Name: The Screaming Staircase
ISBN: 9780552566780

Jonathan Stroud

"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 . . ."

The Screaming Staircase

Lily

"Well when you're being held at gunpoint by a geriatric madman in a metal skirt, you've kind of hit rock-bottom anyway. " George said. "It can't really get much worse."

'You'll want to leave the lights on . . . Stroud is a genius' Rick Riordan 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 . . .

I'm quite sad that I didn't ever read this when I was younger because I really enjoyed this book. I thought that the concept was quite interesting, that children are the ones able to sense ghosts and adults mostly can't. I also love the underlying mystery going on beyond the presence of ghosts....that live humans are the real problem in life. 

Mirror

Christine

aug 2022: lockwood lowkey insufferable in this book maybe i am just jaded. still i enjoy these books i really do. WHAT is up with the shelves on this book im confused
- rereading a bunch of old favorites before i turn 18 :)

--
2018?: sidenote: I don't believe in ghosts, or at least the types in this book x)
it was an amazing book nonetheless. I read mainly for character and the characters in this were amazing.

edit, a year+ later: lockwood is practically MG kaz brekker at times

2021: ayy dub i missed these books

Easily transported in this whole new London where ghosts are a recurrent problem that needs to be solved! Loved everything about the books, how Lucy sees things and her relationships with both George and Lockwood. You get lost in this nightmarish book so easily that it seems almost like ghosts are part of your life too, somehow.. 

mari

Yes. There. The chair and heap of clothes. They formed: a black and shapeless blot—but it was higher than usual, far higher than it should have been. If I’d taken all the clothes I owned in the world and piled them there with my skirts and sweaters at the bottom and my socks teetering at the top, they wouldn’t have been anywhere as tall, or thin, as the shape that stood just visible in the dark place by the door. It didn’t move. It didn’t have to.

Ellys MC

give george the recognition he deserves !!!

grace 

Melissa Palmer

Book #58 Read in 2014
Lockwood and Co.: The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud (YA)

This is the first in a young adult paranormal mystery series. Children can see ghosts or spirits; adults cannot. Due to this, ghosthunting agencies are made up of young children and teenagers. Lockwood and Co. is one of these agencies, run by Anthony Lockwood. He has his assistant George, whose strength is doing research, and hires Lucy, a young woman who can hear the spirits. Their agency is hired by people and businesses to find the "source" of the spirit and put it to rest. Some times this works out better than other times. Lucy finds the spirit of a murdered woman, Annie, and the agency begins to look into her murder. But is the murderer trying to stop their investigation?

This book is a good read and is well written. There are some slow parts in the early stage of the book, but that is set up that does help support the story. It includes good action, a decent mystery and intelligent and interesting characters. I have #2 in my TBR pile. I borrowed #1 from my local library.

http://melissasbookpicks.blogspot.com

Lockwood and Co #1

Denaiir

that was quite painful, I thought it was extremely dull and wish I had DNFed it. I wanted to see if it would get better, but unfortunately it didn't. The characters were either quite unremarkable or straight up annoying, the plot was uninteresting and the world was not vivid. I'm definitely not going to read the rest of the series.

Jamieson

well this was totally freaking spooky and scary 👻  Ghost hunting, mansion hauntings, screaming staircases, murder and a trio of best friends? This book really does have it all. All the Good Stuff


  “Of the first few hauntings I investigated with Lockwood & Co. I intend to say little, in part to protect the identity of the victims, in part because of the gruesome nature of the incidents, but mainly because, in a variety of ingenious ways, we succeeded in messing them all up.” 


I'm shocked you people all read this as children because some parts of this are genuinely terrifying. Don't know if it was the book itself, or the spooky voices the author put on to voice the ghosts, but I, for one, had the chills. 

The Screaming Staircase is the first book in a ghost hunting series - we're introduced to The Problem, an invasion of ghosts and other ghoulies in London. Enter: The Agencies, companies run by adults that use children to investigate hauntings. Only children can sense ghosts and our protagonist Lucy Carlyle is particularly susceptible to hearing their voices. When she joins Lockwood & Co, the only independent Agency run by children in London, she has to help her new friends and colleagues Anthony Lockwood and George Cubbins investigate not only the murder of a young woman, but also the most haunted building in London. Their reputation as an agency is on the line, and so are their lives. 

This book had so many elements I love, just in general but especially in middle grade. Strong friendships between the main characters, hilarious banter, and plenty of action. I listened to the whole middle of this book in one day because I was so drawn in by the action. 

I think what I loved most though was the agency given to the children. Especially since this is middle grade, the focus on the children being capable and talented and not needing adults to interfere was my favourite. The focus on the plight of the children and how they were exploited by their agencies was one of my favourite themes of this book, and it's especially important considering this is middle grade. 


  


But I definitely think what was most memorable about this book was the characters. Lucy, George and Anthony are such fun protagonists to follow, and kind of reminded me of the Golden Trio. Each had a very unique voice and characteristics, and they were also quite fleshed out. Lucy especially was a fun female protagonist for me, she was so quick witted and talented!

Finally, the world building was very well done. Without being cumbersome the world was explained and there was so much interesting backstory and history, like the legendary Fitz's, or the development of the agencies, and how The Problem started at all. I think the worldbuilding was very detailed and complex, and managed to be so without feeling like it was all being dumped on me. Very well done. 

Since I listened on audio, I should mention the narrator of the audiobook did an AWESOME job. The voices she used for each character were unique and easy to follow, plus the ghost voices were so spooky. I think she definitely managed to make it atmospheric and it was very easy to visualise which I liked. 


  


I will definitely continue this series, though I kinda wanna read one in physical form to see how everything is freakin spelt haha. But this series is definitely as fun and action packed as everyone said! The characters are great and I really want to follow their development and growth as a team, and to see those dynamics change and develop. Plus, the Anthony/Lucy ship must rise ?? This book just set up the whole series really nicely and I'm sure the books will get better and better

If you're looking for something a bit spooky with good worldbuilding, lots of action and characters who will actually make you laugh out loud go no further !

Sade A

❤
Re-read Review:

I found this to be a lot more enjoyable this time around than the first time i read it. I was apparently disappointed with the way the mystery was solved which now that i've read it again, i really must have been a bit bonkers to feel that way. 
I still feel the titles of the books are mis-match to the story as a whole though and for the most part i am totally not buying the speech patterns of Lockwood and the gang. I mean do British teenagers really describe things like this: "When you go out hunting wicked spirits...." Wicked spirits really? That just seemed really out of place considering the world is set in Modern Britain but oh well.. just a random peeve.
Anyways, i'm upping my star rating. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ wicked spirit stars 😊
P.S: I just realised George keept getting sidetracked in this book like he wasn't an important member. At a point, i was wondering if he could feel ghosts like Lockwood and Lucy. 
❤❤

First of this is a pretty good novel. I've read all of Jonathan Stroud's Bartimeus Sequence novels and absolutely loved them. Anyway for this book I was a little disappointed with the end. I felt, all that build up came to that ending? That being said I am pretty curious about this Lockwood character. I wonder what he's secrets are. 

In all it was a good book and entertaining, was disappointed with the way the mystery was solved, it just felt so easy.

Kirsten Simkiss

You know, even though I solved the main mystery about half way through the book, I still really enjoyed it. It wan’t perfect. I did have a couple of complaints about the main character Lucy’s actions. But, overall, I enjoyed the book quite a bit. I’ll definitely be reading on in the series. I feel like his book deserves more like 4.5 stars, but on Goodreads I’m giving it 4.

The concept of the story is super interesting. Sometime in the past century, ghosts have sprung up all over the nation and no one knows why. Referred to as The Problem, the only way to combat these ghosts are using the eyes of children. Children, you see, are the only people that can see ghosts - and even then, not all of them. Formed into agencies, groups of trained children fight the specters of their clients one house at a time.

My main complaint about the book is that Lucy’s actions seem so out of character for her in some scenes. She isn’t particularly consistent in what she does. However, she is a teenage girl, meaning she’s still growing emotionally. I enjoyed her quite a bit as a person.

I found I had no trouble at all remembering the names of even minor characters and the story flowed well from beginning to end. This book would be a good one for binging if you’re in the mood.

I would definitely recommend this to others, especially those who have an interest in ghost hunters and the macabre. This book is definitely worth the read.

Anna

I was captivated from the very start to the end and didn't want the book to finish. It's hard to single something I liked the most because everything - writing, characters, plot - was great.

Amanda

this book had everything you could want! beautifully developed characters, excellent world building and an amazing narrative. not only that, there ghosts and murder mystery!

more than once I found myself at the edge of my seat. I loved the characters and I needed to know what was going to happen. 

I laughed out loud, I felt my heart pounding out my chest. I highly recommend this book. 

this would be an excellent Halloween read.

Celeste Richardson

The Screaming Staircase is a fun, action-packed romp through a speculative alternative to modern(ish) London. In this version of London, England and the world at large are plagued by a pandemic of phantoms and phantasms. Adults are, for the most part, blind to these apparitions. However, this blindness does nothing to protect them from the malevolent entities. This is how the world finds themselves beholden to the younger generation, who can see and hear and otherwise sense the ghosts. Agencies have been put in place and are fun by adults who directed their more sensitive employee base. However, there are no laws that say gifted children have to work for adults, which is how Lockwood and Co. came to be. Lockwood, still a child himself, runs his own ghost hunting firm with two other children: George and Lucy. When what should have been a simple case goes horribly awry, the company find themselves taking on a terribly dangerous job with very little time to prepare. If they fail, they will lose any chance of future clients, along with the company itself and the house they live and work in.

This was my first encounter with Jonathan Stroud’s writing. I’m a fan of middle grade fiction and have heard great things about both this series and the Bartimaeus series. While The Screaming Staircase was by no means boring, I found myself just trying to push through it so I could move on instead of deeply enjoying it. I thought the best element of the story was Lockwood himself, who came across as a younger ghost hunting version of Sherlock Holmes. Even the fact that we were getting his story secondhand, through the eyes of Lucy, reminded me of Sherlock’s relationship with Doctor Watson. Lockwood was a very intriguing character, and I can see where he and his tiny gang would entrance readers. Unfortunately, I simply wasn’t one of those readers. I wanted more character development outside of merely seeing quirks and chemistry, whereas this book was concerned far more with action and its mystery elements.

While I didn’t love this book, I didn’t hate it by any means. I don’t see myself continuing this particular series, but I’m definitely interested enough in Stroud’s writing to give his Bartimaeus series a try.

Maike Bruls

This was such a fun read. I cannot wait to continue with this series. For my full review please check out my blog Mages and Pages.

Link: https://magesandpages.com/2021/10/22/...

Анастасия Розова

3.75/5


  “Really?"
"No. I'm being ironic. Or is it sarcastic? I can never remember."
"Irony's cleverer, so you're probably being sarcastic.”

(literally me)

Before joining GR I've honestly never heard of this book. I might've seen them in bookstores, but I never paid them much attention. And on GR Sana inspired me to read this. Plus, I saw my favourite Uncle Rick (Riordan) blurbing it, so I just had to pick it up. And I'm glad I did! I can't say this book made it to my favourites, but I'm holding the possibility open. I only started loving PJO from the third book.

So, about the characters. I'm just gonna say some things in general, cause I feel like I don't know enough to say something about each of them.
Overall, I enjoyed the characters, I loved that they were all different and unique. Lockwood was very mysterious and I definitely wanna know more about him. Lucy was also an interesting main character and I'm glad that the books are from her POV. But the whole installment felt a little bit detached for some reason... I hope the next books are gonna show us some more character development, because, unfortunately, I'm not in love with our heroes and I want to be!

Plot. The beginning was a bit slow and unclear. We're thrown into this world without an explanation, which comes much later. But I liked how the author played on the ghosts' stereotypes and how he made this world based on them. Rather unusual.
The plot itself was enjoyable, but I wish it was creepier! I know it's supposed to be middle grade, but it doesn't feel like one, so I'd like it to be more on the scary side. And maybe on the lovey-dovey side, haha.
I hope we get to know more about the Problem and how it all happened. I need more clues, I'm interested! I also love how the kids are the only ones who can see ghosts and how they're all so badass and amazing!

I loved the ending and I'm excited to see where it gets us! Cause I'm hoping Mr. Skull is gonna be a major one. I have warm feeling toward him for some reason. Oh, I know! He reminds me of Suriel from ACOTAR. I might be wrong, probably am. But still.

I'm sorry this review was incoherent. I just don't know exactly what to say for some reason. I hope I love the second one more.

Jayarna La Bozzetta

This was so good and very readable, I'm so excited to read heaps of these :)

Neveen Badr

** spoiler alert **
           OMG! I need part two now.
Originally writer for >>> http://seraphinareads.blogspot.com.eg...

Now edited over Glacier Mellow >>> https://glaciermellow.wordpress.com/2...

This first instalment of Lockwood & Co. series by Jonathan Stroud. It is about an alternative history English where supernatural creatures and ghosts lurking in the dark after sunset. In the form of ghostbusters, the agencies with agents—a psychical investigation agent, or simply an agent, is a person with Talent and hired for the ghost-hunting business ever since the Problem occurred. They are known for their youth, manners, and rapiers; the stronger the connection with the restless dead the higher up an agent is, the specially gifted ones mostly work for a famed agency like Rotwell or Fittes Agency (Fandom.com)—around London is to hunt the ghosts.

In The Screaming Staircase, the plucky and talented Lucy Carlyle teams up with Anthony Lockwood, the charismatic leader of Lockwood & Co, the founder of a small agency that runs independently 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, the is famous for its legendary Screaming Staircase and Red Room. (Fandom.com)

Comparing to the age group targeted with this novel, it has a such a heavy horror and Gothic elements; I don’t remember when was the last time I read a good book with ghosts in English—as I usually have my Arabic companions, so I can get to the mood, but this one scared me like a child. I could not sleep with the lights off for days. Thanks to Mr Stroud we have now an alternative London with all the joy adding ghosts wondering at the night making lives way interesting for ghost hunting agencies and scary for the rest of the world.

So as the world struggle with the visitors—ghosts, we get to meet the wonderful three teenage agents: Anthony Lockwood, George Cubbins, and the Lucy Carlyle. I have enjoyed every moment of the story; the chemistry and humour between the three implies a smooth friend relationship, which will make you stay up all night to finish the book, wondering what happened to Annie Ward, what on earth is a screaming staircase, why is it even screaming? In the middle of the story, you would wonder why is all of this happening! The elements of horror mixed with great writing, thus by the 100 last pages, you will find a new level of neat horror and your answers. Very well build a believable story, that I highly recommend.

Anastaciya

absolutely love the story and the author's language / writing.

Melea Mullican

7.00 on CAWPILE

I really enjoyed this. I thought it had a lot of potential and I'm looking forward to future books. The atmosphere and characters were great. Perfect for spooky season. However, the plot formatting was a bit odd. We start with a present day case, then flip back to before without any warning, then back to present day and stay there. So not really a flashback, but really where the book should have started. Then the semi main plot isn't introduced until halfway through the book.

Overall, a lot of promise, and I'm looking forward to future books.

Lynn Braden

After Lucy Carlyle left her previous position under less than happy circumstances, she lands a job at Lockwood and Co., a small Psychic Detection Agency where she joins Anthony Lockwood and George Cubbins in detecting and eradicating ghosts and other specters. In recent years, "The Problem" has created many such agencies to pop up in London whose agents are all under 20 years old. Only young people have the psychic abilities to be able to deal with the spirits of the dead. Lockwood finds himself in financial trouble as he and Lucy accidentally destroyed a house while exterminating a violent ghost and are being told they must pay for the damage they caused. As a result, Lockwood and Co. takes a job offered by John William Fairfax, a wealthy business owner in London, who offers to pay their debt if they find the source of an infestation at a notorious mansion that has already claimed the lives of several other agents. As they venture inside for the first time, Lucy, George, and Lockwood realize that this job may be the end of not only their agency but also their lives.
The Screaming Staircase, though written for and advertised as being for young people, could easily be an adult novel. The characters are well-developed and the backstory is fully fleshed out. The suspense is spine-tingling as the possibility of physical harm rises and more and more secrets are revealed. Overall, this is a very good story with scary supernatural elements and quirky characters.

Joan 

The first book that actually genuinely got me scared while reading. To be honest it has been some years but would still recommend!

Jolie

The Screaming Staircase starts off with Anthony and Lucy on a job. During this job, several things happen. Lucy almost couldn’t hold the ghost back with her rapier. Anthony finds a skeleton in the wall of the house and the house catches on fire. After a harrowing jump, the agents land in s shrub and were saved. After that incident, there was no business. That was when a wealthy patron asks them to spend the night of one of the most haunted houses in England. They need to not only survive the night but find the Source of the haunting. Something no one has been able to do.

The second major storyline has to do with the skeleton in the wall. Known as Annabel Ward, the ghost is attached to a necklace that Lucy took from the skeleton that was in the house. Lucy had gotten enough information from the ghost to figure out that she was murdered. But there is so much more to the story than what anyone knows.

I don’t know if I liked Lucy. Her character rubbed me the wrong way. I did feel bad for her at how her life started and what drove her to London. There was something about her that poked at me. Eh, I don’t know. She was a very talented Listener and she has other talents. Talents that only hinted at in the book.

I thought Anthony was too much of a risk taker and oh boy was he a smooth talker. He was a risk taker and he didn’t talk plans through with his team. He also failed to support his team on a few occasions. I wouldn’t go as far as to say I didn’t like him but he annoyed me as much as Lucy did.

I do have a few complaints about The Screaming Staircase. I felt that the beginning of the book was very jumpy. It went from present day back to Lucy’s past and then jumped to the present again. I also wish that The Problem was explained sooner in the book. I felt that having the explanation after Lucy and Anthony had already gone on the mission didn’t work. It was like closing the barn door after the cows got out.

The end of the book was very good. All the plotlines were wrapped up in ways that made me happy as a reader. I was surprised at who Annie’s killer was and the real motives for the agency being at the manor. I can’t wait to read book 2. What I also liked was the glossary at the end of the book.

I gave The Screaming Staircase a 3 rating for several reasons. While I liked the book, I felt that the dry British humor and terminology would be lost on tweens/young teens. Also, being a middle-grade book, I felt that the suicide references were a bit much. As was the description of some of the murder scenes. As an adult, I love reading these in books. But as a mother of a child in the age range that the book is marketed too, not so much.

I did find The Screaming Staircase very well written with an engaging plot and characters that were fleshed out. Just what I stated above made me give the book the rating I did.

Will I reread: Maybe

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Tween

Why: While The Screaming Staircase was written for middle grade, I feel that discretion should be used if you are going to let your tween/early teen read it There are several references to suicide and several scenes where murder is reenacted. It might be a bit much for younger children.

I would like to thank Jonathan Stroud, Disney Book Group, Disney-Hyperion and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review The Screaming Staircase

All opinions stated in this review of The Screaming Staircase are mine

I received no compensation for this review

**I received a free copy of this book and volunteered to review it**

Jessica Nottingham

I'm on my second cup of coffee for the morning, so please pardon any rambling I might do. I'm only running at about 50% today. Three day weekends are both a blessing and a curse. That being said, I'm prepared to do a massive amount of gushing about this book. Settle in friends, it's time for a glowing review.
 
First off, I absolutely love when the books I read are centered in England. There's something rather fitting about a story dealing with ghosts taking place in an area filled with so much history. In this particular England, spirits have become a real problem. Such a problem, in fact, that entities like Lockwood & Co. have popped up to deal with them. Ghost hunters by trade, despite their young ages, Lockwood, George and Lucy are all that stands between the ghosts and their would-be victims.
 
Following these three is so much fun! The balance between their serious sides, and their expertly crafted banter is perfection. Lockwood is the man in charge, and has a rapier sharp wit. George is in charge of researching cases, and also procuring an ample amount of donuts for the day. Lucy is the voice of reason, but will shoot your argument down in an instant if need be. In other words, these three complement one another perfectly! I couldn't get enough of these characters!
 
Now let's move on to the wonderfully crafted plot, shall we? From the moment you open the pages of this book, there isn't a dull moment. Back story is tucked in beautifully between present day events, and I really felt like I was immersed in the same world as Lockwood & Co. What I loved most of all though was the shiver inducing, descriptive writing that Stroud uses to tell this story. Lockwood, George and Lucy face some formidable spectral foes in this story, and Stroud doesn't shy away from letting the reader know how terrifying it really is. The Screaming Staircase walks the line between funny dialogue and skin prickling events, and it does it well! There's a mystery under all of this, and it's one that you'll be eager to uncover. 
 
If I had to choose one word to describe The Screaming Staircase, I'd definitely choose brilliant. Not only do I think the characters in this book would appreciate the sentiment, but it's the truth. This is a fast-paced, thoroughly engaging romp into the paranormal. It's filled with witty banter, close calls, and the type of writing that makes you want to read for hundreds of pages after the story ends. To say I adored this book barely skims the surface of my enjoyment! I just know you're going to love it.

The Screaming Staircase

Reviews

Highlights