the screaming staircase by jonathan stroud

All other content is pretty mild, with language no stronger than 'hellish' and 'screwy.' The teen ghost hunters are threatened by the living as well, encountering rapiers, fists, and gunfire. As it gets darker, the presence and malevolence of ghosts get stronger and one of the characters has a sense of how and why particular ghosts died (always violently). There are some super-creepy descriptions involving skeletal remains and a ghost making it appear that blood's dripping all over the room.

The main young-teen characters in The Screaming Staircase are very resourceful, very brave ghost hunters (only kids have 'the Sight') and inhabit a world where ghosts are nearly everywhere, putting people in danger every night (a 'ghost-touch' is painful and can be fatal). And readers must like scary stuff, or forget them sleeping in their own room with the lights off for quite some time. Parents need to know that the publisher's recommended age for Jonathan Stroud's The Screaming Staircase is 8-12, but this nearly 400-page ghost-hunting mystery feels like a better fit for kids just getting into young adult literature: 11 and up.

One room in a haunted house smelled of whiskey and tobacco, and Lucy remembers her father's breath smelling of 'strong brown beer.' Lucy's first employer smoked heavily.ĭid you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide. The ghosts being hunted died in many violent ways over the centuries: hangings, drownings, mass killings, torture, sacrifices, fire, murder, and much more.ĭid you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide. A mention that Anthony's parents are probably deceased and left him the house, and that Lucy's distant father fell under a train and died. are sent to investigate and all of Lucy's young colleagues before she moved to London. Stories of other ghost hunters (all kids because only kids have 'the Sight') dying on the job, two in the house Lockwood & Co. Main characters have close calls with cruel spirits (some super-creepy descriptions involving skeletal remains, curling long toenails, and blood dripping all over a room), a raging fire they must jump out a building to escape, and live people wielding guns, rapiers, and fists. Although there's always fear of being 'ghost-touched,' which causes painful swelling and then death if not treated right away.

The haunted scares and the descriptions of how the now-deceased, or 'Visitors,' died are worse than the actual injuries the trio get ghost hunting.

The screaming staircase by jonathan stroud