Lockwood and Co: The Screaming Staircase

Story

Britain has been overrun with phantoms, spectres and ghouls, and only some young people have the psychic abilities to stop them. The dashing Anthony Lockwood, his assistant George Cubbins and new recruit Lucy Carlyle must work together to unravel the mystery of the country’s most haunted house - before it’s too late…

Why we chose it

A great ghost story with fast paced action and engaging characters.

Where it came from

Jonathan Stroud (1970-) is a British writer, based in St Albans. As a child, he enjoyed the escapism of fantasy stories. One of his favourite books is Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island (1883), and you can also see the influence of the gothic horror and supernatural tales found in Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories (1887-1927) in his books.

Where it went next

Further adventures of Lockwood & Co can be read in the four sequels, which see the trio try to solve the mysteries of The Whispering Skull (2014), The Hollow Boy (2015), The Creeping Shadow (2016), and The Empty Grave (2017).

Associated stories

Before Lockwood & Co, the author was most well-known for his Bartimaeus Sequence (2003-2010) - a series of four books and a graphic novel about a talented, bad-tempered djinni, set in alternative version of London where warring factions of magicians and rebels vie for control.