Scary, full of action

I started reading Lockwood & Co., The Screaming Staircase by Jonathon Stroud after reading a rather disappointing story targeting the same age group, 3rd through 8th grade that was supposed to be "creepy," but fell short. I was expecting this one to be an adventure.  Well, it is not only an adventure, but also quite scary.  So much so, I might not recommend it for young people under fifth grade, unless they are very brave.  It certainly made up for the disappointing prior read.

The story takes place in London, but a London quite different than today.  While the time is undetermined, it is after The Blitz, allows for cars, cabs, and telephones, but seems somehow old-fashioned.  This London has been besieged with "The Problem" for some years now.  The Problem being rampant ghosts.  So many that there is a government agency tasked with dispatching all of them as well as independent agencies.  The best agents for detecting ghosts, it turns out, are children.  As people age, their ability to sense spectors decreases, however, it doesn't decrease their ability to be killed if they are ghost-touched.  The ghosts of England aren't just scary....they are deadly.  

Enter the agency of Lockwood & Co, the only independent agency with no adult overseeing them.  Anthony Lockwood and Lucy Carlyle, go blind into a haunting, much to the anger of their research specialist, George Cubbins, and end up burning down a house.  The ghost of a murdered actress turns out to be much angrier than they anticipated. To save their agency, they agree to spend the night in a house so haunted, the last 3 agents that tried all died. In facing the terrors of this house, they uncover the mystery behind The Source.  The only way to stop a haunting is to destroy The Source.  Can they make it through the night alive?

There are truly frightening images of ghosts, hangings, blood-filled rooms and slaughtered monks.  This book is not for the faint of heart.  However, it is a page-turner....I read it in one day!  And, as the first of a series, there will be more.