Essay Questions

Who is the narrator?

The narrator of this novel is a teenage girl named Lucy Carlyle. This is significant because this is the first book in what would become a series. Each of them will be narrated by Lucy. Thus, everything that occurs is viewed from just one character's perspective. Perspective is vital to determine what is fact and what is mere opinion. Understanding Lucy's prejudices, fears, sense of inferiority, and sense of superiority to others will become increasingly significant as the series continues. As the first book in the series, The Screaming Staircase effectively situates the perspective by which the reader will learn information and becomes the touchstone to more fully understand the presentation of subjective material in addition to the reliability of factual information.

What is Ghost-Lock?

The description of the term ghost-lock is an example of something larger. Series like Lockwood and Co. become heavily dependent upon creating a "mythology" which sets specific rules, limitations, and expectations. To understand ghost-lock, for instance, one first understands the difference between ghost Typology. Ghost-lock is associated with Type Two ghosts and describes an essential element of their power. This ghost level can exert a sense of "malaise" over potential victims. This "malaise" is a sapping of human willpower by fostering an overpowering sense of hopelessness and almost nihilistic despair, rendering them paralyzed and defenseless against the spectral attack.

What is the screaming staircase?

Not surprisingly, perhaps, the title of this volume refers to an actual staircase. It is located in Combe Carey Hall and is constructed from ancient stones. The legend goes that the staircase witnesses some unspeakable horror so ghastly that it has trapped their souls inside forever. When sensing the arrival of a potential new victim, the staircase gets its name as a ferocious sound of screaming seems to originate from within the actual stones of its steps.