The Screaming Staircase

Anthony Lockwood is the novel’s deuteragonist (the person second in importance after the protagonist) and the owner and founder of Lockwood & Co., an agency, run by children, that hunts ghosts and other apparitions. Lockwood has the ability to see what he calls death-glows and uses this skill to find the Sources behind various hauntings around London. His team initially consists of himself and George until Lucy, with her ability to hear and feel ghosts, proves to provide the perfect complement to their skills. Lucy immediately notices Lockwood’s wry sense of humor, his affinity for teasing others (including the clients), and his no-holds-barred attitude about life. Lucy comments, “His manner had been so assured, I hadn’t noticed his age” (77). Lockwood carries himself with a dignity and ease, and even when he is faced with the most dire circumstances, whether supernatural or mundane, he never loses his cool optimism. As Lucy observes in the story’s climax, “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” (344).

Additionally, Lockwood is “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” (99). This attitude proves most useful when he is faced with a proposition from Fairfax to undergo his team’s most dangerous mission yet at the Combe Carey Hall. Determined to discover why countless people who have been exposed to the hauntings have died there, Lockwood is set on Making a Name for Self and Family and takes the case regardless of its dangers. His optimism leads the team to victory, but only by a narrow margin. Lockwood is also tricky and sly, always pulling new tricks out of his sleeve. For example, he hides flares in Fairfax’s home, sends word to Barnes to come to the manor, and investigates the Fairfax murder all while maintaining the guise of being on a simple ghost hunt to earn some much-needed funds. Yet despite his air of mystery, Lockwood proves his loyalty to Lucy and George time and time again, regularly sacrificing his own safety for theirs and always more concerned for their welfare than his own.

George Cubbins is one of the original members of Lockwood & Co. When Lucy first meets George, he seems surly, abrasive, and unsympathetic to her position. She describes him as being as “handsome as a freshly opened tub of margarine, as charismatic as a wet tea towel lying scrumpled on the floor” (99). George is primarily a researcher and spends most of his time immersed in books or studying ancient artifacts, particularly the ghost in a jar. He is meticulous and proactive and criticizes both Lucy and Lockwood when they fail to remember The Importance of Planning and Preparation. George struggles to express his emotions in healthy ways, and his concerns for Lockwood and even for Lucy often manifest as anger or withdrawn behavior.

After the fire at the Hope house, George becomes irate with both Lucy and Lockwood for their failure to bring the iron chains, their decision to stay when they should have left, and Lucy’s secret decision to steal Annabel’s locket. It is during this argument that Lucy points out how George rarely joins her and Lockwood on the front lines. The accusation becomes a turning point for George, after which he begins to accompany Lockwood and Lucy; he also becomes an essential component of the team’s success during their ordeal at Combe Carey Hall, for he is the one who figures out the floor plans and existence of a secret passage and provides the photograph that solidifies Lockwood’s suspicions of Fairfax as the murderer.

Mr. Fairfax is the novel’s primary antagonist and villain, although this fact is not revealed until the story’s surprise ending. He is the owner of Fairfax Iron, a company that profited greatly from the quasi-apocalyptic changes of “the Problem” of rampant ghost invasions and hauntings. The company is responsible for virtually all production of iron-made goods designed for defense against spirits and other energies. Mr. Fairfax first appears under suspicious circumstances when he offers to pay Lockwood & Co. to investigate his home, seemingly out of the blue. Lockwood’s business is suffering and receiving far more cancellations than bookings, and Fairfax has owned the house for a long time. All of this leads Lockwood to suspect that Fairfax has ulterior motives, so he begins a private investigation against Fairfax and uncovers him as Annabel’s murderer. Fairfax is an eccentric man with a passion for acting, but his acting skills do not prove adept enough to fool Lockwood.

Lucy describes Fairfax as a tall and thin man who looks as if he had once been quite muscular but has since wasted away into old age and brittleness. Fairfax brings further suspicion upon himself when he searches the trio’s bags upon their arrival. He hopes that they will be killed by the Red Room and that his murder of Annabel will go untraced forever; instead, Lockwood and his teammates outsmart Fairfax while simultaneously quelling the haunting of his manor. When they do catch Fairfax, he confesses his murder with a sick sense of pride. Lucy releases Annabel, who takes Fairfax into the afterlife with her.

Inspector Barnes is a surly agent from DEPRAC (the Department of Psychic Research and Control). He first appears to give Lockwood the news that his company is being sued by the Hope family for the fire that Lucy started. He seems almost happy to put Lockwood in his place and reveal his flaws, saying, “This is what happens when an agency isn’t properly run. […] You’re nothing but three kids, playing at grown-up games” (136). Barnes’s views of children and what they’re capable of turn him into a minor antagonist who ultimately does not cause problems for Lockwood & Co. but still proves to be an unpleasant presence and instigator. His next appearance comes when he invites Lucy into a small room and demands that she observe Hugo Blake through a one-way mirror. He ignores Lucy’s requests to forego the task and talks about her as if she is more of a fascinating, talented object than a human being. Barnes’s final appearance comes when he and a large swath of agents storm Combe Carey Hall after Lockwood sends word that Fairfax is Annabel’s murderer and the owner of many one-of-a-kind weapons and armor. He reluctantly congratulates the trio’s hard work on the case but still feels compelled to point out their errors, declaring, “By rights I should charge you with withholding information” (366).