Staircase in the Woods is my favorite Chuck Wendig book so far. I loved the mystery of the staircase leading to the evolving house of horrors. The character development was richly done and fleshed out as well. The relationships of the characters are balanced with the mystery of the house and kept me turning the pages to see where it was headed. Definitely recommend for a great escape from reality

Thank you to NetGalley for an opportunity to read the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was my first Chuck Wendig book and I had a great time reading the story.

5 teenagers go into the woods, mysterious staircase in the forest, only 4 come out. As adults they return to try and figure out what happened to their friend.

The characters felt were well fleshed out with very different personalities. These people are full of flaws but that's what makes them believable.

I'm a huge fan of the Staircase in the woods legends so I was super glad of a book that incorporated that into a horror book. I think sometimes the lore of how the staircase were created got a little muddle as how the rooms get created but otherwise it was a fun read and a lot of things got explained.

I would love a follow up book with what happens after the book ends.

While I was walking around a Children’s Museum I was pre-approved for a book called The Staircase in the Woods by Chuck Wendig. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. This book is everything you could want from a haunted house book and definitely not child appropriate.
The premise is that these 5 childhood friends find a staircase in the woods. One goes up and does not come down. Fast forward to when they are all adults living their not-so-perfect lives and not talking to each other. One day they all get a message from their friend Nick saying he is dying from cancer and wants to see them all one last time.
When they go to meet him, he takes them ‘camping’ to another staircase in the woods. This time all four go up, but will all 4 come back down?
This reminded me of a huge haunted house you would go to at Halloween, but even more elaborate. You don’t know what horrible thing is going to be portrayed in the next room, and did it come from your memory or someone else’s?
Highly recommend. Very creepy, but satisfying ending. Thank you Penguin Randomhouse for giving me this advanced reader copy for free. It made for a great start of my reading year.

This is not a story about a staircase in the woods, it’s a story about friendship, trauma and how much (or little?) you know about the people you share your life with. I enjoyed every minute of this book. It had me hooked from the beginning and never let go. I instantly fell in love with the characters and the way they interacted with each other.

The characters friendship remind me of those in Stranger Things and It and I laughed out loud several times. The way the author used gaming to tell the story felt unique and was a reasonable explanation to the happenings in the story. The story was both mysterious, frightening and sometimes disgusting. The gore was just enough and not too hard to handle, it made the story even more compelling.

The only negative I have to say about the book is that I found the (story told in parentheses) was somewhat annoying and took me out of the magic of the story. I would definitely recommend this book and could probably even re-read it in the future.

A solid, suspenseful story full of trauma and courage. One of those books that, when you start reading, has echoes everywhere around you.

A journey a friends reconnecting while going through a house of horrors. Every time these poor characters had to suffer a new room they had to relive their own nightmares. This book takes you through a crazy amount of gruesome encounters and emotions.

I really enjoyed the premise of this book and was immediately captivated by the story. I also quickly felt attached to the characters as they gelt so real, though this tapered throughout the book as I found some of the dialogue to be a bit “silly.” I also felt that the middle of the book dragged quite a bit, and it didn’t need to be as long as it was. The scenes with the characters getting separated and getting trapped in different rooms felt repetitive after a while. That being said, I found the book to be very accessible, especially for readers new to the horror genre.

In 1998. five high school friends went camping in the woods where they discovered a staircase in the middle of nowhere. One of them never returned. Over two decades later, the groups has grown apart. But one of the friends has found another staircase and wrangles the others to investigate it with him in hopes of finding their long lost companion.
A simple premise based on urban lore, an intricate plot that puts a new spin on haunted houses. The story is so engrossing, keeping you riveted between what the group goes through when they climb the stairs and flashbacks to what they went through back in 1998. It was an inventive and fascinating tale born of a common legend unused like this before. The only major critique I have is that the story felt like a season of a TV show in that all that went on in the mysterious space started to feel some of it was there as filler to extend the story for more episodes. Had about 50 pages or so been cut it would have been a tighter, better novel for it.

Suspensful and eerie. The setting is perfect. Everything I love in a good horror book!
This is my second Chuck Wendig book and won't be my last.

_The Staircase in the Woods_ by Chuck Wendig is a nightmarish horror read about a group of friends who reunite years after the disappearance of one of their own. In high school Nick, Matty, Hamish, Lore, and Owen formed a tight bond only broken when Matty vanished at the top of a mysterious staircase deep in the woods. Twenty years later Nick lures the group back to the forest where the staircase is waiting for them. The group ascends into terrifying rooms in search of their lost friend, confronting their own traumas along the way. Told from multiple perspectives of complex characters, this book will disturb and entertain the reader.

I loved this book! This is Narnia but more adult/thriller. It kept my attention and engaged the entire time!

"In the secret dark of such a place, sometimes, something awakens.

Something new.

Something terrible, with eyes open wide and a powerful hunger."

Chuck Wendig is an automatic yes for me. I love his writing style and this book is no exception.

Five friends go on a camping trip when they stumble on a mysterious staircase in the middle of the woods. One of the friends goes up the staircase and never returns.

Twenty years later the friends reconnect when the staircase returns.

This is a great mix of plotting and emotion as all the characters are dealing with pain in their pasts, which they have to face if they have any hope of rescuing their friend and getting out alive.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Worlds for giving me an advanced review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wendig's best work. It is mysterious, eerie, and evocative; propels you to continue reading, if only because of the anxiety inducing fear that constantly builds with each page. Definitely check it out if you enjoyed his previous releases--or love horror in general!

An absolute delight! I loved not only the pacing of the story, but the telling of it as well. From start to end, I was given an adventure!

Book Review: The Staircase in the Woods by Chuck Wendig
⭐⭐⭐ 3/5 Stars

I received an ARC of The Staircase in the Woods by Chuck Wendig, and I have to say—it was a bit of a mixed bag for me. Wendig has this unique ability to create an atmosphere that feels unnervingly real, which is what drew me to the book in the first place. His writing style is sharp, gritty, and pulls you in with this dark sense of curiosity. There’s no denying that he knows how to set up an eerie, suspense-filled scene.

The premise of the book is super intriguing: a mysterious staircase appears in the woods, and as the story unfolds, it’s clear that it’s not just a random anomaly but a manifestation of something far more sinister. I loved the mystery and the potential for a creepy, slow-burn story. Wendig takes you through this strange, supernatural territory, keeping you guessing about what’s real and what’s not, which I really appreciated.

However, where the book lost me was with the pacing and character development. The first half of the book felt a little slow, and I struggled to really connect with the characters. There were moments where I felt like I was being told about their struggles, but not necessarily feeling them. I get that Wendig is all about the atmosphere and the creeping dread, but I just wanted a little more depth to ground the horror. I think I needed a bit more emotional investment in the people who were going through these bizarre and terrifying experiences.

By the time the story picks up in the second half, it definitely had its moments of tension and twists that I wasn’t expecting. But, honestly, I had already checked out a bit by then. The payoff was decent, but it didn’t completely make up for the dragging pace in the beginning.

I also wasn’t completely satisfied with the ending. It felt like Wendig was trying to leave things open-ended and unsettling, which I get, but I still wanted a little more resolution or explanation. Sometimes, ambiguity can be powerful, but here it felt like a cop-out.

Overall, The Staircase in the Woods is a solid read for anyone who’s into weird horror with a supernatural twist. But for me, the lack of strong character development and the slow pacing kept it from being the home run I was hoping for. It’s definitely got potential, but it didn't quite land as well as I wanted it to.

If you're a fan of Wendig's work or enjoy atmospheric horror, it’s worth giving a try—but don’t expect it to be the type of thriller you can’t put down

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Del Rey, Random House Worlds, Inklore for providing me with an ARC via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Well this was fantastic! Chuck wendig is an auto read author and this book just cements that .

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read and review this book

Thank you to the publisher, the author and to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

The Staircase in the Woods was a JOURNEY! I feel this book should come with a heavy content warning for gore, violence, and self harm. That said, I found myself having to cover the next paragraph because my eyes were desperate to jump ahead!

This book follows a friend group of four as they try to figure out what happened to their friend who disappeared many years ago, up a staircase in the woods. It’s hard to share much without spoiling the plot, but just know that you should NEVER climb a staircase (a window, a door, NADA) in the woods. 👀

Readers who love horror, gore, gamer culture, and dual timeline / multi POV stories will enjoy this book.

I've always been captivated by the eerie tales of mysterious staircases found deep in the woods, passed down through generations across the world. The Staircase in the Woods brings these legends to life in a gripping and immersive way. The story is not only engaging but also an absolute page-turner that kept me hooked from start to finish.

A group of friends happen across a mysterious staircase deep in the woods, one friend walks up the stairs and is never seen again. Then, twenty years later the same group of friends walk up another set of mysterious stairs in search of answers.

I was immediately hooked by the concept of this story, but this get DARKDARK. While the start may be slow, the rest of the book is so tragic and dark I had some trouble finishing.

This is definitely a book in the realm of Stephen Kings writing, and it is not without merit that Chuck Wendig is often compared to him. The sad part of this is that I absolutely hate Stephen king’s writing… That being said, I highly recommend you read this book if you are a fan of Stephen kings writing.

This is my second (and probably last) book from Chuck Wendig I have read, and while the ideas for the book sound amazing, I do not think that we fit together. I’m not even sure why, but his books just do not seem to work for me.

Thanks to Netgalley, Del Rey: Random House Worlds and the author Chuck Wendig for allowing me to read an E-Arc of this novel.

This was my first book by Wendig and I’m absolutely blown away. Immediately his prose and writing style sucked me in and would not let me go. Wendig is a master story teller.

The magical nature of the stairs mixed with the grotesque scenes throughout the story was a refreshing change of pace from other horror authors. For me, I think some of the scenes (some of the rooms) were a bit over the top in terms of horror. The amount of torture, death, filth, abuse…. It was just a lot for one book. And yet I found myself enraptured by Wendig’s masterful writing.

I do hope the publishers will have a trigger warning at the beginning of this book because boy, oh, boy this gets dark. VERY DARK.

I absolutely loved The Staircase in the Woods. Incredible, incredible, incredible.

Trigger Warnings: child death (on page), pedophilia (not on page), murder, suicide (on page), maggots, political/COVID discussions, dead animals, abduction (and these are only the MAJOR ones).