There are many aspects of this book I cannot stop thinking about. First, the premise. The fact that staircases simply exist in the wild is amazing, and I have seen remnants of them from houses that no longer stand. The author's use of the staircase is amazing. Second, the horror elements and shifting spaces of the house are brilliant. Third, the growth and deterioration of friendships is a great theme to follow through the book. Throughout the book, the author reminds the reader that the living friends were misfits in high school, and I needed this reminder because I kept situating them with Matty (popular, wealthy, talented, etc.). This is my first Wendig read, and I will definitely be reading more.

I already knew that I should never cross bridges to nowhere or abandoned huts in the middle of the woods and now I can add staircases and never going up them or I too might find myself in some nightmare dimension (or is it all in their heads?)! Chuck Wendig definitely has the talent for writing extremely disturbing yet fascinating horror stories! Though along with the horror, this book has a good message about friendships and how they can be strong, if people put in the effort, or how they can erode and grow twisted or even break completely but always there can be a chance to mend old wrongs. And so I enjoyed (and sometimes cringed at the horror bits, which were awful but had good reasons) traveling up the staircase (something I would never ever do!) to save Mattie and maybe themselves for a better future than where they were. This book definitely did not go the way I would thought but the ending was nicely satisfactory while still being unsettling.

I have enjoyed all the books this author has written and hope to be able to read more! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this awesomely horrorific book!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a gifted ARC of this novel!

This novel is a fabulously atmospheric read. Told from multiple POVs with dual timelines, readers get a great sense as to who the MCs are and what their motivations may be. Although I would believe that this novel is better classified as horror, there were definitely some surprising elements within that are reminiscent of a thriller novel. While reading, I was invested from the first page, which has one of the best “hooks” I’ve seen to date. I will say, however, that the pacing did seem to slow down a bit right after, picking back up about 30% in. Once that happens, however, I found myself reading this one quite quickly. Because of this, I would overall classify the novel as a bit of a slow burn. However, I do believe that it is definitely worth the read, especially if you enjoy horror novels!

This is the kind of horror that I enjoy. It is about a group of high school friends (Nick, Matty, Owen, Hamish and Lore) who are very close and one day they go camping and come across a staircase in the middle of the woods. Naturally they get curious about them and Matty goes up the staircase and is never seen again.

Fast forward 20 years and we learn that the friends drifted apart. One day they all get an email from Nick saying that they need to reunite and of course they do. Once they have reunited they realize the real reason Nick wanted them all to come together, which is to find out what truly happened to Matty. To their horror, they see that the staircase has reappeared and they have to decide if they go up there knowing what could happen or if they ignore the stairs.

Curiosity gets the better of them and they decide to go up the stairs and this is where they start to learn of all the things that Matty went through as they are transported into something very haunting. As the story progresses we learn about what each friend went through in their adolescence and how it ties in to where they ended up. There was abuse, self harm, suicidal tendencies, feelings of loneliness.
Together they have to work together to get out of this place and to try to find out what happened to Matty.
Overall I really enjoyed the story. I really enjoy books with friends that go through something together and then as time passes they must reunite to confront the situation. There were some moments that were very creepy and scary!

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Worlds/Del Rey. All opinions are my own.

While I thought this book started off a bit on the slower side, I was soon utterly involved in the story and unable to put it down until I turned the last page.
The vibes were perfectly creepy; a staircase in the woods, standing alone, is spooky enough without adding anything else. But when you take in that one of the members of our group went up, and somehow with nowhere else to go but down, didn't. He disappeared, but many years later, they are back and trying to find him.

I didn't really like any of the characters when we first met them, but over the course of the story, they grew on me more and more. The horror is more slow burn with creepy things coming out of nowhere, and a mystery of what happened with Matty, and if they find him, what condition will he be in?

I had a great time with this one, and I can't wait to see what Chuck Wendig is going to come out with next.

4.75 stars! I received an arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This was absolutely brilliant. It read like a cozy horror pop-up book and I couldn’t get enough!

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

This is my first Chuck Wendig book and I was very excited to read it. I enjoyed the dual timelines for the most part, but there wasn't much distinction between them so I did have to reread some portions once I realized it was the past POV.

I really liked how dark this was, and how visceral the descriptions were once they ascended the staircase. I did think I had the ending figured out a few times only to be pleasantly surprised. I did think a few political conversations felt very shoehorned and unnatural given the situation they friends found themselves in. That is...if you can even call them friends. The pacing also felt slow because many things were repeated, but given the setting I can understand why. I also hated that all the characters felt so unintelligent even though it was stated how smart some of them were. Overall, I rounded up to 3 from 2.5 stars.

I'm the problem - it's me. I have always wanted to like Wendig. He's hilarious and seems like a great guy. But I can't seem to get into his books despite trying repeatedly.

3.75⭐️
The staircase in the woods had a little bit of a slow start but the middle of this book more than made up for it!
Once it got going I was completely engrossed and could not put it down!
I loved all the video game references, the spooky vibes, the creepy house and the suspense.
It definitely gave me that feeling of needing to check under my bed before I went to sleep 🫣
It was actually a very disturbing reflection on humanity at its core.
I wasn’t completely satisfied with the ending, I REALLY am just a reader who loves closure and it was left a bit too open ended for me but I still really enjoyed it!

1⭐️ Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Worlds for an advanced copy of The Staircase In The Woods.

In the 1990s five friends are on a camping trip when a mysterious staircase appears in the woods. One of them goes up the stairs and never comes back down. Years later the group receives an email from one of them saying that he has cancer and wants to see everyone before he dies. They all travel to see him and he requests another camping trip.

This book was so weird and way too hard to follow. I did not like any of the characters and the plot made no sense. I was not a fan.

Chuck Wendig, a master weaver of nightmares, invites you to descend The Staircase in the Woods, a novel that burrows deep into the marrow of dread and emerges with a story that will haunt your dreams long after you've turned the final, chilling page. This isn't just a book; it's an experience, a descent into the unsettling heart of the unknown.

Wendig crafts a world where the familiar becomes terrifying, where the rustling of leaves and the creak of ancient wood hint at something far more sinister than the natural world. He lures you in with his signature blend of darkly lyrical prose and a creeping sense of unease, then plunges you into a mystery that twists and turns like the gnarled branches of the haunted forest itself.

The Staircase in the Woods is a symphony of shadows, a haunting and unforgettable journey into the heart of fear. Wendig's ability to conjure a palpable atmosphere of dread, combined with his talent for creating characters that are both deeply human and profoundly vulnerable, makes this an absolute must-read for anyone who craves a story that will linger in the darkest corners of their mind. Prepare to be captivated, disturbed, and utterly enthralled.

This was a little slow at the beginning but the more I read the more I wanted to see what would happen. I enjoyed the book overall.

I tend to enjoy this author's storytelling so I was pleased to find myself sucked in from the first chapter. I like his characters who always feel like real people.

Compared to his last several releases, I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as his previous books but it was still a solid read.

If you have enjoyed his previous books or are looking at a place to start with this author, I would certainly recommend this one.

Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

*3.5 Star. A very unique and interesting story in horror/thriller genre. I really the story progression and getting to know this quirky and messy friend ground. I really liked the horror elements in the house and the author was very successful in writing really creepy body horror. The evolving and ever changing horror house was so cool and I liked that it was similar to a labyrinth with unknown elements. A few things I didn’t like was the dialogue style that the characters had, it felt very childish and not what I expected from almost 30 year olds. This didn’t pull me out of the story too much but there were a few odd choices. I also really didn’t love the ending, everything was wrapped up until the last chapter. I wanted another few chapters to really finish off the last loose end. I don’t love ambiguous endings unless they are done well, and this one was just lazy.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Worlds for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. “The Staircase in the Woods” will be published April 29, 2025.

This was honestly a nail biter of a horror story (pun intended, you will get that after you read about one of the main characters). I thought that it was nicely set up, Wendig did a good job of staying firmly in the past until he jumped forward again to the present, and the explanation behind the staircase was a scary and sad one all put together. I also give 2 thumbs up for the ending. I think we all know how this is going to end, but I liked that we were not shown it. I rather imagine it myself.

“The Staircase in the Woods” follows four former friends, Lore, Owen, Hamish, and Nick. The four of them have pretty much settled in their lives, if you can call it that until one day Lore calls Owen and tells him their friend Nick is dying of cancer. Nick just asks his four friends for one last get together. The four friends meet up eventually and confront the last time they were in the woods and the staircase they found that changed their lives forever.

The book mostly jumps back and forth between Owen and Lore, and then you get a few POVs via Hamish. I think that was smart since you understand that Owen and Lore have a lot of things left unsaid since the night in the woods and the things that came after. All four of the characters are messed up in their own way. I thought Wendig captured the mood of living in a small town and doing whatever you can to get out of it. He also captured the mood of teens being the misfits in the school and growing closer together.

I do think that the book at first feels a bit slow, but that’s really temporary. Once the plot kicks in, things go really fast and get scary. You don’t know how this ends and you worry about what it all means until things get revealed.

I did like the setting of this book. It was very much a puzzle and though there is a bit too much info dump on the staircase and how it came to be, it didn’t bother me at all. I liked learning about it.

The ending was bittersweet, heavy on the bitter.

What would you do if you saw a staircase in the middle of the woods? Would you go up it?
What if years prior, you lost a friend from the same scenario?
Yeah, I think I'd pass. Especially after learning what those stairs lead to . . . a true nightmare.

Horror isn't a genre I read much, which funny enough, is what I wrote in my last review from this author. But The Book of Accidents creeped me out (in a good way), to want me to come back for more. And this one really delivered. While it is pure fiction and unlikely to ever happen, the storyline the author created terrified me. Trapped in a murder house, with no clear way to escape.

In 1998, five friends - Nick, Own, Hamish, Lore and Matty - entered the woods for a camping trip, encounting the mysterious set of stairs. Only four of those friends "escape".
In the present, those four friends return under the guise of a last hurrah for their friend Nick. Once again, the stairs appear, only this time, all 4 go up them, plunging them into a nightmare situation.

Every room in this house has something disturbing about it. Whether it be a direct connection to one of the four, or just a gruesome murder scene, the house slowly messes with their heads. Given each of the four has their weaknesses, it slowly begins to threaten their sanity.
If that wasn't bad enough, there is no clear way to leave, the house almost feels like a maze.

So, why is the house doing this? That part is eventually explained, and I was impressed with the author's creativity in this, and at the same time, admired how these four try to overcome the odds.

Do they all survive? I can't say, but I loved the ending, which had a "WTF does that mean" feeling. Overall, an intense and harrowing read, perfect for any horror fan.

I usually like Chuck Wendig but this one was just not for me. Jumping around and no connection to the characters. I felt the story was just not doing it for me.

4 stars

This review was published in the Charleston Gazette-Mail, Saturday-Sunday, April 19-20, 2025.

THE STAIRCASE IN THE WOODS - Chuck Wendig, April 29, 2025, Del Ray, 400 pages.

“On Friday, June 5th, 1998, five teenagers went into the woods surrounding Highchair Rock in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

Only four of them came out.”

These five high school friends - Nick, Owen, Hamish, Lauren and Matty - were bound by an oath to protect each other. They go camping in the woods one crazy night and come across a staircase. In the woods. Just like the title says.

There’s no sign of any structure, past or present - just the staircase (and, according to the Internet, where I get all my information, for better or worse, people DO find these staircases from time to time. Really. Truly. I guess maybe that’s where Wendig got his inspiration?)

In what will come as no surprise to anyone who has teenagers or was a teenager, one of them goes up the staircase…and is never seen again.

Twenty years later, the remaining four have had virtually no contact. Lauren (now called “Lo”) is a very successful game designer, Owen is beset by trauma and is barely getting by, Hamish has changed dramatically since high school and is now living a comfortable suburban life, Nick is relatively unchanged and is still obsessed with Matty’s disappearance. And Not ck has found another staircase in the woods.

So he calls the group together again, to see if they can find Matty. Are they willing to go up the stairs? “That was the funny thing about a fear of the dark; you weren’t really afraid of it, but rather what lurked within it.”

After two decades apart, can they trust each other? What are they to each other? Is there any sliver of their oath left, or was that childhood nonsense?

“Friendship is like a house…you move into this place together. You find your own room there, and they find theirs, but there’s all this common space, all these shared spaces. And you each put into it all these things you love, all the things you are…And this friendship, this house, it’s a place of laughter and fun and togetherness, too. But there’s frustration sometimes…all the awful feelings, all that resentment, building up like carbon monoxide. Friendship, like a house, can go bad too.”

All five members of the group were damaged as children, all in different ways; this emerges as the story unfolds. Were the five drawn together? And then drawn to the staircase? There is some evidence that indicates this might be true.

It’s hard to review a book like this without giving away a major conceit. I’m going to err on the side of letting you discover the wonder/horror of the book yourself, but don’t take that to mean there aren’t a wealth of discussion topics within it; it’s just that you’ll want to read the book first, then discuss with a friend or on Goodreads, and you should read it, it’s a nice one.

There are some strong Stephen King vibes (especially IT, with the kids, then the reappearance as adults.). Gamers will enjoy this (I’m not one, though, so you don’t have to know or like anything about games.)

My only hope is that the end is not set up for a sequel. I’m fine with ambiguity and I think it’s fine to leave it that way.

This is a solid thriller from Wendig and if you REALLY needed someone to tell you not to climb a lonely staircase in the woods, this should serve as fair warning.

The Staircase in the Woods takes that image of a mysterious staircase in the woods that lives in stories passed along at campfires and in creepy pastas. What would happen if one climbed one of these staircases? Where would it lead?

This was a hard one for me to review because I was and am really intrigued by the concept. The problem for me was that I couldn’t connect with the characters, which were pretty unlikable and felt shallow. Once we reach the point in the story of what lies beyond the staircase I was more invested but found myself putting the book down again and again. We move between the past and present day for the about the first third of the novel and it threw off the flow taking away any tension. The house was intriguing and full of genuinely creepy imagery. but there is a point in the novel that just lists descriptions of the different rooms, rather than the characters experiencing those rooms, which again took away from the atmosphere and tension for me.

I do think the house as an exploration of the characters’ trauma was interesting and the concept itself is really good. I think people that already enjoy Chuck Wendig’s writing style may find this really enjoyable, it just wasn’t for me.

If you’re a fun of Chuck Wendig’s work and looking for something that’s a bit of It meets creepy pasta with haunted house vibes this might be for you.

Thank you very much to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

4.25 ⭐️

First and foremost this book did a great job of creeping me out and overall was spooky. I don’t say that very often because not many books actually creep me out. I thought the story was fantastic. And I think Wendig did a great job with the ending. I kept waiting to see if he was going to ruin the book with a cheesy ending but I don’t think he did. I think the explanation behind it was just ambiguous enough for it not to pull you out of the story, and the very ending (I mean the very very ending) was quite perfect.

Now, for the reasons why this is not getting a five stars: I had a really hard time believing these characters were my age (in their 40s). Granted, after reading the acknowledgments, I have come to realize that the author himself talks like he is still in his late teens early 20s, but all the characters in this book felt very immature. They talked like they were still in high school or early college. They expressed their feelings like they were still children. They dealt with each other like they were still young adults. It was extremely frustrating. About the only mature thing that they did were some of the decisions they made along the way with regards to not making the common “horror story”mistakes that usually get made. And because they were written so immaturely, this was a very uncomfortable mix between an adult and a YA book. Also, we only get the viewpoint of two of the four characters that dominate the story and I kept waiting for there to be a reason why but there wasn’t. That was a little frustrating because I would’ve loved to get into the mind of the other two. I think the ending could’ve still worked out if the author did a couple of chapters in the viewpoint of the other two characters.

Regardless, even with the things that I didn’t care for I couldn’t stop reading. The story was compelling enough, and the chapters were short enough that I felt like this book flew by.

There are a lot of trigger warnings for this book because this book deals with a lot of deep traumas that the characters have so please check for trigger warnings before reading.

I definitely would pick up another book by this author though and I would recommend this.

***Thank you NetGalley, Chuck Wendig, Del Rey for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. ***