REVIEW: The Screaming Staircase - Jonathan Stroud

GENRE: Childrens 9-12
PAGES: 480
PUBLISHER: Corgi
FORMAT: PB
BUY IT: Waterstones
RATING: 4 Stars

SUMMARY

When the dead come back to haunt the living, Lockwood & Co. step in...For more than fifty years, the country has been affected by a horrifying epidemic of ghosts. A number of Psychic Investigations Agencies have sprung up to destroy the dangerous apparitions. Lucy Carlyle, a talented young agent, arrives in London hoping for a notable career. Instead she finds herself joining the smallest most ramshackle agency in the city, run by the charismatic Anthony Lockwood. When one of their cases goes horribly wrong, Lockwood & Co. have one last chance of redemption. Unfortunately this involves spending the night in one of the most haunted houses in England, and trying to escape alive. Set in a city stalked by spectres, The Screaming Staircase is the first in a chilling new series full of suspense, humour and truly terrifying ghosts. Your nights will never be the same again...

REVIEW

Lately, through my love of Skulduggary Pleasant, I have been delving further and further in to adventure stories for children younger than the usual teen titles I read.

When Lockwood and Lucy discover the corpse of a young socialite in a house suffering from the Problem they vow to uncover her killer. Following the clues through a series of dangerous haunted houses and objects - not to mention the dangerous people - Lockwood and Lucy must try to find out the truth no matter what it costs them.

The Screaming Staircase ticks so many boxes for me. Ghosts. Check. Awesome female character I can relate to. Check. Gothic and ghoulish settings. Check. Oh, and the fact that this book is for a younger audience than Teen means I don't have to worry that the kick-ass adventure scenes are going to end in romance. Because boys are like, ew.

Lockwood and Co. is are based in an alternative England, where the 'problem' of hauntings has risen to an unstoppable level. Children, like our narrator Lucy, are more sensitive to seeing ghosts, and are recruited by agencies like Lockwood and Co. as hunting operatives. The way Stroud presents London is dark, with an almost Victorian feel. Part Ghostbusters, part Dickens and part Sherlock Holmes, The Screaming Staircase is full of the twists, turns and jumpy moments that I love, and  the easy humorous prose kept my attention well to the end.

Don't be fooled by it's 9-12 listing; it's the perfect crossover book. Lucy is about 15 and I think the writing is awesome. So, next time you walk past our 9-12 section, stop and take a look - there are many gems like this to find.

Recommended Reading

Skulduggery Pleasant - Derek Landy

Department 19 - Will Hill

- Bex.

REVIEW: The Dead Of Winter - Chris Priestley

GENRE: Children's

PAGES: 240

PUBLISHER: Bloomsbury

FORMAT: HB

BUY IT: Waterstones

RATING: 4 Stars

SUMMARY

Michael Vyner recalls a terrible story, one that happened to him. One that would be unbelievable if it weren't true! Michael's parents are dead and he imagines that he will stay with the kindly lawyer, executor of his parents' will ...Until he is invited to spend Christmas with his guardian in a large and desolate country house. His arrival on the first night suggests something is not quite right when he sees a woman out in the frozen mists, standing alone in the marshes. But little can prepare him for the solitude of the house itself as he is kept from his guardian and finds himself spending the Christmas holiday wandering the silent corridors of the house seeking distraction. But lonely doesn't mean alone, as Michael soon realises that the house and its grounds harbour many secrets, dead and alive, and Michael is set the task of unravelling some of the darkest secrets of all.

REVIEW

It is no secret that I am a massive fan of Halloween, so when it comes to this point in the year I like to give myself a fright with some spooky stories. Christ Priestley is a chiller writer for children around the ages of 9-12, or big kids around 24... ahem. I have been meaning to pick up some of his books for a while so when I spotted this in the library I thought it would be the perfect opportunity.

The Dead of Winter follows traditions set by the wonderful Poe and the underestimatedly Gothic Charles Dickens. After the death of his mother, Michael Vyner is sent to live with a guardian in his creepy old mansion, Hawton Mere. Spooky events are abundant in the old house and never fails to disappoint. The atmosphere is built gradually through the fantastic descriptions of the house, really breathing life into the old walls. This reminded me so much of Poe, the artistic detail in giving a living, breathing anthropomorphic character to the old house. It is as much a part of the story as the human tale of woe behind all the hauntings.

It's narrative is not simple, nor does it carry any of the slang of modern day children. I'm pretty certain the story is set in the late 19th century, which completely adds to the feel of 'otherness'. For children reading this I think it is a clever scheme: it gives space in dialogue at the beginning to give the reader time to adjust to the older speech style but then whisks you so much into the action that you barely seem to notice. 

This has everything you could want from a traditional scary read: a haunted house, ghosts, mirrors, trap doors and a whole dose of mystery. If you've enjoyed more modern stories like Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book I guarantee you will love this. Its a super quick read at only just over 200 pages but it is so much fun. Give this to your kid and they will be absorbed for hours.

- Bex.