House of Stairs

This was one hell of a book, wow!

I think I picked this up at a book sale or a thrift store a couple of years ago and just decided to grab it off my shelf the other day. I get why, now, it's a cult classic. Wow. This book is nuts and I loved it. I will forever think “stairs and beef jerky”.
First of all, teenagers in the late 70's and early 80's were badass. I already knew this from reading The Outsiders and every Kristy McNicol movie ever but damn. The five 16-year-olds trapped in the house of stairs are mini-adults. I can totally see Matt Dillon playing Oliver and C. Thomas Howell playing Peter in my head.
I was fascinated by everything Sleator WASN'T telling us: What was the world outside like? What the hell is up with Peter's “trances”?
This is a psychological study of 5 people who are thrown together in a giant space made of staircases, a flowing toilet, and a red machine that dispenses meat pellets-sometimes. Imagine if one of the teens had been vegetarian? Lol. It gets crazy. I found it to be borderline sinister because Sleator has this cut and dry, straight style of writing. The characters really reveal themselves via their actions. We are rarely in their heads.
This book brings up some very interesting questions. It also wraps up with a conclusion I didn't see coming. I wonder if it inspired The Maze Runner?
Now I must hunt down the rest of Sleator's works.