the screaming staircase by jonathan stroud

invigorates the story (along with no shortage of creepy moments).'

'Stroud shows his customary flair for blending deadpan humor with thrilling action, and the fiery interplay among the three agents of Lockwood & Co. Ghosts, kids on their own without adult supervision, and loads of delicious cookies.' Smart as a whip, funny, witty, and honestly frightening at times, Stroud lets loose and gives readers exactly what they want. 'A pleasure from tip to tail, this is the book you hand the advanced readers that claim they'd rather read Paradise Lost than Harry Potter. Put The Screaming Staircase on your 'need to read' list!' Stroud is a genius at inventing an utterly believable world which is very much like ours, but so creepily different. 'This story will keep you reading late into the night, but you'll want to leave the lights on. Readers who enjoyed the action, suspense, and humor in Jonathan Stroud's internationally best-selling Bartimaeus books will be delighted to find the same ingredients, combined with deliciously creepy scares, in his thrilling and chilling Lockwood & Co. survive the Hall's legendary Screaming Staircase and Red Room to see another day? After an assignment leads to both a grisly discovery and a disastrous end, Lucy, Anthony, and their sarcastic colleague, George, are forced to take part in the perilous investigation of Combe Carey Hall, one of the most haunted houses in England. In The Screaming Staircase, the plucky and talented Lucy Carlyle teams up with Anthony Lockwood, the charismatic leader of Lockwood & Co, a small agency that runs independent of any adult supervision. Many different Psychic Detection Agencies have cropped up to handle the dangerous work, and they are in fierce competition for business. Only young people have the psychic abilities required to see-and eradicate-these supernatural foes. “I’ve waited with baited breath for the latest instalment of Jonathan Stroud’s Lockwood & Co novels.A sinister Problem has occurred in London: all nature of ghosts, haunts, spirits, and specters are appearing throughout the city, and they aren't exactly friendly. “A dashing teenage hero, a ghostly cult leader and a girl gravedigger with serious personal hygiene issues are just some of the delights that lie in wait in The Whispering Skull, Jonathan Stroud’s second book in the Lockwood & Co. 'A delicious mixture of bone-dry wit and spooky shocks.' He’s terrific at mixing the macabre with high-school-level repartee.” “With the same sophisticated imagination that made his Bartimaeus series such a success, Stroud’s writing is assured and nimble. 'Fantastic characters, fast-paced action, and truly alarming in places.'

The screaming staircase by jonathan stroud