update:
The Red Room and Screaming Staircase scenes dripped with fantastical terror. The story built until that moment…and it delivered. I put the book down, because things to do, but…WHEW! That was fabulous. Connections wait to be made…can’t wait to see how it all wraps up.
Go find it on Goodreads!
Or find it on Amazon!