Lots of Lockwood Love – and some free printables!
I have a confession: I love the Lockwood & Co series (book 1: The Screaming Staircase, book 2 The Whispering Skull, book 3 The Hollow Boy; not pictured: book 4, The Creeping Shadow, and book 5 comes out in September).
Seriously love it.
I bought it during a recent Amazon Prime sale, where the first book, The Screaming Staircase, was one of the hourly deals. It had an interesting cover, was a YA book (I’m really into them lately), and it was a ghost-based book to boot. I said hmmmm, looks & sounds like fun, might as well try it, and if I don’t like it, I’ll donate it.
Oh, I liked it alright.
Here’s the description: “A sinister Problem has occurred in London: all nature of ghosts, haunts, spirits, and specters are appearing throughout the city, and they aren’t exactly friendly. Only young people have the psychic abilities required to see-and eradicate-these supernatural foes. Many different Psychic Detection Agencies have cropped up to handle the dangerous work, and they are in fierce competition for business. … In The Screaming Staircase, the plucky and talented Lucy Carlyle teams up with Anthony Lockwood, the charismatic leader of Lockwood & Co, a small agency that runs independent of any adult supervision. After an assignment leads to both a grisly discovery and a disastrous end, Lucy, Anthony, and their sarcastic colleague, George, are forced to take part in the perilous investigation of Combe Carey Hall, one of the most haunted houses in England. Will Lockwood & Co. survive the Hall’s legendary Screaming Staircase and Red Room to see another day?”
Here’s a pic I put on Instagram recently:
Before I’d even finished book 1, I ordered book 2, then book 3. I’m reading book 4 right now on my Kindle because I just could not wait…the paperback doesn’t come out until next month and, you know, gotta keep my set matching, ha.
I really love the characters, Lucy, Lockwood, and George, and I must say that the hauntings are actually really spooky – and I love that they’re scary not with gore or blood, but with pure old-fashioned good writing & the power of the unknown to scare us out of our wits. Could I ever be a psychic detective? Nope. No way, no how. Glad I’m an adult & don’t have to worry about it. ;)
But my absolute favorite part of the series so far? The skull!
That sarcastic skull has had me laughing so hard several times. One of my favorites: “Egg whisk.” That line had me in tears one night, laughing so hard I’m sure the neighbors thought I was nuttier than usual.
So when I fall hard for a bit of fiction, I just have to make fun things about it (Downton Polaroids, anyone?). It’s a compulsion.
And since it’s been ages since I created new “Keep Calm” printables for this blog…well, of course I had to create some for Locky & Co!
(Or is it Carlyle and Skull? Skull and Co? Heh.)
(I read that the movie rights have been bought for the series, and I will adore seeing these stories on the big screen. And: Funkos! I’m holding out hope for a Skull Funko…)
So in honor of my new favorite book series, my favorite plucky psychic detectives, and my favorite sarcastic, insulting skull-in-a-ghost-jar, I give you…two new Keep Calms:
One says, “Keep Calm and Follow the Fittes Manual” and the other says, naturally, “Keep Calm and Consult the Skull.”
Like my other Keep Calms, these are small prints, 3″ x 5″, so they won’t use *too* much ink to print. And they’ll easily fit into little frames you can pick up anywhere.
You can grab the set here: Keep Calm Printables - Lockwood & Co Edition 2017
If you’re a fan of the books, I hope you enjoy these & get a kick out of them! :)
