This was my first time reading Chuck Wendig, and I wasn't sure what to expect.

In the late 90's, a group of 5 friends go into the forest and find a staircase. Overcome by curiosity, one of the friends ascends the stairs only to never been seen again. The remaining friends eventually grow older and go their own way, only to reunite twenty years later to try to discover what became of their lost friend.

I will admit that I had a moment of thinking this story was not going to be for me, when the friend's bickering and politics became a bit too much for me. I'm glad I stuck it out, because as we get further into the story, the view of these characters mature considerably, leaving the reader with an amazing story about friendship, trauma, and how we can face adversity with the help of true friends.

Chuck Wendig conjures up an eerie atmosphere and some truly disturbing visuals. I enjoyed the inclusion of video game references, though they may not be to everyone's liking. I'm not sure I 100% believed in the origin story of what was happening (I'm being vague here as to not spoil anything) and I didn't feel that current politics had a place in this story. For those reasons, this wasn't a 5 star read for me, but still a very solid read. I look forward to reading more of Wendig's work.

I can't say enough how much I love Wendig's writing. It’s always sets the tone and holds my attention completely. I didn't want it to end. Thank you NetGalley!!!!!

Even though "The Staircase in the Woods" premise is something we have read before in several other stories, a group of adults fighting against the monster of their youth and the book does has some "It" vibes it does hold on pretty much on its own.

One of the best horror books I've read, so much it took me a good while to finish it due to the trapped feeling it caused me, but at the end it got everything even the much coveted back story to explaining it all that many if not all the books on the supernatural horror miss.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Worlds, and Del Rey for providing me with the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

This one was so creepy, it was hard to put down! It starts off as a bit of a slow burn but once it picks up you’re in for a ride!

This is my first book by Chuck Wendig and I absolutely loved it. It was just the right combination of weird, creepy, and people dealing with their own issues they don’t talk about with friends.

A group of 5 teenage friends goes camping in the woods and finds a weird staircase. One goes up it, never to be seen again. Fast forward 20 years, they meet up again and find another staircase. While searching for their long lost friend, they each have to deal with their own life problems, whether or not they were actually good friends to each other, and a whole lot of weird crazy stuff going on. This gave me a lot of Stephen King vibes, which I love, but was its own, very unique and fast paced story.

Gah how I love Wendigs writing. It’s so atmospheric and holds you in a trance. This was no different. I was in Estes from the beginning. So curious to see what each room would be like. I wanted a bit more from the ending but overall enjoyed it.

Would you enter a different dimension just to save one of your friends? Hard no from me, but our cast of characters does without question.

I loved the concept of the book. I heard about these urban legends of abandoned staircases in the woods or desert, so a full novel focusing on it was intriguing.

The horror elements worked for me. I felt the fear. I also really enjoyed the investigation part of the story.

However, the characters felt underdeveloped. From the start, it felt weird that we only see some of their perspectives, as the structure seemed to have been set up to include each one of them an equal amount.

I really enjoyed it, but the characters needed to go deeper for sure. 4\5

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

When requesting the book, I did not fully understand the realm this book was in (specifically horror/dark aka Stephen King). If that is your cup of tea, then you will love it! But I didn’t care for it much.

BUT- the premise was very enticing and I do believe the author writes very well. (Therefore the 3 stars). The beginning hooked me immediately!

When I was four years old, I remember seeing a staircase going up a steep hill to nothing ever single day on my to and from daycare. I've had nightmares about that staircase for most of my life. In most of the dreams, I can never ever reach the top no matter how hard I try... but every once in awhile I make it and it is always terrible. 34 years of dreaming of a forgotten staircase led me to this book and requesting it from NetGalley without even reading the blurb... it just felt right to read it, so when I was approved to review it I felt validated. I've started and then deleted at least nine reviews because I kept getting caught up in the details and spoiling the magic, which I find personally unforgivable. So, I'm here on my tenth try and it will most likely be brief to keep the magic of discovery inside the book, where it belongs.
Do you like Stephen King's IT? If so, read this book. Do you like Stephen King's IT, but you wish it had left out the child orgy? If so, read this book. Do you like Stephen King's IT, but wish it involved more choices from the main characters? If so, then read this book. I hope when Chuck Wendig wrote this story he knew it would ultimately be compared to IT and knew while it couldn't exactly be "better" it could still be a contender for top personal favorites for horror fans because I loved this book. Stephen King, Grady Hendrix, Nick Cutter, Josh Malerman, David Haynes, Bentley Little, Paul Tremblay are all some of my favorite writers, but this book shot up my list of favorites for so many reasons I can't clarify in a spoiler free post.
A group of friends find a staircase in the woods when they are kids and they do what any kid would do - they climb the stairs. This one decision changes their lives and because of it, they all need to climb the stairs again as adults with a life of learning telling them what is real and what isn't. Having to face the supernatural as an adult who can't believe in magic or ghost stories will always be a story I want to read because I think about losing my belief in magic and supernatural mysteries and wonder when it happened and how. It's a true tragedy that adults lose what makes them special as they grow and change and experience. This book somehow brings back the magic of your childhood fears and mixes it with all your adult anxieties and I love it!
Thank you, NetGalley for a chance to read this beauty. I've already preordered my copy and everyone else should too.

The Staircase in the woods was a fun gripping horror novel and I really had fun reading it.
This begins with a group of friends finding a staircase in the forest 20 years ago.Their curiosity turns dread when one of them, Matt just disappears at the end of the staircase.

After Matt's disappearance it was never easy for them ,the guilt of not doing anything to help find their friend.Now after 20 years they are again pulled back to the secret staircase in the woods.This time they make sure they find what really happened to their friend.

Its an interesting premise and its written very well.I got really sucked into the author's writing.I enjoyed the things they find after the staircase, the jump scares ,the eeriness of the house and how the house mess up with their minds.

The things I really enjoyed in this book was the plot and the horror elements where as I found it hard to connect with any of the characters which reduced my level of enjoyment a bit.I wanted to connect with them, get sucked into the emotion behind finding their friend but actually they didn't much care about Matt.Also the house messing up got a bit too much in the middle for most part of the book.
Apart from these I had fun reading the horror elements which I look forward in a horror book.

Thank you to Chuck Wendig, Random House Publishing Group-Del Ray, Random House Worlds, Inklore & Netgalley for an arc copy and of The Staircase in the Woods! I requested this book because I loved the synopsis and the cover is beautiful! This book was atmospheric & eerie! It is horror/creepy but this book digs much deeper. Characters deal with their pasts and trauma. It flips between past in present tense. With a twist at the end! I could picture this book being a movie! This is my first book by Chuck Wendig but won’t be my last! The book publishes 4/29/25!

“The Staircase in the Woods” is by Chuck Wendig. Let me start off by saying that I didn’t finish the book. I didn’t finish it for a number of reasons. However, as I try to always start my reviews off with something positive, I guess my two positives are that I love the cover and that this book, from the summary, seemed like a different take on Stephen King’s “IT,” one of the books I have re-read numerous times and really like. All the bad things about this book are too long to list - but I’ll say that if you like US political rants (that seem just like political rants), a ton of gender and autism buzzwords thrown in (just because?), a number of characters who have experienced childhood trauma (but unlike those in “IT” these people seem stuck in that trauma), and a rather slow paced book with lots of rambling - then maybe this book is for you. It wasn’t for me. Would I give another book by this author a try? Possibly … but it’s going to take a while. I encourage people to read more of the other reviews of this book - I’m probably in the minority, but this book wasn’t what I hoped it would be, sadly.

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.