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.

Chuck Wendig is a must read horror author for me these days, and THE STAIRCASE IN THE WOODS is a creepy horror tale about trauma, dimensional terrors, and lost and faded friendship. Wendig not only knows how to write a scary tale with lots of suspense and creepy imagery, he also knows how to kick the reader right in their heart as the explores four friends who lost a fifth in high school after he climbed up a mysterious staircase in the woods. I thought our players of Owen, Lore, Hamish, and Nick, were all pretty well rounded and complex, alternating between easy to cheer for and wanting to strangle. But all of them were so well crafted with easy to understand motivations that all of their choices, good and bad, were believable. And yes, SO many scary beats once they go up the staircase to look for Matty years later. Wendig's horror is well done as well as mysterious and sometimes Lynchian, and it unnerved me as I read.

THE STAIRCASE IN THE WOODS is another scary horror story from Chuck Wendig. I definitely recommend it.

First of all I was so excited to have gotten the arc for this book because I’ve had a hold on it at my library since I found out about it a couple months ago! This was really different from my usual reads and while there were some things I wasn’t crazy about, like it starting out kind of slow, I had so much fun reading this!

I don’t typically read fantasy horror but this storyline was so cool I had a great time reading it. Descriptions are usually hard for me to follow but with this book I swear I could see it playing all out in my head! However that being said, it didn’t really feel very much like a horror book to me. I was really hoping for more tension and more suspense but I never got that anxiety inducing feeling I love from my thriller books.

Even though the horror elements didn’t hit as hard as I was hoping, I really enjoyed the story and the writing definitely kept me engaged. Theres a lottt of triggers in this book so i’d check those out before picking this up if that concerns you.

Summer 1998, five friends go camping in the woods. The Covenant they all swore to one another is shattered and only four teenagers return, leaving Matty to never be seen again.

The Staircase in the Woods is an amazing, atmospheric psychological horror story. The book is told from 2 POVs and unfolds through alternating dual timelines, the before and the now.

After that il-fated night when Matty walked up those stairs and disappeared, the remaining friends slowly drift apart. Before they know it, 20 years has gone by. They've all lost touch and Matty is still gone. But when one of the friends discovers a new staircase in the woods they have to decide if finally have the courage to put aside their differences and traumas to chase Matty's footsteps up those stairs and continue to search for him.

<i>"THIS HOUSE HATES YOU"</i>

This book did give me slight IT vibes, in a good way. While it does follow the 4 remaining friends, we don't see all of their POVs. The story is mainly told through Owen and Lore's perspectives. Wendig did a great job of transporting the reader into the character's headspace and creating an incredible atmosphere of dread. The setting is creepy, to put it plainly and even the reader doesn't know who to trust or what's real or isn't at times as the characters learn each other's deepest darkest secrets.

I also loved Wendig's writing style. Nothing felt frivolous or unnecessary. At times, parts were a bit repetitive but I do believe most of it to be a plot device, again... this is psychological horror.

Speaking of if being a horror book, yes, there is some gore, body horror and pretty gruesome scenes. It is disturbing and that should be taken into consideration when choosing to read this book or not.

That being said, there is A LOT of talk of video games and video game reference, as a couple of the characters are game developers. It does seem Wendig took inspiration from classic old school horror games and neatly incorporated into this story.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. And I definitely will be steering clear of any random staircases I may come upon in the woods.

Not going to lie, I saw this cover and thought of Madame Sherri’s, which is not too far from me as I’m in Vermont, which Wendig notes he went to see before starting this book. I think he would be sad to know those stairs collapsed a few years ago. We do a lot of hiking, and while I’ve never encountered unexplained stairs, I have come across doorways...

When stairs appear in the middle of nowhere, do you climb them? And when is a house more than just a home? There is a doorway to something other. There are possibilities in that doorway and that’s what this book explores, in the creepiest of ways. This book was a blast from beginning to end. I was surprised and delighted by the direction of the story and think other readers will be too.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Random House Worlds for allowing me to read an eARC of this book.

I am a huge fan Horror & Mystery/Thrillers, and have enjoyed of Chuck Wending's work since reading The Book of Accidents. His newest book, The Staircase in the Woods is a work of art and full of nightmare fuel and existential dread. It gets off to a bit of a slow start, but quickly picks up speed until you can't put it down.

The plot revolves around 5 high school friends bonded by a Covenant of friendship -- Nick, Lore, Matty, Owen, and Hamish -- who go camping in the woods and find a mysterious staircase. Teens being teens, they get too curious, and Matty goes up the stairs but never comes back. 20 years later, the four remaining friends have reunited (rather unwillingly, thanks to Nick's scheming) and find another mysterious staircase. Looking to right the wrongs of the past for breaking the Covenant of friendship, they all go up the staircase, and into their worst nightmare -- traversing a mysterious "house" of seemingly infinite rooms full of death, tragedy and murder to find their friend Matty before the house gets them.

This book was SO GOOD. The house part of the book gave me so much anxiety and claustrophobia. The author does a great job of building the suspense, unease, horror, and sense of looming dread and hopelessness within the characters. I seriously could not stop reading until the end! Definitely not for the faint of heart (or stomach).

I highly recommend this book as your next book club read! You won't be disappointed!

I am up and down with Chuck Wendig's books. I DNFd Wanderers, loved The Book of Accidents, and somewhat liked Black River Orchard. That being said, I knewwwww I wanted to read his upcoming novel, THE STAIRCASE IN THE WOODS, not because it was giving different realm vibes but I am weirdly obsessed with spiral staircases!

Five troubled high school friends find an abandoned staircase in the woods, and when one of them, Matty, disappears, the mystery remains. Twenty years later, Nick brings the others—Hamish, Lore, and Owen—back to search for him, forcing them to choose between friendship and the unknown.

This book wasn't really a horror novel, but more like a fantasy with a YA edge to it. I felt that the story dragged a bit and left a lot of open-ended side stories by the end. It explores themes of friendship, abandonment, and PTSD. The book wasn't really something I would pick up if I knew it leaned more into fantasy than horror. However, the social commentary and political environment within this book was a factor in the storytelling, but it was done in a non-preachy way (I really don't want to hear about it from the MAGA folks). The story is an epic adventure and somewhat fun journey at times, with fun chapter titles to keep you in the groove and want to investigate. I was banking on the ending to push this to 4 stars, but it was a bit abrupt compared to everything else going on (like c'mon, we get it wrapped up way too easily and fast for a 400+ page slowburn). Overall, I really enjoyed the "universe" that THE STAIRCASE IN THE WOODS provides readers, but I felt that I wanted more from it.

RANKINGS:
1. The Book of Accidents
2. Black River Orchard
3. The Staircase in the Woods
4. Wanderers

The Staircase in the Woods is my first Chuck Wendig novel—and I would definitely have a go at another one. It's a sort of cross between horror and the problem novel that works well and has rather more depth than I'm used to finding in such novels.

The Staircase in the Woods moves between the same group of characters across two timeline.

In timeline one, the five of them are teenagers planning a camp out with plenty of booze and drugs. The characters are, as teenagers tend to be (at least I was) quick to take offense in a somewhat self-aggrandizing way and quick to see any challenges or unkindnesses directed at them as proof of their failure as human beings. When they finish hiking to their remote camping spot, they're startled to find a staircase there, apparently leading nowhere. The night wears on, they get more wasted and more unhappy with one another, then one of them runs to the top of the staircase and... vanishes.

In timeline two, having grown distanced from one another since the disappearance of their friend and having built adult lives—some with obvious successes, others stuck in a sort of loop of lacklusterness (is that a word?), none of them deeply happy with who they are—they reluctantly agree to a meet-up. They find themselves in another wood with another unexplained staircase.... and I shall say no more in order to avoid spoilers.

What I liked about this novel—

• None of the central characters was fully likeable. They're not the kinds of characters that make me wish we could be friends in real life. Nonetheless, I found them interesting enough that I wanted to learn their stories.

• There's some real horror here, but it's not a gore-fest. It's more a series of encounters in which we see all the different kinds of evils humans can enact on one another. Some blood, some death, but also uncomfortable/uncomforting revelations about the self.

• Chuck Wendig can write. The prose never felt stilted or predictable, and I found myself regularly highlighting sentences just because they were such lovely bits of craft all on their own.

If you like horror/thrillers, I think you'll be quite satisfied with The Staircase in the Woods. If you're uneven in you affection for these genres, i can't make any promises, but the title is definitely worth checking out.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher; the opinions are my own.