This was my first Chuck Wendig novel and it sucked me right in. I loved the premise of the staircase in the woods and the fall out of a friendship group after a tragedy. The descriptions of the house as an entity were extremely compelling and kept me invested as the characters unraveled its mysteries. The dynamics of the friendship group, and each characters’ personal struggles, benefited so much from their background stories. I think it’s hard to pull off a story as complex as this one - multiple characters, jumps in time, a horrific atmosphere, a mystery, and supernatural occurrences- but it was very well executed and had a satisfying ending. I appreciated that it had enough answers without answering them all. The book is very bleak at times but never lets go of hope and the knowledge that we’re all better off together in the mess of life instead of going it alone. Content warnings for self-harm, substance abuse, child SA, child loss, and abuse.

Expected Publication: April 29, 2025

In this horror novel, I followed a group of friends who return as adults to face a supernatural event that haunted them in their youth. When they ascend a mysterious staircase in the woods for a second time, things get eerie, confusing, and emotional, exploring themes of friendship, guilt, grief, and letting go. The story leans into classic horror tropes, reminding me of Stephen King’s It, with flashbacks and characters wrestling with unresolved trauma.

I found the book creepy, captivating, and almost impossible to put down. Although the writing is occasionally repetitive due to the plot structure, it didn’t distract much from the experience.

Rating: 4.35 stars, rounded down.
Thanks to NetGalley and Del Ray for the ARC!

Chuck Wendig does it again! What would it be like to live in this man's head for a day? I absolutely loved the flawed characters in this. One thing that Chuck does so well is keep the hope alive even in times of great turmoil and distress. His characters never have to handle the tough stuff alone and can lean on each other even if they can't stand each other in the moment. I don't want to spoil anything so I will just say that the characters do in fact get trapped and where they are trapped is absolutely terrifying.

The story revolves around four friends coming back together to solve a 20 year old mystery involving an inexplicable staircase in the woods and the disappearance of another friend.

I found the premise of this book intriguing, but it takes quite a bit of time before the story actually becomes interesting. The first 1/3 of the book kind of drags and made me really detest most of the characters. Once things get moving, there is at least some creep factor and tension to the story, though the ending felt a bit anticlimactic.
It is well written and overall, not a bad book; it just wasn't as compelling as I had hoped. 3.5⭐️

Thanks to Random House Worlds|Del Rey for providing this book for review consideration via Netgalley. All opinions provided are my own. #TheStaircaseInTheWoods #NetGalley

I really enjoyed this book! I thought an uncorrected proof might have more errors than the last book I read that came with no such warning but only one issue stood out to me.

I think it was very successfully spooky. I was creeped out consistently. And the ending really resonated for me, a lot of horror books kind of peter out after the big bad is revealed but this felt satisfying and complete. Also loved that we mostly stuck with two characters perspectives, I feel like many authors are tempted to throw in everyone’s narrative voice nowadays but sticking with two makes the characters feel solid and unique.

Similarly with Wendig’s other books I’ve read, I think the plot could be tightened up some. I definitely scanned some passages instead of fully reading them because I wanted to know what would happen next. But overall, would recommend to scary book fans!

My first book by Chuck Wendig and definitely not my last!

If you're looking for a creepy, thrilling, and unputdownable book then this one's for you. Full of twists and turns that I never really saw coming and an unpredictable ending. The initial summary of the book immediately drew me in and I had to know what happened after the 20 years of the first appearance of the staircase in the woods. I enjoyed reading about each character and their unique storylines and how the different personalities influenced the house. I think it was interesting to see how everyone has secrets that can eat at them from the inside out. The staircase tested friendships but they never turned their backs on each other. Their friendship helped them survive even in the times where I thought it wouldn't, and the ending was a surprising twist I never expected BUT it left me wanting more!

I loved Chuck Wendigs writing. It was extremely descriptive and felt like I was right there in the book with the characters. At times it was a little spine-chilling and a bit gruesome so I had to put it down but I loved how detailed and immersive it was.

It's so hard to talk about this book without spoiling so all I have to say is that you need to read it...oh and never walk up random staircases in the woods ;)

Thank you NetGalley, Chuck Wendig and Random House Worlds for providing me with an advanced readers copy in exchange for a review.

I found the story to be rather slow and not gripping enough for me to finish the book. My apologies, but it just wasn't my type of book

DNF - I was so eager to read this book, I started it right away when I got the email confirming my approval. Unfortunately, there is significant editing that is required in this book to make for a decent story. The writing is chopping, expositional, dull, & uninspiring to the setting. The characters are shallow tropes, which could all be mear mirages of a single person's ramblings - none of them were unique or well-thought out. I can see, based on other reviews, that this book will find its niche audience. I, however, wanted a more cruelly gruesome story which requires it to have been well-written & planned out so that the execution threw a gnarly punch.

when i saw this available, i knew i had to try it out because it sounded so unique and i've read a book by this author before! sadly it didn't live up to my expectations.

🦇 i didn't really care for "before" chapters although i knew why it was needed, i was more invested in the present tho.
🦇 i don't think i have any favourite characters. all of them had things going on and none of them were exclusively different for me.
🦇 the writing style was also easy to get into and sometimes funny lol. but it did drag A LOT throughout the story and i kept putting it off often times which was a further proof that i didn't really enjoy this at all. i felt like i was reading this book forever.
🦇 i did like the sadness and trauma part of this book, it definitely felt real and atmospheric.
🦇 i didn't like the ending because i was like wait... it ends here?? I NEED ANSWERS. usually i don't mind it, but in this case i wanted to know what was up.
🦇 i also found out this thing about myself... i don't think i enjoy stories about mazes and illusional stuff like that, i find it extremely boring. 😭
🦇 one more thing about the writing style was that i don't usually mind cursing in books but in this case it was a bit much.
🦇 however, i loved the last two sentences in the acknowledgements bit, the author is hilarious for that. 😂
🦇 i've read "the book of accidents" (i gave it 3.5 stars) and i think i preferred that over this one. both of them weren't my favourites, but i'm still willing to try out chuck wendig's new books if they're not illusion or alternate universe type ones!

Years and years ago, five high school friends bonded by an oath they've deemed "the covenant" wander deep into the forest for a camping trip. On their journey, the discover something so simple and yet otherworldly: a winding staircase in the woods, leading seemingly to nowhere. One of them climbs the staircase, four of them don't.

And only those four return from the woods.

Years later, Nick has invoked "the covenant" for perhaps the last time: he's battling terminal cancer, and wants to see his friends for the last time. Enter Owen, anxious part-time bookshop clerk, Lore, a pansexual patriarchy-fighter with a venomous retort ready for anyone who crosses her path, and Hamish, straight-laced husband and father. Together, they fly out to meet Nick: but is that really all this is? Could there be something awaiting them in the woods from their past? With the ghost of Matty calling out from it's winding steps?

"Staircase in the Woods" was an auto-read for me because of Chuck Wendig's impressive sci-fi track record of "Wanderers," "The Book of Accidents," and most recently "Black River Orchard"--all incredible novels. However, from the start of "Staircase in the Woods", it was immediately apparent that Wendig's writing voice was different, and not in a good way. Chapters riddled with endless profanity contributing nothing to the plot, a deep dive into Lore's character that felt more like a stiff and tokenized display of Wendig's ability to write diverse characters, bits of shock-factor horror that felt more like Nick Cutter than any of Wendig's masterfully-woven works of the past...something here was not right. And unfortunately, readers, I felt that way throughout the entire story. What Wendig has crafted in "The Staircase in the Woods" is undoubtedly creative; in fact, it could have been excellent. But the plot itself was eclipsed by the distracting chaos of everything around it. Dare I say this felt unfinished? Not the Chuck Wendig I've come to love, which is such a disappointment to say.

I loved this. So intriguing. And, honestly, I had never heard of this before but apparently staircases in the woods is a huge horror trope. This opened the door to it for me and it was excellent. The characterization in this book is top tier. I struggled with the writing style a bit but still enjoyed this story so much.

I loved this book. This might be my highest rated horror novel of all time. It poses the question: What if Stephen King’s It was hundreds of pages shorter, explored its characters in more depth, and didn’t have the most unnecessary creepy underage scene near the end?

The characters felt like living breathing human beings who in a few hundred pages I came to love. I want to crawl into the author’s brain and see how he was able to write such raw and real characters. At the start of the book I didn’t like Lore; by the end of the book I realized her character practically held up a mirror to myself and that was why I felt such complicated emotions towards her.

I usually find the conclusion for horror books contrived and lose interest. This had me anguished and gripped for the entire third act. I loved this.

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for the ARC of this book.

I remember falling down a YouTube rabbit hole some years ago regarding staircases in the woods. I loved the theories and stories and was immediately interested in the premise of this! This book had great atmosphere, fully developed characters, and a lot of amazing potential to be gripping. I'm also a millennial so I do get excited over a late 80's-early 90's setting.

Sadly those were the main good points for me. The story becomes repetitive after it finally gets going, the group of friends kind of going in circles for some time. It's also difficult to empathize or root for this group, so I wasn't sure how much I supported them finding any comfort in finding Matty after all this time. Nearly every chapter..

Ended with a single sentence.

To serve as tense or ominous emphasis.

Just like this.

And it kind of loses it's impact when you do it over and over. I think this would have benefited from stronger editing, because the writing itself wasn't awful.. but it felt like it could be wrapped up in a neater package. And while I don't disagree with the author's political standpoints, this book wasn't at all the place for it. Your friend disappeared into the void in the woods by a force you don't understand.. these are not the correct stakes to discuss gender expression in. Odd.

This was my first book that I read from this author and I wasn't disappointed at all. I really enjoyed this read, it was so fun and eerie! I really liked the formatting and writing style this author has. Looks like I'm going to read more of their books :)

The author can get a little long winded but usually if you stick with it, it pays off. I’m afraid the same can’t be said about this book. This wasn’t a slow burn, this was meandering , senseless musings from unlikable characters. Regrettably, I lost interest in the story and stopped more than halfway through.

A childhood pact among a group of friends resurfaces years later when Nick gathers them for one final trip. During a nostalgic yet tension-filled camping excursion, what begins as a reunion turns nightmarish as they stumble upon a mysterious staircase in the woods—a haunting symbol of their past ‘covenant’ and the place where their friend Matt disappeared. The author masterfully blends the familiar with the fantastical, immersing readers in a chilling realm where memory and horror are inextricably linked.

This is a fun time! A little too long with too many unnecessary head swaps, and some of the lines didn't land for me, but I loved the premise. The inspirations may have been a tad on the nose in places, but I still think it's worth the read.

Over the year's I've become a fan of Chuck Wendig's writing, and The Staircase in the Woods is no exception. I was sucked into it from the start and I really enjoyed seeing where it would go next. Five high school friends discover a staircase in the woods--one goes up it and disappears. Years later a new staircase appears and the remaining group try to find their friend.

It's creepy and entertaining, and I finished in a couple of days. Thanks so much to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC!

I enjoyed the author's previous books(especially the Wanderers!) so when I received an ARC for this I was excited. Horror isn't my typical genre but I'm up for anything as long as the story is good. This starts out interestingly enough as five teenage friends go into the woods and a staircase appears. One of the friends climbs up and vanishes. Years later the four return to the woods and the staircase appears again. What they find on the other side is unimaginable.

Between the random political rant smack at the beginning of the book(and a few more thrown throughout), the characters not being likeable(besides Matty), and the repetitive gruesome depictions I couldn't get behind this one.

I loved this book I loved the nostalgic childhood scenes from the past some of the references made my nerdy heart happy. In the same book though there were scenes so dark that made me uncomfortable reading. This felt like a true horror novel and it’s finally a haunted house story I enjoyed. While this book was harrowing and gruesome I was invested in the plot and was trying to puzzle out the whole time how they could escape. This is not my first book from this author but he is fast becoming a favorite. I would like to thank NetGalley and the publishers for a chance to read this book for an honest review.