White, Ethel Lina: The Spiral Staircase

A chilling classic thriller from the 1930s in which a young woman is stalked about an isolated country house by a murderer "Astonishing and diabolical shock. . . Required reading" -- New York Herald Tribune The Summit--a mansion buried deep in the countryside, on the Welsh Borders. Somewhere outside, a murderer lurks in the darkness. Four young women have already been killed, and each murder has been closer to the house than the last. . . Now a storm is coming. Professor Warren decides to batten down the hatches for the night--no one may come in or go out until morning. But what if the killer is already inside? This atmospheric classic brought Ethel Lina White to the attention of the world and went on to be adapted for the screen three times (1946, 1961, 1975). A creepy, gothic thriller, this is another sensational rediscovery of the classic crime genre. The author, Ethel Lina White, was one of the best-known crime writers of the 1930s and 40s, ranking alongside greats of the Golden Age such as Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers. Many of her thrillers were adapted for film, most famously The Lady Vanishes (originally titled The Wheel Spins ) which became one of Alfred Hitchcock‘s greatest triumphs as a director.