The Screaming Staircase (Lockwood & Co. #1)

The Screaming Staircase (Lockwood & Co. #1)

Jonathan Stroud

It's present day ghost filled London and 15 year old Lucy Carlyle has a special talent. She has the talent of hearing and empathy through touch. This special talent lands her a job with Lockwood & Co. They're one of the many Detection Agencies out there that spend nights in haunted houses to eradicate the ghosts (which there are different types) All cases have been pretty standard, a few deaths here and there but Lucy seems to be at home, even with the dry humour of George. All is well until a case goes horribly wrong and the agency's reputation is on the line. The team have to spend a night in one of the most haunted houses in England to rectify what has been done. What they find is not what they expected and definitely not what they had prepared for.

After many recommendations to read this book, I finally did recently and why I had not read it sooner I have no idea. I was not prepared for the images that I conjured up and will never get rid of. This book is not only different from most other YA novels, it's also incredibly scary. If it wasn't for the humour and charm of Lockwood or the dry sarcastic comments of the "pudgey" George, then I would definitely not have slept. The way ghosts are described are a far cry from the world of Casper and a little bit towards The Woman in Black (p.s do not watch that movie by yourself) Another great difference is that the ghosts can actually kill you if you are "ghost touched". There's the usual, find the source and get rid of the ghost but it's so casually and naturally done that you don't think it's a cliché. There are also different types of ghosts. Ranging from Type 1 to Type 4 which only one agency has ever claimed to have seen. 

The way Stroud describes Lucy is awesome. She's not a typical pretty girl but still wears a skirt and cares about her appearance while carrying her Rapier (massive cool ghost killing sword) -even though this doesn't seem obvious, it's written in the lines of when she's jealous of all the glamour girls in the magazines that Lockwood reads. This is a good point for young girl readers as it means that you don't have to wear pants (figuratively and literally) to be kick ass and ambitious. 

Highly recommend reading this with the light on...and maybe even sleep with the light on. You will start to think that the slightest breeze in your room is something out of the book and hearing old house creaks is always fun when reading about ghosts. It's classed as a 9-12 age group Intermediate Fiction book but if you are not used to reading scary stories (Goosebumps still does the job) then I would recommend for an older age group. 12+. Just whatever you do, be prepared for The Red Room. Your nights will never be the same again...