Sir Hugh Seymour Walpole (1884-1941) was a New Zealand-born English novelist, famous for his skill at scene setting and vivid plots. He was a best-selling author in the 1920s and 1930s and remains popular to this day.

The Staircase tells the story of a house. An old house, which has seen much and knows many things about the ways of humans. In this story the house feels compelled to intervene in the affairs of the inhabitants to prevent an impeding disaster by murdering one of the humans.