The Screaming Staircase

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. What do you know about peoples’ views of ghosts in the 1800s, particularly in Victorian England? How might these viewpoints have been changing during the Industrial Revolution and the rise of the scientific discipline?

Teaching Suggestion: Although the novel takes place in the present, it draws on inspiration from Victorian era ghost stories, spirit photography, and the general fascination with the supernatural of the era. Students’ answers to this question can help you gauge both their interest level and knowledge of the subject. A discussion might follow which could help students make connections across their ideas and be aware of references to the era while reading. This question also serves to bring a sense of realism to the novel’s often-fantastical elements.

• “How Spirit Photography Made Heaven Literal” is a brief article exploring the purposes of Victorian era spirit photography as a source of comfort during a time of growing doubt in the possibility of the afterlife.
• “Meet Mr. Mumler” is a Smithsonian Magazine article on the inventor of spirit photography and includes several photographs of his work.