The Screaming Staircase
by Jonathan Stroud
★ Top 5 book of 2013 · #4 on Best Books of 2013
In a London plagued by deadly ghosts that only children can see, a teen-run agency hunts down the objects spirits cling to. Part creepy adventure, part look at a society reshaped by the haunting, it keeps you reading past bedtime.
Best for: Young readers and parents who enjoy being creeped out by ghost stories
The Screaming Staircase is #4 on BookWard's Best Books of 2013, out of 45 2013 books that cleared our data bar.
What The Screaming Staircase is about
In this version of London, ghosts have become a nightly menace, and only children and teenagers can sense them. Adults run the big Detection Agencies and send young agents out to deal with hauntings for a fee. Lockwood & Co. is the one agency run by children, led by Anthony Lockwood with the research-minded George Cubbins, and newcomer Lucy Carlyle joins as an assistant. After a job goes badly wrong and a client's house burns down, the team is pushed to accept a far riskier task: clearing the most haunted house in England. The first in the Lockwood & Co. series, it is a spooky, witty adventure with iron, salt, and plenty of nerve.
The Screaming Staircase on the Best Books of 2013
The Screaming Staircase came out in 2013. Of the 45 books first published in 2013 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #4 on our Best Books of 2013 list.
Why it made the list: 557 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.5 out of 5 (24 ratings); 29 are reading it right now. The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
Nearby on the 2013 list
- Hard Luck Jeff Kinney, #2
- Crown of Midnight Sarah J. Maas, #3
- Unravel Me Tahereh Mafi, #5
- The Goldfinch Donna Tartt, #6
See all Best Books of 2013 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 2012 Best Books of 2014.
The numbers behind it
- Readers: 488 want to read it, 29 are reading it now and 40 have read it, according to Open Library.
- Ratings: 4.5 out of 5 from 24 Open Library ratings.
| Signal | This book (0 to 100) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 78 | 55% |
| Reader love | 96 | 25% |
| Being read right now | 78 | 20% |
Questions about The Screaming Staircase
When was The Screaming Staircase published?
The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud was first published in 2013.
Was The Screaming Staircase one of the best books of 2013?
The Screaming Staircase is #4 on BookWard's Best Books of 2013, out of 45 2013 books that cleared our data bar. 557 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.5 out of 5 (24 ratings); 29 are reading it right now.
Why is The Screaming Staircase on the Best Books of 2013 list?
557 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.5 out of 5 (24 ratings); 29 are reading it right now.
More of the best books of 2013
- House of Hades Rick Riordan, #1
- Hard Luck Jeff Kinney, #2
- Crown of Midnight Sarah J. Maas, #3
- Unravel Me Tahereh Mafi, #5
- The Goldfinch Donna Tartt, #6
- Hopeless Colleen Hoover, #7
See the full Best Books of 2013, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views for recent years. The description is paraphrased from real source text. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Lists update monthly.
Find your own best books
Add what you have read, rate it, and BookWard will recommend what to read next.
Free while in beta. No credit card needed.