House of Stairs, with books?

April 14, 2025 5:12 AM

I am trying to find the name of a short story about a Borges-style infinite library. People find themselves in the library in various parts of it. There are many floors to the library, and some groups are climbing the stairs to find out if there is a top or a bottom to it. There's various scenes where people jump into the stairwell and fall for hundreds or maybe thousands of stories, and thus get separated from their friends, and start climbing back up. I think you can't die but can get hurt? There's a scene maybe where someone is trying to land on a particular floor?
posted by dmd to Media & Arts (4 answers total)

Best answer: That sounds like A Short Stay in Hell.
posted by boisterousBluebird at 5:46 AM on April 14 [6 favorites]

William Sleator had a short YA book also called House of Stairs with many similarities to this.
posted by nakedmolerats at 12:07 PM on April 14

Response by poster: (Thus the title of this question.)
posted by dmd at 4:36 PM on April 14 [1 favorite]

Are you sure you're not thinking of the actual Borges story "The Library of Babel" (pdf text, wiki summary)? The summary you have so far touches on many specific story elements.
posted by FatherDagon at 1:39 AM on April 15