The Screaming Staircase
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''The Screaming Staircase'' is a
young adult In medicine and the social sciences, a young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence, sometimes with some overlap. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages ...
,
supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...
thriller Thriller may refer to: * Thriller (genre), a broad genre of literature, film and television ** Thriller film, a film genre under the general thriller genre Comics * ''Thriller'' (DC Comics), a comic book series published 1983–84 by DC Comics i ...
novel by
Jonathan Stroud Jonathan Anthony Stroud (born 27 October 1970) is a British writer of fantasy fiction, best known for the ''Bartimaeus'' young adult sequence and '' Lockwood & Co.'' children's series. His books have received note for their satire, and use of ...
. It is the first book in the series '' Lockwood & Co.'', and was published on 29 August 2013 by
Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...
in the United Kingdom, and by
Disney-Hyperion Disney Publishing Worldwide (DPW), formerly known as The Disney Publishing Group and Buena Vista Publishing Group, is the publishing subsidiary of Disney Experiences, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. Its imprints include Disney Edition ...
in the United States on 17 September 2013. The story is set in a version of modern-day London experiencing an event called "the Problem," ghosts which appear throughout the city at nighttime and attack the living. Agencies have been created to fend off the ghosts and protect the public for a fee. However, only certain children and teenagers have the "talent" to sense the ghosts, which they gradually lose as they reach their twenties. The agencies are run by those who have passed the ghost-sensitive age, and the agents are the youth with the talents necessary to solve the hauntings, which puts them in danger in the process. The story follows Lucy Carlyle and Lockwood & Co., the only supernatural agency in London run by children. The agency is led by Anthony Lockwood and has one other member prior to Lucy's joining, George Cubbins. As the series progresses, they investigate and solve hauntings and find deeper truths behind the ghosts and the Problem.


Plot

A sinister Problem has occurred in London: all natures of ghosts, haunts, and spectres, who are weakened by iron and salt, are appearing throughout the city, and they are not exactly friendly. All ghosts have a "source" where they originate from, though if the "source" is destroyed or neutralised the ghost will be as well. Only young people have the psychic abilities required to see and eradicate these unnatural foes. Many different Detection Agencies have cropped up to handle the dangerous work, and they are in fierce competition for business. When the brave Lucy Carlyle joins the small but enterprising agency Lockwood & Co., which consists of George Cubbins (researcher), Anthony Lockwood (leader), and Lucy Carlyle (assistant), approximately a month later they are sued for a job gone wrong, resulting in the house of their employer burning down. So that DEPRAC (Department of Psychical Research and Control) does not close down their agency, they are forced to take on the de-haunting of the most haunted house in England for the sinister millionaire John Fairfax (owner of Fairfax Iron, an iron manufacturing company) with even odder conditions, such as no explosives. The group ultimately survives the night and solves the mystery of the house and Fairfax, and the book ends with a celebration.


Characters

*Lucy Carlyle: The newest member of Lockwood & Co. and the narrator of the book, Lucy is 15 years old, and is described as quick to start a fight. She was known in earlier revisions as Lucy Purser. The daughter of a stationmaster in the North of England, she joined a local agency at an early age. However, after a disastrous case resulting in the loss of her fellow agents, Lucy left her former employment and family to start again in London. Lucy's Talent lies in her hearing and empathy through touch. *Anthony Lockwood: The leader of Lockwood & Co., often referred to as just Lockwood. He is described as "dashing" and "a bit reckless". His Talent is a sharp "sight"seeing ghosts and deathglows, the psychic residue left by a violent death. Lockwood is known for his quick yet thorough approach to hauntings and prides himself on his abilities. He is a mysterious young man; orphaned and left with the family's property. *George Cubbins: Anthony's deputy, and quite cynical. He is rather portly and a little slovenly. George is much more focused on research and preparation than the other two agents, and prefers a longer waiting time between assignments. He rarely gets along with his fellow agent Lucy, but he shares a strong passion with Lockwood. He is also quite attached to a skull in a glass jar which he owns. The skull is possessed by a ghost. *Suzie Martin: The daughter of Mrs. Hope, she meets Lockwood & Co. in her mother's absence, so they can investigate the presence of a Visitor in her family's home. She is quite sceptical of how young the agency is. *Annie Ward: A young woman who returns as a type-two ghost following her death. Lockwood & Co. encounter her at the beginning of the book, and then go on to solve the mystery of her murder. Her Source is a locket which Lockwood and Co. found around the neck of her corpse. She and Lucy share a strong psychic connection. *Inspector Barnes: An investigator of DEPRAC (Department of Psychical Research and Control), which is based at Scotland Yard. Barnes seems to disapprove of and possibly dislike Lockwood and George, however cooperates with them in the case of Annie Ward *Sir John William Fairfax: The wealthy industrialist who owns the haunted Combe Carey Hall, assigns Lockwood & Co. the mystery within the mansion and offers them the money needed to save the company from debt. *Hugo Blake: Annie Ward's 22-year-old boyfriend, who was accused of murdering Annie Ward.


Sequels

A sequel to the book, titled '' The Whispering Skull'', was published in September 2014. A second sequel, titled ''The Hollow Boy'', was published in September 2015. The fourth book in the series, ''The Creeping Shadow'', was published in September 2016. The final book, ''The Empty Grave'', was published in September 2017. A related book, ''The Dagger in the Desk,'' was published in February 2015.


Adaptations

The film rights were acquired in December 2012 by Illumination Entertainment and
Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...
, making this the first live-action project for the former. The film, titled ''Lockwood & Co.: The Screaming Staircase'', was to be produced by Illumination Entertainment CEO
Chris Meledandri Christopher Meledandri (; born May 15, 1959) is an American film producer and founder and CEO of Illumination. He previously served as president of 20th Century Fox Animation, and has worked as the producer for the film series of ''Ice Age'', ...
. However, in September 2017 it was announced that
Big Talk Productions Big Talk Studios Limited is a British film and television production company founded by Nira Park in 1994. Big Talk was acquired by ITV Studios in 2013. Film Filmography Released Upcoming Critical reception Commercial performance TV ...
had optioned the rights to ''Lockwood & Co.'', with plans to adapt it into a television series. In December 2020, the show was announced to be going to
Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
, adapted by
Joe Cornish Joseph Murray Cornish (born 20 December 1968) is an English comedian and filmmaker. With Adam Buxton, he forms the comedy duo Adam and Joe. In 2011, Cornish released his directorial debut ''Attack the Block''. He also co-wrote ''The Adventures ...
. Filming began on the Lockwood & Co. television series in the week following 5 July 2021, and it premiered on 27 January 2023.


Reception

''The Screaming Staircase'' has received the following accolades: *
Cybils Award The Cybils Awards, or Children's and Young Adult Bloggers' Literary Awards, are a set of annual book awards given by people who blog about children's and young adult books. Co-founded by Kelly Herold and Anne Boles Levy in 2006, the awards were c ...
(Speculative Fiction) (2013) *
Goodreads Choice Award The Goodreads Choice Awards is a yearly award program, first launched on Goodreads in 2009. Winners are determined by users voting on books that Goodreads has nominated or books of their choosing, released in the given year. Most books that Good ...
(Middle Grade & Children's)(2013) * ''Los Angeles Times'' Book Prize (2014) *
Mystery Writers of America Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is a professional organization of mystery and crime writers, based in New York City. The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday. It presents the E ...
's
Edgar Awards The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America which is based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor ...
(Best Juvenile)(2014) *
Jewish Community Secondary School The Jewish Community Secondary School (JCoSS) is a state-funded Jewish secondary school in New Barnet, London. Established in 2010, it is the first cross- denominational secondary school in the UK. It was established after Helena Miller (of Leo ...
's WeRead Prize (2014) * BookTrust and
Amazon Kindle Amazon Kindle is a series of e-readers designed and marketed by Amazon. Amazon Kindle devices enable users to browse, buy, download, and read e-books, newspapers, magazines, Audible audiobooks, and other digital media via wireless networking ...
's Booktrust Best Book Awards shortlist (9-11 Best Story) (2014) * North Carolina Young Adult Book Award nominee (2014) * Carnegie Medal for Literature nominee (2014) * Worcestershire Public Libraries' Worcestershire Teen Book Award shortlist (2014) * Silver Inky Award shortlist (2014) * International Librarians of Japan's Sakura Medal nominee (2015) * Stratford Girls' Grammar School's Warwickshire Secondary Book Awards (2015) *
Coventry City Council Coventry City Council is the Local government in England, local authority for the city of Coventry in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Coventry has had a council from medieval times, which has been reformed on numerous occasi ...
's Coventry Inspiration Book Awards shortlist (2015) * UKYA Blogger Awards' UKYA Blogger Awards nominee (2015) * The Weald School's Weald Book Award shortlist (2015) *
American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world. History 19th century ...
's Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults (2015) * Children's Literature Association of Utah Beehive Book Awards nominee (Young Adult Fiction) (2016) *
Nevada Library Association The Nevada Library Association (NLA) is a professional organization for Nevada's librarians and library workers. It is headquartered in Henderson, Nevada. It was founded on June 4, 1946, in Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest se ...
's Nevada Young Readers' Award (Intermediate) (2016) *
Washington Library Association The Washington Library Association (WLA) is a professional organization for librarians and library workers in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It is headquartered in Seattle and has 1,504 individual members and 49 institution me ...
's Sasquatch Award nominee (2016) * Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award nominee (2017)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Screaming Staircase 2013 British novels British young adult novels British thriller novels Ghost novels Random House books