What a unique horror novel. The entire time I was left feeling just an onslaught of dread. Never sure what was coming next. The couple twists I definitely did not see coming. I felt like it started dragging a bit towards the end but I still couldn’t put it down. I really enjoyed the end too. I especially appreciated that though none of the characters were especially likable (especially lore) they weren’t unlikeable enough to stop reading. Great book!

Woah this was so much darker and more unsettling than I expected but I loved it! The premise ended up being not at all how it seemed at the beginning. It turned into this like creepy backrooms horror game thing? Idk but it was great I flew through it

I will always read this author's work because I'll always be chasing the feeling I got from The Book of Accidents, which I loved so much. Unfortunately this one didn't quite do it for me. I was hoping the group of friends coming together in adulthood to battle dark supernatural forces would give me IT vibes but instead they were more like frenemies and gave me Mean Girl vibes, except not funny. Wendig is a very talented writer and and this had some great descriptions, but the story itself wasn't very enjoyable for me.

Loved this one. Part Coming of Age Horror and liminal spaces. Very dark, but amazing world building and characters.

Takes place over two time periods; the teen years of the 4 main characters when they originally find the staircase, and their adult years where they find it again. The characters were very flawed and didn’t love them all the time, but they were real. Lore in particular bothered me with her selfish narcissism. But she had tremendous growth throughout the story. The staircase and hellish house was a character as well. And might be one of my favorite antagonists in a story.

For fans of non traditional haunting stories, mystery and characters.

Really liked this book. It's different. I thought the characters were enjoyable and it was a food journey. I will be looking into other books by Wendig.

4.5 stars rounded up

I really enjoyed this one! This novel follows a found family fragmented after the disappearance of one of their members. Years later, they reunite when they discover one of them is dying of cancer. Reuniting dregs back up the past and they find themselves in trouble.

This was gruesome, dark story with themes of pain, loss, fear, and the importance of friendship. There are sensitive topics so read trigger warnings if needed. While I initially found the characters to be frustrating, they grew on me and I truly cared about them by the end. Wendig is a fantastic author who brings this surreal environment to life. I would liken this to a demented version of Piranesi.

Highly recommend to horror readers!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Worlds for access to this work. All opinions are my own.

So I finished this book a while ago but I have been having a hard time figuring out how to review and rate it. The longer I wait, the harder it’s getting because parts are finding away in my mind.

Five high school friends find a staircase in the woods while camping. Only four come out of the woods the next day. 20 years later, after the four friends have drifted apart, they come back together (sort of) to search for their missing friend.

I was drawn in right away by the premise and the beginning of the story. I was held by the suspense because I never knew what was coming. This book is atmospheric, creepy, and gory at times. It is also sad and claustrophobic. This is trauma horror and there are a few disturbing moments. However, the characters were frustratingly annoying. I get that the trauma plays a part in this, but it wasn’t just their immaturity. It was also how exaggerated they were with every aspect of their personalities. I also never really bought the story of how they became friends.

Chuck Wendig’s writing is truly what kept me reading this book. I really do love his writing style. But (and I hate saying this), the way the book is put together feels clunky. I usually enjoy dual timelines, but sometimes the switch didn’t make sense to me. Also, there are five characters in this book, but we get two POVs. And I for sure got confused. The last thing is that I wish the book was shorter. There were times when we got several pages of thoughts/musings of a character, but I didn’t feel like it aided in character development or moved the story along. In fact, it pulled me out of the story. In the end, I’m glad I read it! It was clever and very unique.

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the opportunity to read and review an early copy of this book!

Thank you to Netgalley and Del Rey for the e-ARC!

3.5 stars

This was a wild story with an interesting premise. I didn't know where it was going in the beginning and was surprised by the turn into a haunted house sort of book. I really liked how the characters learned and figured out how the house worked. And the descriptions were fantastic and generally, this was written really well. And the voices for the characters were distinct and fun and overall this was a fun read.

For a long time throughout the story, I didn't care about any of the characters. They all start out being incredibly unlikeable, so it was hard to get into the book until maybe the 50-60% mark. I ended up empathizing with Owen, but never did with Lore. I actually didn't really like her at all. And I wish we got more of Hamish's perspective because his was very interesting, but he didn't get a lot of page time.

I also felt like the two page Trump rant Lore dumped onto Hamish randomly really just turned me off of her entirely. And she kept bringing it up. I totally agree with everything she was saying, but geez. And I hated generally that this book kept reminding me of Trump and Covid and how much America sucks over and over again. It added nothing to the plot. Again, totally agree with it all, but I like at least a little bit of escape when I read fiction.

The ending felt a bit rushed and confusing. By the time I reached the 85% mark, I had no idea how this story could possibly be tied up satisfyingly. And I didn't like the route it took. It felt a bit cheesy and too easy. And honestly, I wish we got like 3 more pages at the end about the final interaction of the book. It felt slightly unfinished.

All of that to say, I think this was a fun book that definitely kept me reading. The haunted house was fantastically done and the atmosphere was so horrific and haunting. And I did like how unique and well thought out the characters were. They definitely felt like real people with real trauma.

2.5⭐️

Sadly this was such a miss for me. I love portal style horror where our characters go into an ambiguous place. The premise of this book was really intriguing. For the most part the plot was fast paced and had interesting elements.

The characters though were so intolerable. I disliked every single one and struggled reading this because that we all so very annoying. I'm ok if some of them are annoying or morally gray but there is typically at least one redeeming trait. There was nothing redeeming for them 😭.

The horror of elements of this book was so hit and miss. They were mostly gross rather than scary.

Thank you NetGalley and Del Ray for this advanced reader copy my review is voluntarily my own.

Five high school friends bonded by trauma go on a camping trip in the middle of the woods, where they find a staircase to nowhere. One friend walks up, never to return...then the staircase vanishes. Twenty years later, the staircase has been seen again. The friends reunite to find their friend and themselves.

I really enjoyed this story of relationships, trauma, and acceptance. Full of emotional lows (really low) and highs, there was something I could relate to with each character's lived experience. I could not put this book down as it continued to take me on a rollercoaster of self-discovery. As always, I loved the nods to other Wendig stories, some of which make me excited for future possibilities.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a review copy.

The Staircase in the Woods is based on both a real phenomenon and a nightmarish concept. It's also a love letter to enduring friendships. Although I can't say I loved any of the characters, they all felt like people you might know, flaws and all. Without spoilers, this book has one of the most unique plot points I've encountered. At times the book dragged a bit and felt overly long, but it is a very solid read. 4.25 stars

This book was fast-paced, engaging, and scary - exactly what I hoped for! The existence of stairs in the wilderness has always been a creepy premise, and this author makes the most of it.

A group of old friends reconnect when they learn that one of their own has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Their once-close friendship has long since deteriorated as a result of what happened the last time they all entered the woods together…

This book is a genuinely scary exploration of the evil that can take place behind closed doors. My only complaint is that the dialogue between characters often felt like a perfectly rehearsed speech instead of how people would communicate. But I still had a lot of fun reading this, and I recommend this book for readers who enjoy horror, gaming, terrifying vignettes, and friendship…in all its beauty and pain.

This hit my horror sweet spot 🙌🏻 The setting of this story is truly unsettling and had me on the edge of my seat while reading. It’s not your typical haunted house story and at times had very “cosmic” horror vibes. Just the thought of being alone in this environment made me so full of dread.

The rooms are described in such vivid detail that I’m still seeing them even after finishing this book. The characters are majorly flawed and will drive you nuts but they feel real. They feel human and as such, they make poor decisions at times.

My only critique is that it felt a bit long. Especially towards the end. It took me out of the story a bit which really reduced the tension and scary vibes.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House/Del Rey, and Chuck Wendig for giving me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Review Copy

I LOVED this book. I loved it so hard that I don't know where to start. But...

It's character driven, which is so important to me. It's descriptive in the very best way. I could see all the characters and hear their voices. The story was so compelling and of course I figured it was a figment of the authors imagination. To find out in the Author's Note that it was based on truth blew me over! Today I will Googling it.

OK,I admit it. I've never read Chuck Wendig before. That ends with Staircase. Like my tbr isn't higher than the Staircase but I've added his books to my wishlist. So come on Amazon, do me a favor and drop some prices! Chuck Wendig is Stephen King good!

Do yourself a favor if you like character driven horror try this.

I am having trouble getting through the first few chapters. I’m eerily triggered by one of the character’s habit to nail bite and the graphic description to how bad his anxiety is where he feels he needs to constantly bite his nails is making me cringe nonstop…

I can see this book being really loved or really hated. I received the ARC months ago but I couldn't craft how I felt about what I read. But I still think about what I read in this story and I think it's a 5 star all over again. I Hear me out. This was my first Chuck Wendig book and I am surprised I haven't discovered this author sooner. The synopsis doesn't do this book justice on what it's truly about in my opinion. Chuck Wendig knows how to craft a creepy setting. From the beginning in the dark woods to the suffocating atmosphere of the house it all felt surreal and eerie. I was getting goosebumps reading each room each character entered. I was up at 2AM reading and kept staring at my door feeling isolated biting my nails. I love when a horror books gives me such a visceral reaction.

Now the reasons why I think someone would absolutely hate this book:

1. These characters are completely and totally unlikable. You will hate Owen, Lore (especially Lore), Hamish, and Nick from beginning to end. They are flawed individuals and you will judge every decision they make the entire reading experience. But in their constant bad decisions and flawed personalities there is a relatability. Whether you feel like you are a second choice to someone, have childhood trauma that hasn't been fully resolved, or feel like you are missing your childhood innocence. Chuck Wending takes each characters story and dials the trauma up to 100.

2. The scenes described in each room are horrific. From the first time you enter the home you are greeted with "THIS HOUSE HATES YOU" and it will show you that over and over again. This book is gory and doesn't hold back. It you are sensitive to some subjects I would reconsider reading this book. I don't want to spoil this book but it is nightmare after nightmare and it feels as if there is no escape. It becomes long and drawn out in some sections almost to the point of exhaustion.

3. This book gives no explanation. You are left with no real ending and you will have more questions than you originally had. Was it Aliens? Hell? government agency? we will never know. I don't mind when a book leaves you to your own conclusions but I know some people want answers and this book won't give you that.

I wouldn't recommend this book to everyone but it was a perfect, well crafted horror for me. I think I will continue to think about the scenes and characters for a very long time. Thank you to NetGalley, Random House/Del Rey, and Chuck Wendig for giving me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

2.5 stars

i have mixed feelings about this book, cause the horror elements were really good but i didn’t like the characters whatsoever. we follow a group of friends: Owen, Lore, Hamish, Nick and Matty. a couple years ago, Matty went missing in the woods when the group found a random staircase that appeared out of nowhere. we learn more about each person and their relationships with each other and there’s a focus on complicated friendships. while i could see what the author was going for, i found every single one of them to be terrible people. so, because of that i didn’t really enjoy being in their heads. if i had to choose someone, I’d say Owen was the least irritating but Lore had the most common sense. i liked the direction the horror went in here with the house and the staircase towards the end. i really just wish i connected to everything more than i did though.

A horror book heavy on the trauma, The Staircase in the Woods is conceptually rich but I will admit it didn’t entirely work for me.

The premise of this book is unarguably cool. It’s fun when horror novels take real-life things and turn them into horror settings.

And what appears up the staircase is also very cool in concept. This is a mild spoiler, as it’s revealed about 20% of the way in, but what lies at the top of the staircase is a labyrinthine house with a seemingly infinite number of rooms, each with a disturbing scene unfolding sort of on repeat. This is also a very cool concept, kind of like that movie Thirteen Ghosts mixed with Cube in a way, but the scenes were just too much for me.

I like scary stuff. Ghosts in dark hallways. Monsters. I don’t mind violence, as long as it’s not graphic sexual violence or directed at children, and even then, if it’s implied or off the page, I can handle it but this was just one thing after another. The book is overly disturbing but is not scary. I was not creeped out at all, just grossed out.

Now, I’m not saying authors should sanitize their work or even in the context of this book these things didn’t have purpose, and neither would I even consider this in the realm of splatter horror … it’s just not the type of horror I enjoy reading. It does tie into the story, albeit in a heavy-handed way, as the main theme of the book is trauma, and all the characters are emotionally damaged in one way or another. I just didn’t like reading it.

Not only does every room in the house contain some sort of awful event (from suicide to gruesome murder), but you have lines in the book that were outright disturbing on top of that (some dealing with animals), which served to heighten the ick factor for me. No thanks.

If this had been the only aspect that I wasn’t into, I probably would have given the book 3.5 stars. Unfortunately, this book fell to a 2.5 stars for me because of the characters. I found them so annoying, and all of them were unlikable. They were all in their 40s, but they acted like they were in their early 20s or younger - in truth, they felt like YA characters dropped into an adult story. They are whiny, combative, too focused on stuff that happened in high school, talk like teenagers, and their reliance on the phrase “the covenant” to sway decisions was immature. It also was far too close to Stephen King’s “It” in set-up. You have this group of boys and one girl who bond together in school over hyperbolic bullies, and then thirty years later they come back together when one of them is dead (or, in this case, dying). In truth, I don’t think we needed the backstory info-dump chapters at all. Just give me some friends who come together and unveil their backstories as we go along.

The worst of them was Lore, whom I could not stand. She was so over-the-top about her views and opinions that she came across as a stereotype, and it felt like virtue-signaling. Do I share her political views? Yes, for the most part, but would I rail to my friend I hadn’t seen in twenty years about his? No, because that’s not an effective way to have a dialogue. If you watch White Lotus, season three has a much more interesting discussion about a friend’s changing politics that is more realistic to how adults actually act.

To wrap up, I’m sure this book has a readership, but it’s not me. I think it would have worked far better as a novella. Parse out the repetition, make the characters more likeable, and remove some of the over-the-top grossness, and I would probably have loved it.

This is a long and tough novel to read. There is lots of trauma for each of our main characters, both in their early lives and their adult lives. For the most part this book deals with the trauma of what happened in the woods their senior year, healing, mental illness, loneliness, childhood trauma, adult loneliness, the dissolution and subsequent reunion of group friendship, and a special kind of horror that starts at home. I found the idea of a nightmare world where a single, endless house with seemingly infinite rooms that housed terrible, horrific crimes to be really unique and fascinating. Home is supposed to be a place where you can relax and feel safe, but in this nightmare house, every kind of bad, evil deed you can think of has been committed. It's not a jumpscare kind of horror, or any kind of gory, grotesque horror, but more of an emotional, existential horror.

I didn't give this book 5 stars because of the characters. I didn't like most of them AT ALL and vehemently hated at least one. Owen was the only character I thought was decent. The others were a selfish, judgmental bitch, a Trump supporter and serial cheater, and an asshole who didn't care if he hurt his friend's feelings and never took anything seriously. They all rubbed me the wrong way, and I have to admit, despite their traumas, I didn't feel much sympathy for them. I appreciated that the book ended on a cliffhanger because I felt that was appropriate for the vibe of the book.

For the first third of this book, I was like, "I guess this is the worst Chuck Wendig book." And then, for the last two-thirds, I was like, "Oh no, this is the BEST Chuck Wendig book."

You've just got to wait until the horror starts.

And once it does – you get a genuinely gripping, heartbreaking, frightening, spooky, can't-put-it-down breathless book. This is clearly paying a huge homage to IT and, I think, STRANGER THINGS (which in turn, of course, pays homage to IT), but the weaving-together of these homages with the friendship theme, the house theme, the game design elements, the America theme (Chuck loves an America theme) – it all just really lands.