This is a twisted and dark, psychological mystery novel about 5 kids who went out to party one night and ended up finding a "Staircase in the Woods" (lol, a fitting title). One of the kids, Matty, climbs the staircase and is never seen again. Time jump to several years in the future, the 4 remaining friends reconnect and find a second staircase, they make the hard decision to risk everything, in hopes of finding Matty again.

I am giving this 3.5 stars, I didn't hate or love it, but it was intriguing enough to keep me going. There were some creepy/chilling moments that won't leave my brain. But I think this book is more focused on the psychological aspects, as far as, how far can we push these people until they break and will their bond of friendship hold through one of the scariest/ most bizarre moments of their life. This book is written like a movie in your head, which is great for anybody that can picture the scenes while reading. I was definitely getting Cabin in the Woods/ Monster House vibes while reading this, just kind of the "WTF is happening right now in this house".

I think the story seemed to drag on at some point during the middle of the book, where I wasn't as focused or interested in what was going on, but it picked up again. The ending felt a tad rushed, but I am satisfied with the story overall. I would (and will) recommend this to anyone looking to read something spooky and unsettling.

Big thanks to Random House/Del Rey and, of course, NetGalley for this reading opportunity.

A suspensful dark novel about a group of friends. and staricases in the woods. This deeply thrilling novel left me wanting more, but not after I had slowly staked my way through the 50% mark. Don`t get me wrong, when the halfwaymark passed I just needed to know where the story went, hence my three star rating.

The characters are pretty unlikable, so be prepared of the nagging feeling of always wanting to scream at the characters, but I do believe they needed to be that way to fulfil the story`s premise.

All in all a good mystery/suspense novel

2.5 stars, rounded up 'cause I'm feeling generous.

It's not me, Chuck Wendig. It's you. (It might be a little bit me.)

I just didn't enjoy this book very much. I didn't hate reading it, but I didn't enjoy it either. I was pretty excited about it because I love the original "staircase in the woods" creepypasta (look it up on r/nosleep if you're not familiar) but this didn't really have much to do with the staircase, and more with where it takes you.

I agree with the other reviewers who pointed out that the characters were unlikeable. There wasn't anyone to root for - I found Hamish the least abrasive, and Nick didn't have much of a personality to begin with. I don't know if this is a one-off or if Wendig just sucks at writing women, but Lore/Lauren was the worst of the lot, a caricature of a screeching feminist harpy prone to screeds of "I'm pansexual, polyamorous, aromantic, AuDHD..." (this is an actual line from the dialogue) and attacking the other characters for their voting records completely out of nowhere. (And I say this as a liberal/progressive voter and activist.) She reads as the prime example of an "I'm not like other girls" girl, simultaneously promiscuous and aloof, cool because she works in tech, yet unattachable. It's an odd, hamfisted portrayal of a woman that makes me wonder if Wendig's opinion of women never progressed much past ninth grade.

The constant swearing was also over the top, and I'm no prude. Curse words should be used to highlight or punctuate a point, and lose their punch when overused, and the frequency at which they're used in this book smacks of edgelord. Not my speed.

The book itself is some combination of haunted house/slasher/body horror with a meditation on the myriad ways in which people hurt one another. The horror aspect of it isn't bad if you're a fan of the slasher/body horror genre; I think I was looking for more spooky, less bloody given the source material. It's written very cinematically, which makes me wonder if Wendig is angling for a movie deal. It wouldn't be a bad film, if they can manage to make the characters more likable.

Thank you to Net Galley and Random House Worlds for this title.

QUOTE: This place hates you....

What a strange and eerie story in the same vein as SyFy's Channel Zero and reminiscent of the novel Mister Magic.

What ends would friends go to if one were in trouble? These friends created “the covenant” just for that reason. Matty, Owen, Hamish, Nick, and Lorn (short for Lauren) would do just about anything for one another, but after Matty goes missing, these friendships would be put through the ultimate test.

Fast forward, and the now estranged friends are brought together because one has cancer. Once again, they return to the woods where another staircase has appeared, and they have decided once and for all to try to find out what happened to Matty.

This would be more than a guilt trip about their lost friend, but a rehashing of all the trauma and insecurities they faced as teenagers. The bullying in school, the neglectful parents, and memories they’d rather have buried are returning.

Once up the staircase, they arrive at a strange house that is a type of hellscape where each room is a memory of some violent crime, or a place in time.

This is so more than just a demented horror story; it talks about trauma and how trauma is addressed, and we learn about how it all came to fruition. The origin story of Dan Harrow, the creator of Harrowstown (if you read the book, this makes sense), which was planned housing communities in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. Dan loves houses; he would sketch them, and he was particularly fond of the different styles of architecture.

In 1945, while at a bar, Dan meets Eddie Naberious, and Eddie plants a seed. Eddie knew that soldiers would be returning home from the war, and they would need houses. Eddie Naberious had money and government contract connections. So they began a partnership, and by 1947, the first neighborhood would be born.

The estranged friends are angry that they didn’t do more to save Matty, that they didn’t return to the woods to look for him, which would result in the friendships falling apart as they reached adulthood.

QUOTE: “Dreams curdling fast into nightmares, it’s here a house stops being where the heart is.”

This story also explores the origins of a house. A house is just a house until people make it a home by filling it with life, adding décor, and sharing the smells of great food, giving it their love, memories, experiences, and even their hate. A home can also be a place where terrible things happen, but it's always the first thing we miss when we're away from it. What's the strongest thing in a house?... Why the staircase (of course), its grandeur, its allure, draws you in.

This staircase is a demon, a haunted vessel that appears in the woods and lures people to its mystic. The home that follows the stairs takes the most twisted memories from each person and infuses them into the house, which is why everyone’s experiences aren’t the same; it’s why Lore, Hamish, Owen, and Nick all saw and felt something different.

Talk about one scary experience. This is a story about friendship, a story about getting lost, screwing up, but managing to find your way back to your friends. Bonds are unbreakable, and the relationships that people form will always pull them through anything, even a haunted staircase.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.

strong premise, but too repetitive starting around the middle of the book / didn't feel quite like a time jump. hard to root for any of the characters, sadly.

My Rating: 4*

What an intriguing, gritty mystery which starts down a supernatural and fantastical path with 4 friends coming back together after quite a few years. Though the summary starts by talking about 5 friends walking into the woods, we in fact start with only 4 who are haunted by what happened to their friend, Matty, when they were in high school.

Now, 20 years later, Nick pulls the friends together for one more group outing, but the staircase which took their friend has reappeared and they must right the wrong they feel they committed by not following Matty the first time up the stairs.

This group of friends seems to have fallen apart over the years, with each going their own way and trying to process the trauma in whatever way they could. Lore went to create video games even though she took an idea from Owen because he wasn't doing anything with it. Owen works a part time job and is barely holding himself together as he chews his fingernails until they are bleeding. Hamish seems to have done a 180* by getting married, having kids, and becoming a mortgage broker. And finally there’s Nick, who seems to have let the guilt of letting Matty go alone, spur him to hunt through forums and conversation threads to find the staircase again. This time, when the groups find the stairs, they will all follow after their friend and try to find a clue as to what happened 20 years ago.

It’s a great mystery read with some supernatural elements and trying to process some levels of trauma and mental issues. It has some classic horror vibes and the characters are a bit unlikeable which is a part I seemed to like.

I do like a horror story about childhood friends coming back together as adults and having to deal with not just the supernatural stuff, but also the very real traumas of their past along with the changes that inevitably come from growing up. I also love a haunted house book, and this book is one in what feels like a very literal sense whilst also not really being a haunted house book at all.

I found this a genuinely scary read and one that kept tension up pretty much consistently. The characters aren’t really all that likeable, but they feel damaged and complicated and real and I nearly always prefer interesting characters over likeable ones.

The book has a lot of body horror, which I keep saying is not for me but then I keep finding myself enjoying books that have it. There were definitely moments I had to read with no eye closed (don’t ask me why that makes it easier to read, it just does!!)

Because of the nature of the plot it did feel a little repetitive in places, and the scenes in between the tension actually felt a little ‘empty’ at times. It gave you a moment to catch your breath but that moment went on just a little too long, and that made some of the pacing feel a little off.

I have not read anything from Chuck Wendig before and I was pleased to discover I really do like his writing style. I can’t wait to read more by him soon.

What a read - what a read!
Thankfully the author summarized the themes at the end - I got them right! LOL!
What a writer! Excellent representation of a queer, poly woman calling out her friend who voted for that guy. Lore's rage and expression of the political climate - YES YES YES!
I loved the theme of friendship and showing up for each other - even years, years later. Just such a well done you had no idea I was battling these issues when we were kids but that's ok. Closure. Reconnection. Forgiving your previous self.
Doing better.
Just excellent read!

Content warnings are important for this one: self-harm, suicidal ideation, domestic violence, drug abuse, child abuse, sexual abuse, rape, bullying, etc. – it’s incredibly dark.

In this thoroughly original take on the haunted house novel, Chuck Wendig takes us into the woods on a weekend in 1998, where five teenage friends, bound together by an oath to protect one another, are surprised to find a staircase standing alone in the clearing where they plan to camp. On a whim, one of them goes up the staircase… And by morning, the staircase is gone, and only four teenagers walk out of the woods. Now, twenty years later, the staircase has reappeared, and it’s time to reclaim the friend that was lost.

The Staircase in the Woods features a familiar horror trope – a group of friends reuniting in adulthood to confront something menacing from their youth – but this is Chuck Wendig, so the book is anything but ordinary or derivative. He takes the idea of a haunted house and frames it as a place where the ghosts are actually remnants of trauma, so it’s heart-wrenching as well as frightening. There are some scary moments, but even beyond those specific scenes, the entire vibe of the book is unsettling and liminal. It feels immersive and immediate; we are right there with the characters, not sure what’s going on and what will happen next. This is existential, psychological horror at its finest.

I have to confess that trauma horror, which this book also very much is, isn’t my favorite subgenre, but Wendig navigates the murky depths of his characters’ trauma with deeply-felt emotion and sensitivity. All five central characters are developed well, quirky and interesting and easy to empathize with even if they aren’t all very likable. I did struggle, though, to believe in the bond among them; the flashbacks didn’t give me quite enough. I also felt like the book lost its way a bit in the middle act, retreading some already traveled ground, but the first and last acts are stellar and make up for that.

Horror doesn’t usually serve as a meditation on the power of friendship and the difficult, worthy work of recovering from trauma, so I really appreciated that The Staircase in the Woods works to do that. Wendig is a great storyteller, and I love (and am frankly a bit scared of) the way his mind works. Thank you to Del Rey for the early reading opportunity.

This one was not for me. There are a lot of different plots going on with characters that felt half developed. The story is too long, making everything feel disjointed and sporadic.

For a little context: I'm familiar with (and enjoy) Chuck Wendig's social media presence, but this is the first book of his I've read. Also, I read (and watch) very, very little horror.

That being said, The Staircase in the Woods was fine; I didn't love it, nor did I hate it. I was frequently reminded of both Stephen King (I've noticed several reviewers compare this book to IT, which is one I never got around to reading) and the TV show Supernatural. I'm sure this will be too dark/gruesome/gory for plenty of readers, and I did have to skim several of the more descriptive scenes. But I found it to be humorous enough to balance things out.

A group of former high school friends revisit a mysterious staircase in the woods that has suddenly reappeared decades after one of them went missing. With nods to Stephen King's IT, Chuck Wendig spins a tale of psychological horror told between two alternating timelines – the past and the present – as the group enters a seemingly haunted house to discover what may have happened to their friend years ago.

This was an engrossing book with quick, short chapters that kept the story humming along, although it’s a bit of a slow burn overall. My major complaints with the book were the unlikeable protagonists and the general repetition of the unconventional plot devices overall. Wendig also hits you over the head with the thematic concepts of his abstract horror that are both emotional and subjective – there is little room for subtlety here.

Overall, this comes recommended for those that appreciate thrillers with a psychoanalytical angle that explore relationships and trauma. A very special thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy.

Twenty years ago five teens discover a mysterious free-standing staircase in the woods while camping. One of them goes up and never comes back down, disappearing without a trace along with the staircase.

Now the remaining four friends reassemble, called together by a decades old covenant promising to always protect one another. The staircase has reappeared and it's their turn to go up and find out what's waiting on the other side.

I'm a Chunk Wendig fan and have read a number of his novels. I think he's a masterful horror writer. That said, The Staircase in the Woods is not my favorite of his catalog. Though I appreciated it overall I had a bit of an uneven reading experience. I love the premise of this story and quite enjoyed the first third of the book, I thought the final third of was strong and really improved my overall estimation. Unfortunately the middle third of this book was sort of a drag for me. I understood the point and purpose and there's some good horror writing in there, so certainly not a complete waste, but it felt to me like the wheels were spinning for a little bit.

Excellent premise and masterful horror writing aside, what really captivated me were the deeper and horrifically relevant themes Wendig explores through this story: the forces working to divide us and the remedy connections offers. His ability to tell a good story with deeper roots is exactly why I'm a fan.

I'd been curious about Chuck Wendig's novels for several years before reading this. Even though I'd never read any of his fiction, I had read a few of his nonfiction books for writers and I loved them all.

I'm glad I finally got around to his fiction and I'm especially glad I did it by reading 'The Staircase in the Woods.'

If you've read the publisher's description of the book, then you already know that the story within it has a very unique plot. As soon as I saw that the story was about a mysterious staircase in the woods which someone had climbed many years ago and then suddenly disappeared - well, I knew right away that I wanted to read this book.

The story is very clever and very compelling. It's also downright creepy at times. I mean that in a very complimentary way, though.

I normally read mysteries and thrillers, so 'The Staircase in the Woods' was quite different that what I'm normally used to. I'm happy to say, though, that I enjoyed it a lot.

Chuck Wendig is a very talented writer and I think he did a fantastic job on this. I'll definitely read more of his fiction in the future.

NOTE: I received an advanced reading copy of this book from the publisher.

Big thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the chance to review this book pre-release. This was my first book by Mr. Wendig, but now I just have to read his backlog of other horror books because WOW. I loved this one. The premise was unique, I liked the characters we followed, and the horror was top NOTCH. I was genuinely uncomfortable numerous times. A more formal review will be available on my IG/TikTok and Goodreads for release.

Unfortunately, I only got through 13% of this book before deciding I couldn’t take it anymore and decided to DNF (so I can’t give a star rating, but had to in order to submit my review, so I gave it a one star). I’m very bummed about that because I think the title of this book is so intriguing and it really could have been a great book. However, I had never read anything from this author before and I think the writing style just is not for me. There was a lot of overly descriptive writing and that just isn’t my jam. In addition, there was a lot of foul language and for me that just ended up being distracting. The thing that really turned me off though was that there is a strong political agenda to this book and I just do not care for that in my fiction books. Had I known that I never would have requested an ARC of this book. Now I know moving forward that this author just is not for me, and that’s ok! I learned something that I can use moving forward.

In The Staircase in the woods, yet again, Chuck Wendig dishes out horror that examines the tensions and complexities of our lives with much panache and wit. Superb work!

Lore, Hamish, Nick and Owen haven’t seen each other in person for eleven years. They are, unexpectedly, summoned by Nick for one final meeting as he invokes the Covenant, paying for each one of them to fly to him for a celebration of his life - Nick is dying of cancer.

Eleven years ago, they were a close-knit group of five teenagers - each sixteen or seventeen years old, all of them soon to be seniors at Central Bucks North High School until a trip into the woods - seeking refuge from a world that didn’t seem to care very much about them - doesn’t go quite as planned. Within those dark, shadowy trees something supernatural happens when they find a mysterious staircase - one that seems to lead nowhere; the events that follow will irrevocably alter the trajectory of their lives.

The shared trauma leaves them all scarred, with the exception of Matty, who simply disappeared that nightmarish weekend. What happened in the woods? What happened to Matty?

Wendig carefully introduces this motley crew, each battling their own demons: Owen is an anxious wreck finds tranquility in the world of a second-hand bookshop, Hamish has reinvented himself in such a way that none of his friends recognise him anymore, Lore is a successful openly pansexual game designer. They are all still coming to terms with what happened to Matty that weekend, still haunted by unanswered questions. How could someone simply vanish like that? They are collected by a chauffeur in a Cadillac Escalade who takes them to meet Nick. And Nick, in turn, takes them back to the staircase in the woods. They have no choice but to confront their past.

The Staircase in the Woods explores the meaning of friendship, home, and family within Wendig’s expertly reconstructed take on the classic haunted house horror trope. “Friendship, like a house, can go bad, too. That air that you share? Goes sour. Dry rot here, black mould there, and if you don’t remediate, it just grows and grows. […] And then the place just […] sits there, abandoned. […] In the deepest dark of a house, of a home, hate and pain and suffering can fester. All that effervescent rage. All that crushing despair. Flourishing, festering.”

Wendig crafts a spine-tingling psychological labyrinth of rooms, each exposing dark subject matters and eliciting fear, terror and disgust. It has all the existential dread, gore, and supernatural entities that you wish for in a horror novel.

“Home is where the hurt is…”. This is horror like no other; Wendig conjures up a truly abominable stairway-to-hell house, and I am so glad I stepped into it. This is a book I will likely be re-reading over many Halloweens and Christmases to come.

Thanks to Del Rey and Random House Worlds, and Netgalley for the arc.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Worlds for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I needed like a full day to process this book after I finished it because my mind was truly blown. I absolutely loved The Book of Accidents so I had very high expectations going into this, and it’s safe to say that they were exceeded. The sheer amount of creativity that went into this book while also having strong characters, a strong plot, AND maintaining a level of horror throughout? MIND BLOWING 🤯
This book is The Spite House meets Cabin in the Woods meets Dark Matter. The only thing I can complain about is that I turned the last page without realizing it was the last page and screamed BUT WAS IT MATTY? The cliffhanger is killing me, but only because I WANT MORE. Song pairing is True Friends by Bring Me the Horizon, because THE COVENANT 🌳🏠🚪

PUB DAY: APRIL 28TH 2025 🥳

The Staircase in the Woods is a book about teenagers and their bonds 20 years later. Teenagers, whose lives are twisty and messed up, except with each other, and who have a pact to always have each others' backs. They go into the woods one night and find a staircase leading nowhere. One of them, Matty, goes up it, and both he and the staircase disappear. Some 20 years later, the friends reunite at a staircase in the woods and seek to find him.
What they find is the epitome of horror, in that it is also rooted in the absolute worst of reality. The haunted house the friends are in is terrifying, and only gets worse when you realize that the scariest parts already live deep within us. The trauma humans endure and hide from the world is shocking.
Apparently staircases in the woods are a real thing. If I ever see one, you can rest assured that I will be turning right the eff back around and getting away from it as quickly as possible.

4.5

This was cozy like when you finally see friends again yet so incredibly claustrophobic and psychologically terrifying….it was incredible. The slower/medium pacing and the open ended ending are what bring it down for me personally but overall spectacular