The Night Stairs

The Night Stairs by Erin Kelly is a gothic psychological thriller set inside an elite convent boarding school, where faith, fear and reputation sit side by side. When a string of schoolgirls begin fainting without warning at St Cordula’s, Deputy Head Fiona Fox is already under pressure to modernise the crumbling institution—and the timing feels anything but random.

A long-guarded legend clings to the chapel staircase: a fifteenth-century nun’s warning, repainted each year to keep the school safe. The words were once allowed to fade, and a tragedy followed. Now the vertigo has returned, and Fiona must contain the panic before it destroys the school’s future—or costs another life.

Tense, atmospheric and sharp on the politics of belonging, this is perfect for readers who devour dark academia, boarding school mysteries, and twisty suspense with female friendships at its core.

Step into St Cordula’s and see what’s been waiting on the stairs.