The Screaming Staircase

• Genre: Fiction; young adult supernatural thriller
• Originally Published: 2013
• Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 720L; grades 7-12
• Structure/Length: 5 parts, 26 chapters; approx. 381 pages; approx. 10 hours, 10 minutes on audio
• Protagonist/Central Conflict: Ghosts and spirits are popping up all over London, and only young people have the psychic abilities to see and fight them. Fifteen-year-old Lucy Carlyle teams up with Anthony Lockwood, the leader of Lockwood & Co., a ghost-hunting agency that runs without adult supervision, to investigate Combe Carey Hall, one of the most haunted houses in England. Can they survive the legendary Screaming Staircase?
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Child abuse; domestic abuse; on-page suicide/attempted suicide; blood and gore; parental death; drowning; torture; body shaming          

Jonathan Stroud, Author

• Bio: Born in 1970; British writer of fantasy fiction; attended Wheatfields Junior School and St. Albans Boys’ School; says his love of reading comes from being chronically ill from ages 7-9; studied English literature at University of York; worked as an editor for Walker Books before turning to write full time; best known for the best-selling Bartimaeus Trilogy; his series Lockwood & Co. has been adapted into a Netflix television series
• Other Works: The Amulet of Samarkand (2003); The Golem’s Eye (2004); The Whispering Skull (2015); The Hollow Boy (2015); The Outlaws Scarlett and Browne (2021); The Notorious Scarlett and Browne (2022)
• Awards: Cybils Award for Speculative Fiction (2013); We Read Prize (2014); Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist (2014); Edgar Award for Best Juvenile Book nominee (2014); Silver Inky Award shortlist (2014); Carnegie Medal for Literature nominee (2014); Hampshire Book Award (2014, 2015)

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit:

• The Importance of Planning and Preparation
• Making a Name for Self and for Family
• Navigating Complex Friendships

STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Unit, students will:

• Develop an understanding of the historical and literary context of the novel through discussion and examination of brief paired resources.
• Study paired texts and other brief resources to make connections via the novel’s themes of The Importance of Planning and Preparation, Making a Name for Self and for Family, and Navigating Complex Friendships.
• Build connections between literature of the past and present to develop a deeper understanding of the wider horror genre.