Dangerous stairs fascinate Facebook

A popular Facebook group dedicated to dangerous staircases captures a fascination with the perilous geometry of descent. The more than 800,000 members of Death Stairs regularly share photos of stairs made from pipe fittings, glass, or slippery cement, with bonus points for hazards such as dark basements or rusting barbed wire: “The more peril in the surrounding space, the better,” The New York Times wrote.

Some lurk inside private homes, while others form part of tourist destinations such as a New Zealand cliff face and a Mexican pyramid. Stairs — and their allure — date back to prehistoric times, one expert wrote: “The staircase can be a treacherous as well as a beautiful siren, with many facets to its complex overt nature.”