DNF-NO rating on Goodreads

Although not a reader of horror of fantasy, I am a fan of SUSPENSE and I was intrigued by this PREMISE so when I was invited to read this by the Publisher, I thought I would give it a try.

Five high school friends-a crew-are bonded by an oath-the Covenant -to protect one another no matter what.

When on a camping trip, they find a mysterious staircase to nowhere.

One friend walks up—but the staircase disappears before he can ever come down.

Twenty years later, the Covenant has been invoked, and the crew will reconvene to get answers when the staircase reappears.

Unfortunately, I am not the right demographic for this book. I could not relate to the characters-the sex, the drugs, or the online gaming, and I don’t enjoy books that include Politics and/or Conspiracy theories.

DO read a sample of reviews to determine if this would be a better fit for you. There are plenty of positive ones out there!

Thank You to Del Rey for the gifted ARC provided through Netgalley.

I loved this book. I had to take a few days to process what I read, but it was an excellent spooky read. It reminded me of House of Leaves meets Room 1408. The pacing seemed to change depending on what the characters were experiencing in the story, which added another layer to the experience. Perfect October read.

Mixed feelings about this book. I loved the author's Wanderers and thought it was a compelling take on the usual zombie story. Having seen blurbs about Staircase's main plot - a friend climbs a mysterious staircase in the woods and doesn't return - I was hooked with the idea and went in otherwise blind. The author talks about this phenomenon, rooted in real life for good reasons, in an afterword, and it's legitimately creepy and weird as a concept. I imagined something akin to Annihilation but with a Stephen King vibe.

The Stephen King vibe assumption was legit. The story follows a group of adults that had a traumatic experience as teens - the before-mentioned staircase experience - and how they face it again in the present. It toggles between past events and the present to give more depth into the characters and also to slowly unfold what happened, with a good chunk of the present dedicated to (to say without spoiling) revisiting what happened back then. The (redacted due to spoilers) revisiting of those events in the present day ended up being satisfactorily creepy and the ultimate reveal was something I hadn't guessed ahead of time. If I could change one thing it would be that the book started with the first flashback scene. The beginning ~15% for me up to that point dragged because I didn't like any of the characters and wasn't hooked by the actual plot yet (see more on that below), but as soon as the first flashback happened, it was engaging.

All that being said, my personal enjoyment of the book ended up closer to a 2/5 for a few reasons. It could be these elements wouldn't bother others, but for me the problems were:

- There's a *lot* of gore described in overly-detailed ways, and it felt relentless to me. And not just in the (spoiler) events where most of the last half takes place - one of the MCs, for example, has a fixation with chewing his nails and picking at his fingers. Way, way too much time is spent on describing this fixation in detail through his thoughts, to a disgusting degree. My skin crawled constantly with how gross and frequent it was, and it goes imo much farther into detail than it needs to.

- I strongly disliked the ending. It felt so disappointing after being so invested in the conclusion that's dangled in front of you, only to have there be no conclusion at all. I get that this was probably intentional but I felt like my time had been wasted and was frustrated.

- Not a major point, but one that needs to be mentioned; others have said this in their reviews, and it's legit. Look, I'm a lefty like the author and I get how dangerous certain politicians are and how terrible things are in the world right now. Wanderers hit too close to home because of that, and the sequel imo was much too heavy handed, even though I get where the author is coming from. There's a point where including long-winded rants are transparent that it's coming from the author and it ends up being a distraction instead of (possibly?) helping change someone's mind when they read the story.

To that end, this book has a long, multi-page rant from what felt like the book's queer character (Lor) to their previously-Trump-supporting friend about how terrible he is for voting for Trump, and as someone who politically is the same as the author, I still cringed hard at how this was written. It's transparent and way too long-winded to make sense in the story. Think of a classic Mike Flanagan monologue but longer and more angry. It's legit that an old friend becoming a Trump supporter would be disappointing and hurtful, especially if you're in one of the many groups oppressed by conservative policies. But that could have been brought up in a much better, much less "unhinged rant" sort of a way that felt more natural for the story. Instead, once again it felt like the author's outrage about Trump (which again, I totally get and agree with) bled into the story here, and it's not a good thing.

It doesn't help that this specific character is essentially a caricature of a queer person. They're not just queer and poly, it feels like they were designed off cam girls whose tailored image is "I play video games"... yanno, things like neon cat headphones, edgy clothes, etc. And of course, they aren't just queer and poly and love video games and wear the edgy clothes, they also are AuDHD and get into a shaming argument with the same Trump supporting friend about their lack of understanding about these terms, pronouns, etc. Again, it's just way too over the top. And they, along with basically all the characters, felt unlikable because of it.

I wonder if I would have enjoyed the story more had the characters been written differently. I wasn't rooting for any of them, instead having to focus on the one-dimensional aspects of each that we had to focus on: the disgusting details of peeling strips of skin off the fingers, Lor's narcissism, etc. I realize how they were written was meant to have a different impact, that they were each dealing with the trauma differently, but for me, it pushed me away from all of them. So all that was left is the story, which was great enough to keep engaged until the disappointing ending.

Overall I think this was a good book that would have been great if certain aspects were different. I hope there's a sequel someday (which I doubt) to give a more satisfying closure to what happened.

Another spooky and atmospheric winner from Wendig. A recommended purchase for collections where horror and his previous titles are popular.

This was the first book I’ve read from this author and I really enjoyed it! The writing style was very straightforward (at least until the end) and comforting, in a way with its frankness. The plot felt nostalgic and reminiscent of 80s/90s horrors stories along the lines of “It” or “Stranger Things”. And it had the heart of typical coming of age movies.

A classic tale of a group of teenagers dealing with something horrifying, and otherworldly, then having to deal with the ramifications of those events as adults.
It’s told mainly during the adult timeline which takes place in the real world sometime shortly after 2020. Which leads me to something I didn’t like, which were all the real world references. It may just be a personal thing, but in my experience it takes me out of the fantasy of the story. I also worry that it’ll make the book feel outdated in just a couple of years.

This was disturbing and dark, great for spooky season, but do check trigger warnings. I didn’t find it super “scary” but it was intense and left me wanting more.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for the ARC. This is my honest review.

Chuck Wendig always pulls me into his stories and keeps me entertained. I love that this story was much more than just a thrilling mystery. It has a deep seated plot and kept me guessing throughout. Read this one with its great character development and intriguing plot!!

This horror novel follows a group of high school friends who go on a camping trip and stumble across a mysterious staircase in the woods that leads to nowhere. One friend walks up and never comes back down. Before anyone can do anything, the staircase suddenly disappears. Where did he go? Is he dead? No one knows.
Twenty years later, the staircase has reappeared. Now the group returns to find the lost boy—and what lies beyond the strange staircase in the woods. . . .

Wendig has written an absolutely brilliant novel. I was engaged from the start due to the beautiful figurative language that he uses, showing me his world and intriguing me into it. This book is extremely grotesque and hard hitting, which isn’t usually the content I enjoy, however this was extremely well done that I just couldn’t stop reading. One criticism of mine is the mention of COVID multiple times. This didn’t really need to be brought up and did not help move the story along and broke the engagement in the plot for me. The story left me with my heart pounding in my chest and on the edge of my seat multiple times.

Overall, a thrilling, gripping and grotesque novel that should be added to your tbr if you love horror. (Please make sure to check the trigger warnings before reading)

Due to be released on April 29th 2025.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars, rounded up.
- I'm not sure what I expected going into this but it was not what I got! I was expecting more suspense I suppose because it was categorised as a thriller on Netgalley, but this was a full on dark, gruesome horror and I really enjoyed it!
- I was just completely gripped all the way through and finished it in just 3 bursts of reading. I was initially really surprised by how modern it was- there were references to covid, the man vs bear internet trend and all sorts- but it actually generally worked I think because it was done in moderation (though not always, the use of "unalived" did really take me out of the story for a bit) and made the darker horror elements all the more impactful and alien.
- Speaking of the horror, wow this book got darker than I was expecting it to so please look up content warnings before jumping into this one. That said, all of it was very well written. The atmosphere was perfect and even just single sentences or references were enough to make my skin crawl! I loved the mixture of psychological horror as well as the traditional gruesome things. The setting and villian were just a brilliant concept (though I won't say more! It's best to go into this one blind- you'll thank me later).
- The plot twists were also so excellent. The perfect mixture of "What the hell just happened??" and "I should've totally seen that coming!" The dual timelines were also an excellent way to keep me engaged as well as to let me rest a little bit from some of the horrors!
- The characters were really the beating heart of the story so I can't finish this review without mentioning them. Each had their own trauma and things to deal with and they were all wonderfully unique. I really felt for all of them and the eventual character development was so satisfying. I also love how much thought was put into each of their relationships and dynamics. It really brought them all to life and made me feel like I was reading what could be a true account. Their bond was lovely too. It brought warmth to what otherwise could have felt like just a cold and unfeeling horror story- found family is just the best! Some of their conflicts did feel a little bit repetitive (I just wanted to know what happens next!) but not to a distracting degree and the variety of the setting meant that it wasn't too much of an issue.
- Overall, an excellent halloween read! Dark and gory and sad but thrilling at the same time. I hesitate to call it 'fun' because of how dark the subject matter was, but I can't deny that I did have a lot of fun reading this. I've got to try more of this author! In fact, my finger may have just slipped and bought Wanderers. Oops.

I recently "discovered" Chuck Wendig with Black River Orchard. Since that reading, I've scoured the land for every single thing he's written! This book did NOT disappoint. The story is unsettling and daunting the whole way through! Plenty of nailbiter (see what I did?) moments and jump in your seat scares! Since House of Leaves, I have ALWAYS loved a house that isn't a house stories. READ THIS!!!!

Great setup and amazingly creative haunted house story. My only complaint is that it was 50 or so pages too long. I wish they cut out some of the repetitiveness but overall great character development and story.

The Staircase in the Woods is about a group of friends who find themselves in a mysterious circumstance that ends in one of their friends going missing. Now years later they are brought back to search for him and get wrapped up in a mystery even bigger than they originally anticipated.

This book wrapped itself up in my brain as the characters themselves were wrapped up. I kept finding myself being pulled back to read it because I needed to know what happened next. I would definitely agree with this being a thriller because reading it placed you right there with them feeling their fear, anticipation and nervousness at every page turn. The characters were well written and all shared their imperfections in a way that made the story feel real and made you hurt along with them as they worked to solve the situation they found themselves in.

I feel like this is a book that will live in my head rent free for a while and one I can't wait to add to my bookshelf so I can pick it back up when it twists itself around in my brain again. I would definitely recommend it if you are a fan of thrillers.

Chuck Wendig’s latest novel, The Staircase in the Woods, is due to be released April 29, 2025. This review follows receipt of an Advance reader’s copy. In it, Wendig revisits Alice in Wonderland, but thumping to a much more modern beat. The focus of the events is the mysterious appearance of two staircases decades apart and, as you might have guessed, climbing the staircases are like falling down the rabbit hole, leading to strange adventures, some fueled by psychedelic drugs. We are told at the beginning of the story that friendship is like a house and you move into a place together, each find your own room, and share other places. You put your heart out, we are told, but sometimes friendship, like a house, can go bad too, sour, dry rotting.

The story follows a group of five childhood friends in two different timelines. One timeline is high school years as the five, interconnected because they are part of the Covenant by which they have agreed to always have each other’s backs for life, but still having issues with each other, take a camping trip in the woods and there, lo and behold, find a mysterious metal stairway that seemingly is out of place and leads nowhere. Matty climbs it and disappears. Lore, tripping on acid, can’t figure out what happened. Nick, Owen, and Hamish are puzzled. What is more the police and Matty’s family are puzzled and suspicious too, particularly when Matty’s pack is found at the bottom of a cliff. His family bars the Covenant from the funeral, blaming them for whatever happened to Matty.

Fast forward a few decades, Hamish is married and has three children, Owen is working part-time at a used bookstore, and Lore is creating online games. But when told to come to Nick’s funeral – cancer he says- they all, despite barely having contact for decades, drop everything and run.

You guessed it. Another stairway has appeared and it is time for the crew to go find Matty after giving up on him all those years ago. What follows then is a trip down through the rabbit hole where they find themselves in an endless maze of rooms and every time they open a door they find another room, more frightening than the last.

The story is about the evolving relationships between these now-grown persons and their frantic and possibly desperate exploration of these strange new worlds, each room being more sinister and possibly deadly than the last.

This house hates you.

In the summer of 1998, five teenagers go into the woods for a night of drinking and revelry, but only four come back out. Present day (2024 at the time of reading this, 2025 once it’s officially out,) the gang is called back together. Their friend Nick has terminal cancer, and he wants one last hurrah with his comrades.

However…Nick isn’t being entirely truthful. The friends have to confront what happened that night, when Matty climbed a staircase to nowhere and disappeared, and must retrace his footsteps on this new one to hopefully find him and solve the mystery.

The Staircase in The Woods is a love letter to Anomaly games, to the backrooms, to stories of mysterious staircases and the people who vanished nearby. It’s about getting lost and being found, confronting your deepest fears and learning those of your friends. It’s about what happens to a house when the love vanishes, when cruel acts change it from a heart to hurt.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House/Del Rey for giving me a chance to read and review this! The Staircase in The Woods publishes April 28, so don’t forget to preorder or reserve a copy from your local bookstore!

I’ve read some Chuck Wendig before and I absolutely loved it but this book specifically I could not put down. From the get go I was instantly pulled into this story; from the past to the present of this group of friends I wanted to know more about the book is creepy, eerie and just fun. Overall a fun read that you will want to finish in a day. Highly recommend.

I received a free advanced copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I liked the premise and start of Chuck Wendig's "The Staircase in the Woods." It is creepy and dense in its plotting, detailing, and pacing. It kept me intrigued.

My struggle was the characters. I disliked them all so there were points when I just didn't care what happened to them. I lost track sometimes simply because I was speed reading through parts that featured particularly annoying characters. I do believe that the characters are not supposed to be likable, but they were not pleasant to spend time with, not even to 'enjoy' disliking them. I could not stand Lore/Lauren from the first and she never got better. I didn't like them as a group of frenemies much less friends.

I liked Wendig's previous book that I read, Black River Orchard, but this one was a struggle and again, it was mostly due to the characters.

This was absolutely amazing!! I was so scared for most of the book, and it reminded me of House of Leaves with the rooms constantly changing. I also enjoyed the friendship aspect, and how each person had their flaws. This was perfect for the spooky season!

𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
𝗥𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: April 29, 2025
𝗔𝗥𝗖 𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪:

This was fantastic. Dual timelines, well carved out and written characters, the storyline was flawless and the fact that I find finding a staircase in the middle of the woods that appears and the disappears…the creepiest EVER, this book had my full attention and I read this in one entire sitting. We follow this group of 5 kids who find this staircase and 4 go on to lead their lives until decades go by and they are back together to find their friend who never made it out those years before. This book will definitely get your heart racing and your anxiety running around in a circle. You have the eerie horror vibes that I expected from this read but the twists and turns as well is wild. We are given a book full of secrets, dreadful feelings, fast pacing and a story about true friendship. I would recommend this to ALL of my bookish friends.

𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗦: Secrets, Horror, Eerie Vibes, Friendships, Secrets, Jealousy, Mental Health

Large thank you to our Author, NetGalley as well as Random House Worlds, Del Rey

Okay, so never climb random staircases sitting in the woods. Got it. I mean, I don't think I have the requisite amount of bravery needed to do such a thing anyway (I would have hauled myself in the opposite direction so quickly that there would have been a smoke trail) and I probably never would have agreed to camp out in the woods to begin with (eww, bugs), but it's still good to have a list of this stuff, I think.

But, yeah, this one was creepy. It's hard to say much without spoiling things, but it leans pretty heavily on the classic “a group of friends return home to right a supernatural wrong that occurred when they were teenagers” trope. That's not a bad thing – it's one of my favorite tropes in all of literature, probably due to me having read Stephen King's It at far too young and influenceable of an age – but expect the usual flashbacks and adults with major unresolved trauma and such. And it is kind of It-ish in parts: the initial summoning home by the one person who stayed behind, the single female friend who is the object of a secret crush, the fat kid turned not fat adult, and a teenage gangbang. Ha ha, just kidding on that last one … that's all King (thank goodness).

Once the adult group of friends – and I don't think I'm spoiling anything to say this because the book blurb hints at it really, really strongly – ascend the staircase in the woods for the second time, things get supremely wonky. Everything that comes afterward is (initially) confusing and disturbing and kind of sad, but it's also completely enthralling. It's a horror story, for sure, but it's also a story of friendship and guilt and grief and letting go of the past, and it's almost unputdownable (figuratively, anyway - I had to put it down a lot since my husband being home from work for two weeks totally disrupted my reading schedule).

My one minor complaint? The writing is a little repetitive at times. It's mostly unavoidable due to the nature of the book, I think, but there's definitely a lot of rehashing the same subjects and doing the same things over and over. It isn't a huge distraction from the story and it's kind of necessary to the plot, but it's something to be aware of, I suppose.

So, yeah. Overall, The Staircase in the Woods a creepy and entertaining read that takes an old horror trope in new directions. If you're a fan of creepy staircase horror (which may or may not be a subgenre that I just made up), definitely considering giving this one a read. 4.35 stars, rounded down.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Del Ray for providing me with an advance copy of this book to review. It's expected publication date is April 29, 2025.

This eARC was provided by Netgalley.com and I am giving an unbiased review.

Wendig has done a wonderful job of creating yet another thriller story! This stand-alone novel takes us on a guilt-trip for a group of friends that lasts for years. As adults, they are tricked into climbing a random staircase found int he woods that takes to a place none would have suspected, for a goal that int heir hearts, they believe they want.

What is it about random staircases showing up in weird places, yet not in cities, etc? I did not take the time to 'Google' it, but either way, Wendig has taken an unexpected element and made it a focal point of a story. The novel is a nice read, and though not quite a horror story, does bring in elements that could make it considered as such. Overall, was a good read for the day, and look forward to future stories from this author.

I don’t read a ton of horror, but I absolutely loved this book and will be thinking about it for months to come. The premise is familiar & deeply unsettling: finding a staircase in the middle of the woods. I’ve read reddit no sleep stories about such a thing that stuck with me for years, so once I saw the title of this I knew I had to read it. Add in old friends coming back together after a traumatic event (which is one of my favorite tropes) & you have one of the best books I’ve read all year.

The characters are all SO well written. You pick up on so many details about them, their psyche, their trauma, how they feel about each other as well as the world around them. By the end of the book I cared about each of them despite various faults, I understood where all of them came from. There were even little bits of them, phrases here & there, that made them all feel so real to me, like they were no different than me or my friends.

The storyline went far beyond what I would have imagined given the initial plot summary. It was scary, it was gory, it crawled into my mind & didn’t leave until I finally finished.

I can’t recommend this book enough. This was my first ARC & I didn’t go into it expecting a ton, I hadn’t heard of the author (since I don’t read much horror) & thought maybe because of the premise being familiar that the writing would feel juvenile, but I was beyond wrong. It was fantastic. 10/10!!

My only gripes are; I don’t like the use of the word unalived. It is timely, but the word itself is just ugh. I don’t want it coming into everyone’s vocabulary. I also would’ve liked a few more chapters but I do feel like things tied up nicely & understand the impact the end being where it was had on the story.

Thank you to NetGalley for letting me read this early!!!