From Castle Rock to Castle View you can get there by three routes: by highway 117, by Pleasant Road, or by the Staircase of Suicides. Every day throughout the entire summer of 1974, twelve-year-old Gwendy Peterson climbed the staircase—built on sturdy iron bolts—and the path zigzagged down the steep sheer slope.
And then one day, when Gwendy reached the top, catching her breath and hearing children shouting on the playground, a stranger spoke to her. On a bench in the shade sat a man in black jeans, a black blazer, and a white shirt unbuttoned at the collar. On his head was a neat little black hat. Time will come, and this hat will haunt Gwendy in nightmares…