The Screaming Staircase

“After a few moments, I regained control. I withdrew from my anger and let it drop to the floor like a discarded skin.”

 As is demonstrated in this quote, Lucy shows immense self-control in stressful and harrowing situations. When she is attacked by the spirit of Annabel Ward for the first time in the Hope house, she finds herself quickly filling with Annabel’s rage—part of her ability to connect with ghosts. Despite the power that Annabel has, Lucy’s power is greater, and she rises above the emotions with which she is flooded. In a classic example of Stroud’s colorful language, this quote also contains a particularly macabre simile.

“We were an illuminated island in a sea of blackness.”

 In this quote, Lucy metaphorically compares herself and Lockwood as they sit in the kitchen of the blackened Hope home amidst the glow of an oil lantern. The juxtaposition between light and darkness is a commonly used motif in the novel that signifies Lucy and Lockwood’s power against malicious hauntings and their sense of hope and optimism.

“At once the girls’ momentum stalled; she was frozen in mid-air. A sigh, a moan, a shudder. Her hair fell forward and hid her face. Her other-light grew dim, dim, dimmer…Gone. She winked out of existence as if she had never been.”

 Stroud often utilizes play-by-play descriptions of scenes that lend an almost cinematic quality to his writing and allow the reader to imagine every single moment as it occurs. His descriptions of ghosts are vivid and foreboding, and each word is designed to build suspense and tension that only resolves at the very end of any given passage.

“Anthony Lockwood—vigorous and energetic, eager to throw himself into each new mystery; a boy who was clearly never happier than when walking into a haunted room, his hand resting lightly on his sword hilt.”

 Lucy often pauses to observe Lockwood and describe his bold character. Lockwood is an enigmatic person who often leaves Lucy incredulous in the best possible ways. She feels a kinship with her new employer almost immediately upon meeting him, as they both possess the same passion for ghost hunting and the same unyielding resolve to persist until the job is complete. This shared objective is part of what makes Lockwood & Co. a success.

“It already pleased me to think of waking into darkness with Lockwood at my side.”

After her first day with Lockwood and George, including being tested, hired, and shown around her new home and work headquarters, Lucy feels opposing emotions about her new companions. She strongly dislikes George at first but deeply admires and trusts Lockwood. His enthusiasm and optimism act as lights in the darkness of their lives.

“Below, the mists churned orange; agents, medics, and firefighters ran frantically through a cloudscape of light and shadow.”

 Stroud frequently describes the mist that has consumed the town ever since ghost activity became a daily occurrence. In this scene, the Hope house is burning after Lucy and Lockwood burst out its window to safety. The poetic imagery of the description provides a clear picture of what Lucy is observing as she sits nestled in the bushes, and the juxtaposition of light and dark is referenced as well.

“No more of these measly Shades and Lurkers—we want something that’ll truly make our name.”

 In this quotation, both Lockwood’s optimism and his drive to make a name for himself and his family are prominently showcased. Because his parents died when he was young, leaving him everything including their legacy as psychic investigators, Lockwood knows that spirits do exist after death and wants to make his parents proud of his company’s success. This quote also foreshadows Fairfax’s upcoming proposal, which turns out to be Lockwood’s biggest, most dangerous case yet.

“That was the ghost-lamp, regular as a lighthouse beam, shining way off on the corner of the street. Every three and a half minutes, it pierced the night with its harsh white radiance for exactly thirty seconds before switching off again.”

 When light is contrasted with darkness, it signifies hope, optimism, and people’s resolve to persist through dire circumstances in a dystopian world. When ghosts invade, London is decorated with ghost-lamps designed to keep ghosts at bay and provide a beacon of comfort for London’s inhabitants. Stroud uses simile to compare the ghost-lamps to a lighthouse that guides ships to safety from treacherous waters.

“This was the way it was with Lockwood. His shifts were sometimes so sudden that they took your breath away, but his energy and enthusiasm were always impossible to resist.”

Lockwood is an unpredictable character who is often the source of the novel’s many twists and turns, and this contributes to the team’s issues in Navigating Complex Friendships. He always seems to have something novel or strange to say or surprise his coworkers with, and his eternal optimism is the guiding force upon which the team relies. When Lucy and George succumb to doubt and skepticism, Lockwood always pushes forward with unwavering resolve and belief in himself and his friends.

“Time passed. The chill increased. The desolate emotions of the restless suicide seeped out from the willow, spreading between the shrubs and flower beds, the plastic bikes and children’s toys scattered about the garden. The willow twigs began to rustle gently, though there wasn’t any wind.”

When Lucy, Lockwood, and George are called out to investigate a haunted garden, they witness the apparition in his final moments and as he ends his own life. It is a deeply disturbing and heart-wrenching moment. The joyful innocence of the children’s toys contrasts with the man’s actions and sadness to create an emotionally complex moment.

“I took a deep breath, squashed my anxiety down.”

Lucy is often forced to bear her emotions and push them inward so that they do not interfere with her obligations as a ghost hunter or her ability to stay safe in dangerous situations. She is constantly faced with pressure and stress, but always manages to remain calm enough to survive and help her team. In this scene, Lucy is faced with Hugo Blake, whom she believes to be Annabel’s murderer at this time.

“Because of my Touch, I do understand something of what she went through. I understand her pain. And that means I want justice for her now. I don’t want her forgotten.”

Lucy’s most unique ability, her ability to feel the emotions and experiences of spirits, is both an essential skill and a burden. She must constantly grapple with her own emotions along with the emotions of spirits she comes into contact with. Her ability also leads her to build a connection with Annabel, and she develops a desire to seek justice on the spirit’s behalf. As is often the case when one encounters death, Lucy sees herself in Annabel and wouldn’t want to be forgotten if something similar had happened to her.

“There was no doubt about it: we needed time to deliberate this very carefully.

‘Thank you very much, sir,’ Lockwood was saying, ‘but I can give you our answer now. We’ll definitely take the case.’”

Stroud inserts humor throughout the novel to lighten its gloomier elements and break the tension. Additionally, the humorous moments also serve to demonstrate key quirks in the main characters’ interactions and add an extra layer of intrigue to the story’s plot. Much of this humor centers around Lockwood and his antics, and in this case, the quotation concerns the ironic turn of events upon which Lucy is certain they must deliberate but to which Lockwood seems to agree without thinking twice. Accordingly, Lockwood’s recklessness sometimes creates conflicts that contribute to the complexity of the friendships that tie the team together.

“But when I listened, it was something else I heard. A silence. The deeper silence of the house. I sensed it all around me, sentient and aware. That silence stretched away from me, along the corridors and levels, up that great stone flight of stairs, through open doors and under lonely windows, on and on, to an ever more frightening distance. There wasn’t any end to it. The house was just the gate. The silence continued forever. And it was waiting for us—I could feel it waiting.”

 When Lucy first approaches Combe Carey Hall, she stands on the iron threshold between the outside and whatever lies within and struggles to will herself to enter. This is an unusual experience for Lucy, who is usually brazen and ready for whatever is coming her way, but this time there is a deep sense of foreboding. In this case, Lucy stares into the house and is suddenly consumed by a perpetual silence that seems to go on forever and also to be calling her. The silence continues to call Lucy until the novel’s climax, and she almost steps over into the well (the Source of the silence), but Lockwood catches her.

“When I concentrated, I began to hear a low-lying crackling sound, like radio static, at the far edge of perception. It died and swelled repeatedly, forever threatening to cohere into meaningful noise, but never doing so. For some reason its obscurity disturbed me.”

 In this poetic simile, Lucy’s descriptions of the otherworldly sounds that she hears inside Combe Carey Hall are haunting and vivid. Stroud uses the simile to compare the sound to the static of a radio far off in the distance, allowing the reader to relate to what Lucy is experiencing. This moment foreshadows the team’s experience on the Screaming Staircase, as the crackling eventually evolves into a severely panicked wailing that does not cease.

“Before that evening? I might have held back. I’d chosen wrongly too many times in crisis situations to fully trust my instincts now. But since stepping through the door, and particularly since we’d begun our explorations, my confidence had slowly risen. We’d worked well together, so much better than ever before. We’d been careful, rigorous, even competent…It showed me what Lockwood and Co. might one day become.”

 A pivotal shift in the team dynamics and friendship of the members of Lockwood & Co. occurs on the night that they enter Combe Carey Hall. Whereas once they were disjointed, uncoordinated, and failing to communicate with one another, on this night, they act with perfect cohesion. All three team members use their strengths to form a unit that succeeds where others failed, and for the first time, Lucy can see why Lockwood was so optimistic about their success.

“He brought out candles and distributed them between us; when lit, their flames were mustard-yellow, tall, and strong.”

After escaping the terror of the Red Room, the trio experiences a brief moment of solace and comfort when they light their candles amidst the dark corridor, demonstrating once again the ongoing theme of lights that drive back the darkness. The juxtaposition between light and dark also symbolizes the children’s optimism and strength amidst a trying and dismal time and demonstrates Stroud’s strategic use of detailed imagery to bring vibrance to even simple things such as the light of a candle.

“It was the sound of the terror of death, drawn out indefinitely, extending on forever. It spiraled around us, clawing at our minds.”

At times, Stroud’s prose becomes so thickly haunting that it is designed to immerse the reader in the horror of the scene. In the novel’s climax, Lucy and the others race down the Screaming Staircase as they are pursued by the shadows of monks who were burned alive in the mansion hundreds of years before. This quote also makes a subtle comparison between the sound of the screams and the staircase itself, as both are “spiraling” downward simultaneously.

“The Visitors were free of the walls now; they drifted inward from all sides. Two of the nearest were almost at George, still hunched upon the floor. The rest converged on us, bone-white faces insubstantial beneath their rotting hoods. Sockets gaped, sharp teeth glittered. And still the screaming rose.”

Stroud uses vivid imagery to bring the apparitions in his novel to life for the reader. Here, Lucy and the others encounter the most powerful spirits they have ever seen—ones who are able to change shape, defy iron protections, and resume an impression of their original form. In the final scene of the novel’s climax, the narrative is equally as intense as the emotions of the characters.

“I don’t know how Lockwood did it, but despite the revolver pointed at his chest, despite the torn coat, the bloodstains, the spots of plasm, magnesium, salt, and ash on his clothes, despite the trailing cobwebs in his hair and the scratches on his face and hands, he still made a decent stab at looking unperturbed.”

Lockwood’s bravado never falters, including when his life is at stake. This is perhaps what Lucy admires about him most, as her descriptions of Lockwood most often refer to his resolve and optimism. Lockwood’s confidence is largely the result of his own intelligence, as he is almost always one step ahead of both his teammates and his enemy.

“The first dawn rays broke through the windows of the Long Gallery and stretched warm and golden across the floor.”

Stroud juxtaposes light with darkness once again as the night’s many terrors resolve in a denouement. As dawn breaks, the hauntings of the mansion settle, and Lucy and the others are certain they have located the Source. After what seemed to be certain death, the warm glow of sunlight at dawn is an amplified version of the flashlights and oil lamps that protect the characters from harm.

“The remains of the locket were swept up and taken away by Barnes’s men in a special silver-glass canister. Whether the ghost-girl’s spirit remained tied to it, or whether (as I myself believe) she had permanently departed, I don’t know, because I never saw it again.”

In the story’s denouement, Lucy speaks to the readers directly and tells them what she knows about what happened after the events at Combe Carey Hall. She is not an omniscient narrator, and in this case, that fact allows readers to come to their own conclusions about what happened to the spirit of Annabel. Lucy herself chooses to remain optimistic and believe that Annabel’s inner conflict was resolved when she got her revenge on Fairfax.

“The past is for ghosts. We’ve all done things that we regret. It’s what’s ahead of us that counts—right, George?”

Here, Lockwood uses a double entendre to express his unwavering optimism about the future. The ghosts of the past are both literal entities that the team encountered and the mistakes and failures that threatened to hold them back. Lockwood is aware of the many mistakes the team made along the way but believes that the end result is the most important part.