This book... sigh *heart eyes*.

I have been a HUGE fan of Chuck Wendig's for a few years now and there has never been a time where I have opened a book and not fully trusted him to deliver and blow me away. There are very few authors out there who I can point to and say "they are writing books that are entirely original" and Chuck Wendig is one of those gifted few.

I won't bother repeating the synopsis, as that's something that anyone can add to a review, but I want to outline the things that made me fall absolutely in love with this book.

1. The characters:
- Each character in this novel played their part in the overall storyline in a way that both diverged from and brought together the other characters create a believable and relatable ultimate friend group. There were overlapping characteristics about them, as well as histories they shared, but they were each wholly their own and I enjoyed getting to know each of them, flaws and strengths.
- Each of our characters had past traumas that they were dealing with that added so much to their storyline and growth throughout the novel. This book is a twisty turny type of book, but almost everything came back to them facing their internal nightmares and unrequited agonies.
- One of the characters, Owen, reveals early on that he has OCD. His OCD symptoms are very very similar to mine and it was refreshing to see OCD so openly betrayed as more than just "washing hands and alphabetizing."

2. The setting:
- I can't share too much about my thoughts on the setting for this book, but the creativity and innovation that went into creating the world within and around the staircase in the woods was profound. As someone who deeply resonates with what the staircase/house represents, this was an emotional and unsettling read for me in all the best ways.

3. The relevant commentary:
- I have seen a few people on Goodreads give this book a low rating because of one character's "woke rants and ideas." With all due annoyance, it is not the author's fault that they didn't look into him and his beliefs prior to reading this book. Chuck has been VERY open and loud about his left-leaning beliefs for years now. This is not new news that was revealed in this book. Asking an author to not put anything in their books that revolves around something(s) that is central to their morals and values is absolutely asinine and it absolutely had relevance to the story as a whole and the obstacles that Lore, specifically, faced within the "haunted house."

All this considered, I loved this book. I almost wanted to start it all over again from page 1 as soon as I finished reading it. It's smart, creative, disturbing, and wholly original and I will absolutely be thinking about this book for years to come.

A unique and harrowing haunted house story with a unique and terrifying spin.

Disclaimer: I read this as a tandem read with the audiobook and e-book. Thank you to NetGalley and the Penguin Random House audiobook influencer club for the free ARC copies. All opinions are my own. This is my honest and voluntary review.

In this book, we follow a group of "losers" who band together under the umbrella of "the covenant". They're all people that have different things going on their lives that are upsetting and difficult, but stick together under their shared love and friendship. Until one night they unexpectedly fracture and one of the friends disappears at the top of a random staircase in the woods. The fracture continues when the remaining friends are blamed by the community for the disappearance. This shadow follows them into adulthood until they band together once again to find the truth about what happened to their friend once and for all.

The overall feeling of this book is creepy and claustrophobic. You definitely feel the internal struggles of these friends as they live their lives and ultimately reunite. The revelations that come through the book are definitely more of a "slow burn" then an in your face assault. It allows the dread and haunting feel of this book to continuously build throughout the storyline. It was done really well. This book felt like a dread inducing puzzle that I was forced to figure out as I read it. And for my mind, that was absolutely fun and interesting and kept me involved in the story. You don't know who to trust and you don't know what's going on around the characters, but you definitely want to continue this decent into hell.

The audiobook narrators, for the most part, did well. There was a couple of parts at the end of the book where the female narrator's voice for certain characters bordered on ridiculous for me and did remove me from the story a little bit. I did find a male and female narrator's voices to be equal in temple and emotion and lead the air of dread to the novel overall. I never had to adjust my speed between narrators.

I did feel this book gave a nod to a couple of other horror books I have read in the past. Don't mistake with me saying they were similar, because they weren't, but they just had the same vibe and feel. The concept of a "losers club" is not a new thing. (If you know you know.) The concept of a fractured friendship into adulthood reuniting under the band of "forever friends" to overcome the evil in the end is also not new. While, I definitely felt the influence of Stephen King on this novel, it was still extremely unique and fresh.

Where the book lost it for me a little bit was the ending. I am not a fan of being left with an open end, only to have to figure it out for myself. Be aware that this is a very open ended story giving you time and the license to draw your own conclusions. If you're expecting a nice little bow on the end, you're not gonna get that here.

Overall, this was really well done and I did enjoy myself. I felt like the book ramped up the gore and the carnage as the story continued, and at the end honestly made me nauseous a few times. Which I do enjoy a good gorey story so that was fine for me.

⭐️ Adult Horror Fiction
⭐️ Dual Timeline/ Multi POV
🩸 Gore Level: 🧟‍♂️🧟‍♂️🧟‍♂️ descriptive body fluids, death, self
harm and gore
🎤 Narrator: Jay Myers, Amber Benson, Xe Sands
⏰ Audiobook: 13 hours 25 mins
‼️ Triggers: Extensive. SA, murder, child death, Child Abuse, drug use etc. check for full list if needed.

How can a story be both terrifying and cozy? Chuck Wendig achieves that unlikely combination with this Stephen King-esque horror novel about a group of friends who find a mysterious staircase in the woods and lose one of their own when he climbs it and disappears. Years later, the remaining friends reunite and find another staircase in the woods, and that’s when the story gets ultra creepy as they navigate a series of mysterious rooms.
I loved all the small human details stuffed into the narrative, the way each character was developed to be rather hard to like but easy to care about. I think this book could have been quite a bit shorter- it got a little bogged down and repetitive in the middle and the central “thing” that tied the whole ordeal together was a little shaky in execution and premise, but overall I did enjoy being quite creeped out and invested in the fate of the group of friends.

This book wrecked me in the best way.

The Staircase in the Woods isn’t just a story—it’s a sensory overload, a dark meditation, and a sprawling tangle of emotions you’ll feel long after you’ve closed the last page. Chuck Wendig takes a strange and chilling idea—a staircase in the middle of nowhere—and builds a whole universe around it, brick by unsettling brick.

This wasn’t my personal favorite of Wendig’s books in terms of reading enjoyment, but oh wow… it was highly effectual. And for that? A solid, undeniable 5 stars.

The prose is so darkly atmospheric that I felt like I had to come up for air every few chapters. It's eerie. It's raw. And it’s full of moments that feel like they’ve crawled out of your own brain, whispered something existential in your ear, and vanished again.

At the heart of this chilling, thought-provoking tale is a complex character study. Owen, Nick, Lore, and Hamish aren’t just characters—they’re living, breathing contradictions. Their pain, longing, guilt, and memories ripple off the page. Whether it’s the sting of betrayal, the ache of losing a friend, or the slow burn of disillusionment, Wendig gets the messiness of adulthood—and he’s not afraid to let it haunt you.

There are gruesome moments that chilled me to the bone… and still I couldn’t look away.

This quote from Wendig says it all: “Sometimes a story finds an idea, and sometimes it's the reverse—here, the idea needs a story around it, just as a staircase needs a house to hold it.”

And that’s exactly what this is—a story built around a strange, unforgettable idea that becomes a vessel for something so much deeper: fear, friendship, disappointment, betrayal, growing up, and growing apart.

A powerful, eerie journey. And while it may not have been a "favorite," it’s unforgettable—and sometimes, that’s what makes a book truly brilliant.

“Home becomes another name for that place where monsters go to hide and do their terrible work.”

This was a very interesting and eerie concept for a story. Four friends find a staircase in the woods, one friend climbs the staircase and disappears. Years later the friends find another staircase and all climb the stairs to try to see if they can find there friend. They enter this weird haunted house and need to try to survive and escape it. I like a good haunted house story and this book delivered. I liked the conversations the author had about friendships, how they can come and go. There were a lot of good quotes in this book that I highlighted.

I liked this book, I thought the concept was interesting and unique. The friends in the story were all pretty flawed dealing with lot’s of childhood trauma. The house brought all their fears and trauma out and they had to deal with it head on.

The author mentions that staircases in woods is an actual thing and now it has me googling. Have you ever found a staircase in the woods? Would you climb it?

Thank you to Netgalley and DelRay Publishing for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Staircase in the Woods by Chuck Wendig completely pulled me in. On the surface, it’s a spooky, slow-burn mystery about a staircase that appears in the middle of a forest for no reason. But underneath that, it’s a powerful story about friendship, duty, and the weight of past trauma.

What really stuck with me were the characters. Their friendships felt so real—complicated, messy, and deep. They’re not just trying to survive some weird supernatural event; they’re also trying to hold each other together through it. I loved how their loyalty and care for each other gave the story real emotional weight.

There’s also this strong sense of duty throughout—characters doing the right thing even when it’s hard or terrifying. It added a sense of purpose to all the creepy stuff, making it more than just horror for horror’s sake.

And the trauma? It’s handled with a lot of care. Each character is carrying something heavy, and Wendig doesn’t shy away from showing how that pain shapes them. But he also shows how connection can help people heal, even if they’re still broken.

It’s eerie, emotional, and full of heart. Definitely one of my favorite reads this year.

Nick Lobell, Owen Zuikas, Lauren Banks, Hamish Moore and Matty Shiffman. The Rebel, The Nerd, The Jock, The Warrior, and The Lost; all just trying to survive high school and absent parents. They seek support from each other, forming a loyalty pact called the "Covenant" to be invoked at any time and obeyed without question. But they criticize, demean, and humiliate each other constantly. It's a small cast, so there's room for development, but they are shockingly two-dimensional. Their traumas are their whole personalities, and I found myself skimming over repetitious, lengthy inner monologues. Even the Covenant cannot make up for the incessant self-loathing, projection and immaturity.

Full transparency, I was initially going to give this one a 2.5/5. After muddling it over, I decided that the quality of the action and menacing, labyrinthian "House" that exists beyond the stairs outweighed my aversion to the characters. When the action gets underway, you can't put it down. I enjoyed the subtle nods to horror fans and the mild attempts to lighten the mood with pop culture references. The visions of violence the group encounters within the House are indescribably horrific, but not unbelievable. As the characters pass through its rooms, the House knows that reality is always more frightening than fiction. The amount of dialogue could've been cut in half to support this. Overall it's like a mix of Insidious, Cabin in the Woods, and As Above, So Below. This is my first Chuck Wendig book, and while it was disappointing, it hasn't deterred me. I'll still be reading The Book of Accidents next year!

📶 BOOK REVIEW (Thanks for the free audiobook @PRHAudio) 📶
THE STAIRCASE IN THE WOODS by Chuck Wendig
4.25/5 🌟
Pub date 📅 April 29th

THE STAIRCASE IN THE WOODS was an intense, spooky read. I was worried that the concept was too cool for execution, but Chuck Wendig did an amazing job. I feel like he was able to answer every question I had about the staircase and the characters, while still leaving room for mystery. I'm definitely picking up another one of his books.

The story follows a group of friends who find and mysterious staircase in the 90's. One of the friends goes up the stairs and goes missing, the stairs vanishing into the aether. The story jumps to present day, where the staircasehaa reappeared. Please read if you like the following:


💀 LitRPG meets 1408
💀 Characters that drive you insane, but grow and learn through the story
💀 Flashbaack fo childhood friendship
💀 "Where's the body? It was right here." 😱

Thank you to PRHaudio and Del Rey for the Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This review will be up on THE FANTASY INN blog shortly.

I was a little excited for this one but I found myself not connecting with the characters nor having the urge to really pick it back up. I struggled to get through the first five chapters. It just wasn’t holding my attention but I hope the author has success with it.

In 1998 five friends walk into the woods and only four walk out. When a random staircase appears in the woods one friend decides he’s going to be bold and climb it, and never comes back down. 20 years later the staircase returns and Nick, Owen, Hamish, and Lore reunite to find their lost friend.

This gave Stephen King vibes. I was hooked from the very beginning. The Staircase in the Woods was creepy and intense. This was not only a horror story, but a horror reality. There was so much deeper topics than what was surface level.

The Staircase in the woods will lead you down a rabbit hole. My first Chuck Wendig book and I will be back for more.

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Ray publishing for this ARC. This is an honest review.

Are you a fan of horror and the supernatural, blended with flawed characters? Then The Staircase in the Woods is a must read.

Many years ago, a group of five friends went camping in the woods but only four survived the trip. Years later, the remaining four meet up for the first time in years and unexpectedly embark on a horrific and other-worldly journey. Along the way, we get to discover the origins of their friendship, the breakdown of it and the possibility of the rebuild, all the while experiencing the graphic horror of the staircase in the woods. I am a huge fan of Stephen King and the author’s ability to put ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances is reminiscent of King’s work. I found myself cringing at some of the vivid descriptions of things as ordinary as nail biting. And make sure to read the author’s note at the end.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and Del Rey for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

One thing I know for sure- don't walk up a staircase that's alone in the middle of the woods. Twenty years after Matty did that and never came down, his four friends are back there and well, you can guess what happens. This has all the trope-y horror feels (maybe not all but the ones that work under the circumstances.). It would have benefited from another edit but it's a quick read despite its length. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. For Wendig's fans.

Chuck Wendig has worked his magic again with The Staircase in the Woods. Many years after losing one of their closest friends after climbing a staircase in the woods, they get together to hopefully find their lost friend and find out more about each other in the process. Where the staircase leads, will take them on a journey of pain, discovery, and unimaginable horror. Highly recommended for lovers of House of Leaves and The Handyman Method. Chuck Wendig is an automatic purchase for me, and this is no exception!

Chuck Wendig is one of my favorite authors I have read a few books by him and really enjoyed them. I am looking at you Wanderers! So, I was excited to jump into this beefy boy. I will start by saying this gave me Stranger Things vibes and angst. I loved the story line of four kids suffering a tragedy (no not the kids suffering I am not a monster) and how it impacted their adulthood and trying to make things right. I enjoyed how these kids got along in their younger years and how that evolved over time. And how they interacted in their older, not wiser, adult years. I do love me a dual timeline, see what makes them do the things they do and how their past did define them. Now, the vibe of the story is creepy, surreal, and just overall unsettling. I can’t give it away, but it will keep you hooked and guessing. The ending…A+. The characters were so unlikeable in their own way that sometimes I was rooting for the staircase (IYKYK). However this is a great goosebump thriller that is scary. I do recommend it!

And my thanks for the ARC copy received from the publisher through NetGalley my wonderful views, are my own!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for my honest opinion!

This was my first foray into Chuck Wendig and all I can say is WOW! I will for sure be reading anything and everything he has written and continues to write. Creepy, chilling, suspenseful, and yes, vaguely reminiscent of Stephen King's "It", this book is going to be a smash hit for 2025. There are truly so many things I loved about this book, even as I sat in disgust at some of the depicted violence and gore. Worth it? Absolutely! Horror readers, get ready to read your next favorite book!

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙧𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙄𝙣 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙒𝙤𝙤𝙙𝙨 🌲🌲🌲
ʎq: Chuck Wendig

⭐️⭐️⭐️.💫

𝘽𝙡𝙪𝙧𝙗: (from amaz0n) Five high school friends are bonded by an oath to protect one another no matter what.

Then, on a camping trip in the middle of the forest, they find something extraordinary: a mysterious staircase to nowhere.

One friend walks up—and never comes back down. Then the staircase disappears.

Twenty years later, the staircase has reappeared. Now the group returns to find the lost boy—and what lies beyond the staircase in the woods. . . .

𝙌𝙪𝙤𝙩𝙚: “He told her it was fine. He said it would be over soon. Lauren wasn't sure what that meant, not exactly, but somehow in those words she found the deepest lake of darkest comfort and she stopped struggling, instead choosing to sink into the waters of his words.”

“You're being foolish, his brain screamed at him, which was a helluva thing, that your brain can basically scream at you, the you which is also your brain
-your mind going to war against itself. (But that, he supposed, was what it meant to be human. To exist in constant opposition to yourself, you as your very best friend at the exact same time you were your own worst enemy. Oh, how stupid it was to be a person.)”

“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.
Dreams curdling fast into nightmares.
It's where home stops being where the heart is.
Home is where the hurt is.
Where the horror lives.
Home becomes another name for that place where monsters go to hide and do their terrible work.”

𝙁𝙖𝙫𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙧: It was hard to choose, but I’m gonna go with Owen. The trauma that all of these characters endure is truthfully terrifying in itself, but I think I could relate to Owen a little more than the others. The way he is honest with himself and I feel tries to keep everyone “together” in a sense. I could relate to his outlook on things and feel as though I would act similar in these horrific conditions.

𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙇𝙞𝙠𝙚𝙙: I never want to give much away but WOW! This book really got to me. I’ve had dreams similar to this “situation” and reading someone else put it into words!! Just makes it seem a little more real/close to home, even though most people would probably think you were crazy if you said you thought this stuff could possibly be real 🤷🏼‍♀️. Again this horror did not disappoint! The deep psyche of trauma is so interesting to me and I have fallen in love with this genre because of it. If you enjoy the psychological and “far out there”, then this book is definitely for you!

This book was the most terrifying, exciting, heart racing book I have read in a while. I found myself tensed for what was to come around every corner and didn’t know where the book would lead to next. I loved all of our characters and how we slowly unravel their stories throughout. They are complex, they have their trauma, and this is definitely a heavy book that everyone should check trigger warnings for. The writing style is so eerie and adds to the atmosphere of the book, which is very dark. I felt like I was there with the characters and was experiencing everything they were. I found myself rooting for characters, and also rooting against them at the same time during certain sections.
Overall, this book was an amazing read and I am so glad I was able to experience it.

This is the story of four childhood friends. Nick emails all of the others (Lor, Owen and Hamish) that he wants them all to get together to celebrate his funeral (or soon to be funeral) since he has cancer. He has purchased all the plane tickets, so that no one has an excuse to come. Turns out that Nick has found a staircase that is exactly like the one the group found on an earlier camping trip in which a fifth member of their covenant disappeared. This is one creepy, scary haunted house tale. The house feeds off the weakness of each character.

Five high school kids - generally outcasts among their peers - are bonded by their oath to protect one another no matter what. This has served them well and helped each of them survive high school.

When they chose to go on a camping trip they couldn't have anticipated the strange sight before them. A massive staircase is there, in the middle of the woods. One friend, Matty, runs up the staircase and leaps off, only to disappear. No amount of searching yields the whereabouts of Matty and before they know it, the staircase disappears.

The four remaining friends have to suffer the glares of the townsfolk who are sure they are responsible for Matty's disappearance, and after intense scrutiny from the police, friend Nick chooses to admit to giving Matty drugs in order to get the heat off his friends.

Twenty years later and Nick, out of prison, asks for a reunion of the four friends. He knows of another staircase in another forest and takes them there. On climbing and then leaping from this new staircase, the friends enter a house of horrors with no escape.

Ahhh. It's so nice to read a solid Chuck Wendig horror novel!

Wendig's characters are so easily identifiable. If you weren't one of these kids in high school, you know them (but if you're a nerdy reader, chances are good that you were one of them).

We really almost have two different stories here. The first part of the book is being introduced to the friends and then the strange disappearance of one of them, followed by the way they chose to leave the past behind. The second story is the exploration of their fears in the house of horrors.

The first part is a great set-up. It doesn't 'feel' long, though it's easily half the book. There are mysterious elements here (particularly the staircase in the woods), but nothing seems particularly like horror. No, that waits until we enter the house and then all the gloves are off!

I'm not generally a fan of splatterpunk, and I wouldn't necessarily put Wendig in that category, but I will say that Wendig gets explicit (and gross) with his descriptions. The faint of heart beware! Seriously.

There's plenty of twist and turns, plenty of things to go bump in the night, and plenty of good horror storytelling.

Looking for a good book? The Staircase in the Woods by Chuck Wendig is classic horror in all the right ways.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Del Rey Books for this ARC.

WOW! This, this, this book... This was the horror book I have been looking for.

Just wow!

It's wild, it's weird, it's horrifying, it's traumatic. It's literally everything I love in horror.

I'm not a monsters or a demons or a gore kind of horror girl. I love haunting stories. I love weird. This was exactly that!

I was hooked for the moment this started and I couldn't put it down. I breezed through it! I even loved the ending and that rarely happens in horror. The journey was absolutely fantastic.

This book is traumatic and it's raw. It's beautiful too, a book on getting lost, finding yourself again, and finding love and friendship again.

I really can't say much about this book without spoiling anything. But if you are looking for a refreshing horror book, check this out. Home is where the heart is, home is where the hurt is.