There's a strong It vibe here when four friends revisit the scene of a horrific incident from their pasts in order to rescue another pal. There are tons of creepy moments, and an overall feeling of unease. This was my first Wendig, but it certainly won't be my last.

A really great book that is truly about adult friendship and how hard it is to maintain childhood friendships into adulthood and also how childhood trauma informs so much about who we become as adults. Also, by the way, this is horror so it's scary and gory as hell and I loved it.

I've been meaning to report that Chuck Wendig is an auto-buy author for me. The Staircase in the Woods is my 4th Wendig and, like the previous 3, I loved it.
His characters are always so well written. So real and relatable, from their thought processes to their dialogue to their emotions. Staircase is no exception.
Staircase felt like a nod to King's It, minus the clown, and way easier to digest. I inhaled it. We've got a group of childhood friends coming together as adults and reliving a past trauma they experienced together, attempting to right a wrong, and re-forging old bonds all while experiencing some scary shit.
I loved it. I also love the little easter eggs that connect previous books/characters. Read carefully, or you might miss them.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Worlds | Del Rey for the eARC!

Normally, I would try to write a bit of a punchy synopsis of this book in order to entice other Readers to pick it up, but I'm at a loss here. I've literally got nothing. While so many of my friends are loving this one, I'm finding myself yet again on Outlier Island, but not in a fun way.

I suppose it's at this point where I should add in the obligatory, 'this is purely my personal opinion', statement. If you enjoyed this book, I am really, really happy that you did. I'm not casting aspersions on this author, or their work. This story just absolutely, in no way, worked for me. There wasn't one single, solitary moment, where I was enjoying my time reading this. I struggled the whole way through. I didn't like the writing, the characters, the action; none of it. I pushed through because so many others were enjoying it, and I thought, it will turn around, it could get better. Sadly, for me, it never did.

I walk away, happy that it's over and that I can move on with the rest of my life. Honestly, I have nothing further to say. Let's all just forget this ever happened. Thank you, Del Rey, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I'm sorry this is the shortest, most blunt review I've ever written.

What a beautiful story about friendship, pain, and the power of our past. For some strange reason, when I was reading the summary of this, I thought this was going to be a boring book. But, this was a gripping read for me. It reminds me of The Cabin in the Woods and Hellraiser in some ways (I hope those who have read this book can see where I’m coming from with this because I know that the book is nothing like these movies but there’s something about the house and the changing rooms that remind me specifically of the Cabin in the Woods??? I don’t know!!) I love how this was written to be honest with you! I’m kinda mad at myself for not reading this earlier but I definitely recommend this book to any horror, thriller, or mystery fans!

The Staircase in the Woods is a compelling read for fans of horror that delves into the human psyche. Wendig has crafted a tale that is as emotionally poignant as it is terrifying, leaving readers to ponder the true nature of fear and the enduring power of friendship. The novel's pacing allows tension to build gradually, and the atmosphere is thick with dread. Wendig's prose is sharp and evocative, drawing readers into a world where the line between reality and nightmare blurs.

This book was a rollercoaster. You could truly connect to the characters, a group of friends that did everything together. Until they didn’t. So you go on this adventure to find out what happened and if their relationships will ever be repaired. Great book with a great story line. And with all great stories I didn’t want it to end. The ending left me wondering and wanting more.
Thank you to NetGalley for another amazing read and Chuck Wendig for a great ride.

The Staircase in the Woods by Chuck Wendig is a Horror novel that thrilled me with every chapter.

This one was so creepy in the best possible way. It will captivate you from page one and will be so hard to put down because the nostalgia alongside all the terrifying moments won’t let you go. The dual point of views, past and present chapters will lead to a satisfying conclusion that will send those chills down your spine. I can’t recommend this one enough; only Chuck is able to terrify you this way.📚

Thank you so much to the publisher for the ARC!

When five high school friends find a mysterious staircase in the woods seemingly heading nowhere, their lives are forever changed when one of them climbs up and is never seen again. The reverberations of this one night ultimately end up driving a wedge into the friend group that seemingly will never be repaired. That is until one of the group gets everyone back together and they find a chance at redemption when they find yet another staircase. What happens when you take the leap and climb the stairs? Well that’s the central mystery of the novel. The premise of this book was pretty much all I needed to sell me on it. I love a dual timeline between high schoolers and adults, I love a friendship narrative, and I like unreliable/sometimes unlikable characters, and this had all of that. But it’s also a book featuring a cosmos of unrelenting darkness and I kind of think I expected it to be more, I guess fun. I really loved the concepts of the book- especially the duality of a home being a place where you fill with love and memories but what about the houses that bad people live in. That absorb all their hate and darkness, where does that energy go? That was such a cool well executed idea, but the rest of the book was just a lot of bleakness that I wasn’t totally ready for. I don’t think it was really my cup of tea but there are a lot of cool ideas and concepts in this that make it worth a read.

I'll post this review on my instagram @boozehoundbookclub

I have to give feedback in spurts for this one, so i will be editing this review.
As of 13% in, I cannot stand Wendig, and most likely will not pick up another from him.
This is my 3rd book from this author and his attempt at adding representation from trans and queer populations is embarrassing, insulting, and forced. Within the first 10% we see a queer woman go on an unnecessary political rant that does nothing for the story except portay her as unhinged. Her NB partner gets no actual backstory, except to be her sex partner to show her queerness.
If you’re going to add representation, then actually commit to giving people stories. Stop using them to make yourself appear to be an ally.
Also, the political rant is preaching to the choir. The way he goes about adding his views will NOT get ppl from the opposing views to continue reading his books. It WILL turn them off, and thus he is only ranting in a vacuum of ppl who agree with him. Pointless. (1 star)

21% in a flashback to 1998, he now goes on a rant about how we dont use the R word in daily language, as it is actually a harmful word. However, society didnt know it that early. It was still widely used. I actually looked this up, and 2010 would be when “Rosa’s law” passed. Look it up, i’m not in the mood to explain this further if you still believe Wendig isnt just virtue signaling and performative. If he wants to have that rant, im all for it, but for the sake of being a good writer, keep it in the correct time period. Or were your characters performative in 1998 as well? (1 star)

55% i am actually enjoying the story, as the unnecessary ranting has stopped since the first 2 instances mentioned above. I am at the point, I won’t fully give up on Wendig, if we can make it thru the reat at this pace. Plz plz have a satisfying second half. (Bumped up to 3 stars)

89% PvE is Player vs Environment not Player vs Enemy.. come on Wendig. You have a character dedicated (wait supposedly two characters) to game writing and you didnt even take the time to research BASIC gaming terminology? (Yes this irritates me extra because I am a gamer) back down to 1 star. I dont care how interesting the story is at this point. Wendig is a lazy writer. I said what I said.

Thank you to The Publisher and Netgalley for the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review, I read this and forgot to post my review due to some family illness, I was quite distracted dealing with that. I’d rate this around 3.5 Stars. This originally peaked my interest because of the famous story/stories of staircases on the woods and I was really excited to receive an E Arc, this was a layered story that really packed a punch emotionally while also delivering some interesting horror elements and a very immersive atmosphere of dread throughout. It explores themes of heavy emotional topics such as grief, loss, guilt, fear, anger, failure, self-loathing, dread etc. It’s the sort of horror that envelops you with its dread and its horror is real and emotional and seeps into you slowly, insidiously, much like the house itself. The pacing for me personally felt a bit slow and dragged a bit and started to feel repetitive in the middle portion (though I feel that was intentional, we start to feel like there truly is no end to this labyrinth, we feel a little like the house has driven us insane, much like the characters do, it makes the story feel very real.) The ending felt unresolved and left me wanting more to the story and for it to have finished in a more complete way. Ultimately I feel they could have benefited from taking out a chunk of the middle and adding more to the end, but I enjoyed the story and the characters overall so I’d say a 3.5 is where I’d rate this. Would recommend for horror fans who don’t mind a slowburn or want something more introspective and emotional with their horror. Or people who want to be so immersed that they feel like they’re going a bit insane with the characters and in the most horrifying way the story starts to feel real.

Another great read from Chuck Wendig. This story had a great plot, with great pacing, and of course, great characters. Can't wait to read the next book from Chuck Wendig. #TheStaircaseintheWoods #NetGalley

Thank you Chuck Wendig, Random House Worlds Publishing, and Netgalley for the ARC!

3.5 Stars Rounded Down

I've always been drawn to these "staircase in the woods" stories, particularly when I was making my rounds through reddit and other online spooky story forums back in the day. They rival "The Backrooms" now for an otherworldly portal to a never-ending house of horrors, but those of us who were DEEP in the lore remember those creepy photos (Not A.I. mind you!) of staircases leading to nowhere in the middle of the forest. It evoked that primal fight or flight of uncanny valley fear somehow. Plus, that coupled with a totally true story from a totally real park ranger about someone disappearing up those stairs, never to return- what you get is a pretty successfully creepy little tale!

All of that to say, I think it's cool that someone decided to make a full-fledged book out of this concept, but I'm not sure if it turned out the way I had hoped. For starters, it's very clearly a book meant for adults. There's very dark themes throughout and some of the horror and gore they encounter may not be for the squeamish. However, I couldn't get over how YA and Terminally Online the writing came across. The characters all met more or less as teenagers but I guess maybe when they're together they regress? All I know is that I found everyone so incredibly irritating! Lore, the titular girl character, annoyed me the most and its between her and Incel Owen that we switch POVs. Owen is actually okay-ish, but reading from Lore's POV is like scrolling through white leftist twitter. There was one point where the term "unalived" was used and I almost had to shut the book. They also spend so much time being horrible towards one another that I kept forgetting they were all friends at some point. I didn't even really get to experience that "power of friendship" feeling you get when you read books about old friends getting the band back together.

Despite all my qualms, I do think that Chuck Wendig took a relatively simple concept and made it really horrific and intriguing. Obviously, you'll have to end up showing what's at the top of the staircase if you write a whole book about it and I think the way Wendig layed out his house of horrors was pretty fun. I can now safely say I would probably avoid going up a random staircase in the woods at least.

Chuck Wendig has become an auto-buy author for me. His last several releases, Wayward, Wanderers, The Book of Accidents, and Black River Orchard have all been 4 or 5 star reads, and his latest release, The Staircase In The Woods, doesn’t disappoint. A group of former high school friends are lured back to the place where one of classmates disappeared years ago. During the days and weeks that follow, they will be confronted by traumas, memories, and current realities that will shake them to their core, and might be their only way to escape the house of horrors that they have stumbled into.

Chuck is telling stories today that feel like the 70’s and 80’s horror from Stephen King that I grew up on. Childhood friendships both tested and relied upon. Horrors that adults can’t comprehend and as such, cannot confront. And tension, both real and imagined, that propels the story at a brisk pace.

While this story is complex, with unreliable narrators and setting that at times feels endless, Chuck does a wonderful job of showing what is happening and keeping the reader engaged throughout the narrative.

Another great read from Chuck Wendig. Highly Recommened.

I loved this book! I always enjoy Chuck Wendig books and this one did not disappoint. I was creepy and enjoyed the dual timelines and the depth added to the story. The character were very well developed. The concept of the staircase was intriguing, and loved every second of it. It was unique take on a haunted house story. The group of friends all have a sad tragic past and grew to like each and one if them. Overall all i enjoyed it and would definitely recommend this!


Thank you NetGalley for the Ebook!

This review will be posted on Goodreads, Instagram, NetGalley, and BluesSky.
The review is live and can run indefinitely.
While the typos weren’t included in the official review, please consider checking Chapters 48-50, and Chapter 82 in comparison to the final print edition in order to omit these from future printing.

I would like to first say thank you to Chuck Wendig for writing this impeccably edge-of-the-seat gripping novel, and to the people at NetGalley for my ARC, even though this was a post-dated request.

While this has no particular relevance on the story, or the review, I find it interesting in all the books that I have read since COVID began, this is the first book I have read that specifically mentions it. Somehow this makes the story feel more realistic…more close to home. Wendig includes many modernity pop culture references and languages, and I can appreciate this in his writing because he doesn’t write it in the story as flutter or an attention grabber. It is just his unique writing tool used to connect to his readers in real time.

This is the first of Chuck Wendig’s works that I have read and it flows like dark poetry…warm and comforting in the only way that a true horror fan can explain. Overall it is refreshing to read a story with the presence of modernity.

Just under halfway the reader gets the feeling that this story is more terrifying because of everything that’s left unsaid or unexplained. That is until the characters leave the top of the staircase…Then the story becomes even more gripping, literally leaving its reader on the edge of their seat with each turn of the page until the final word.

I would classify this as a psychological horror. The staircase can even be used as a symbol for your deepest trauma and/or darkest fears. Choose your path to freedom from these trauma/fears, or live blissfully unaware in real-time while consistently ignoring them, unwilling to push through them into the healing you need.

Varied thoughts as I was reviewing this book:

*Grateful to Wendig for introduction to the band Coil. I used this as a playlist while reading this story.
*Nick’s character journey was the one who stood out the most for me. His strength, resilience, conquering fears, and mostly his unwavering dedication and loyalty to those he loved (friends and family) made me want to embrace him and protect him from monsters, past, present, and future.
*I absolutely could not stand Owen’s character because he was so creepily mirroring myself.
*”Show us all your pain, you soft, sad things.” My favorite quote throughout this story.
*Spider eggs and broken glass analogy was a chef’s kiss!
*Chapter 8 was immensely powerful. This needs to be read by every USA citizen, right now!

Lastly, I would encourage future readers to make sure they read the Acknowledgments and Final Words section at the end. It has the same power as Chapter 8, but moving in an equally, yet different emotional trajectory.

What would you do if you were out in the woods with your friends and came upon a staircase that went nowhere? Would you climb up and down it, or would you steer clear? If you answered the first question, I present to you Chuck Wendig's THE STAIRCASE IN THE WOODS. After finishing it, you most definitely will change your mind.

The one thing I will take away from THE STAIRCASE IN THE WOODS is that it freaked me out. It is the first book in at least a decade, if not more, where I was so creeped out that I couldn't sleep with my back facing out or any body part hanging out above my duvet. I had nightmares every single night I was reading it. If you measure how good a horror story is by how scared you are, then THE STAIRCASE IN THE WOODS ranks up there among the best.

I wish I could say more, but the entire premise of the story hinges on what, if anything, is at the top of those mysterious stairs. And to share that ruins not only the surprise but also the tone of the story. I didn't know what to expect, and I feel the story has a greater impact when you go in blind.

What I can say with confidence is that THE STAIRCASE IN THE WOODS is intense, beyond scary, gory, and yet very thoughtful. Mr. Wendig takes the reader on the same journey as his characters, so you also get the same opportunities to reflect on your past and on your definition of what constitutes a home versus an abode or house. It is unlike anything I have previously read, and it was so good that I eagerly look forward to whatever Mr. Wendig publishes next.

The characters were mostly unlikeable but I enjoyed the way the writing style portrayed them. They felt very real, flawed, and relatable. The story was engaging for the most part, although it did seem to drag at some points, and it did feel a bit too long. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the story, the mystery, and the suspense.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for this E-ARC

This was one of my favorite books of the year. My absolute roman empire moving forward. I loved how this book took a creative spin on the haunted house trope and provided a unique context to explore mental health, grief and trauma. If you enjoy cosmic horror, haunted house settings, grief horror, and explorations on mental health and trauma, you have got to pick this one up!

Look, I really enjoyed the story. It reminded me of Monster House, Thunderbolts*... and also Stranger Things in some aspects. So yeah, it was pretty good.

But... some conversations/social commentaries felt a little bit on the nose, like the author felt the need to put that on the story and spell it all out so everyone could understand without giving them time to reflect on the themes.

So maybe more show and less tell next time.