A review by booksandthebronxgirl
House of Stairs by William Sleator

4.0

Even though this was written in 1974, it kind of reads like a 1950's, early 60's, Manchurian Candidate type of style. I liked it a lot. Another great dystopian tale. 5 16 year old orphans, taken against their will, to a huge room that consists only of staircases that seem to run to nowhere. Each kid has a different personality, a'la' The Breakfast Club. There is no food or water in sight. They quickly find this weird machine on one of the landings, that dispenses food to them once they figure out what it wants and how to deliver. Little, tiny food pellets made of meat, which apparently no longer exists in the outside world. The Machine seems to really enjoy them turning on one another, and their basic personalities start to come through. It's a great psychological drama, very prescient. I will be thinking about it for a while...