Thank you NetGalley and Random House Worlds For the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I growing my love of Chuck Wendig with every hook he puts out. The Book of Accidents got me hooked. Black River Orchard made me fall in love. And now The Staircase in the Woods may push me over into obsessed. The characters are real and interesting, the writing is absolutely captivating, the creepy factor is impeccable. It could very easily be too gory and visceral for some people but the detailed horror serves a dark beautiful purpose. And that ending… just perfect.

Long past due, old friendships gather again, as a dying friend invokes what they call the Covenant, meaning, it’s time to face the dangers of their past. So four friends merge for a camping trip that’s really a mission trip- to find out what really happened to Matty and that staircase… hence the name, right?

This book comes in hot (go Lore) and it was fantastic. Easy to read and hard to put down. Once they start laying into the flashback, it does go on a too long, as it feels a little lackluster. Some of it I would have liked more sprinkled in throughout, instead of focused in one section.

The story is an interesting concept; it’s right in the cusp of being jaw dropping but the author never takes it quite there. It needed a little bit more, to make it unique. As a novel trying to sell them as a tight knit group of friends in their youth, they didn’t seem to know much about each other. Written well, the uneven pacing did throw me off a bit.

So imagine getting stuck in a house of your childhood trauma- and that is a Staircase in the Woods in a synopsis. But I do wish the ending felt more final.

Creepypasta meets found family in 'The Staircase in the Woods.' The heart of the story rests in the trope of found family and what happens when a friend disappears. The book is reminiscent of early King. The characters are well fleshed out and developed. I enjoyed the creepiness of the staircase in both timelines: when they were teenagers and 20 years later. 5 stars.

ARC REVIEW: The Staircase in the Woods by Chuck Wendig 🚪


“𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚞𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖𝚜 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚖. 𝙰𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚒𝚝, 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚑𝚒𝚖. 𝚃𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚑𝚒𝚖. 𝙻𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚙𝚒𝚙𝚎. 𝚂𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚛𝚎. 𝙳𝚒𝚐𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗, 𝚊 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚜𝚙𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚍𝚒𝚛𝚝, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚞𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚘𝚙 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚍.”
(quote subject to change)
🏠🏠🏠

Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars


Okaaaay @chuck_wendig I see you!! This was such a good one and now I’m gonna be running to read the rest of his backlist! 🏃‍♀️

“The Staircase in the Woods” was something I immediately wanted to read and I’m so glad i was able to get an early copy so thank you to @delreybooks and @netgalley in exchange for an honest review!

This was kinda everything I didn’t know I wanted in a horror book. I would say this one reads a little like literary horror maybe? It’s a pretty chonky book for a horror novel (unless you’re comparing it to a King novel in which case it is basically a novella 🤣) but the slow burn mystery carried me almost effortlessly to the end.

I absolutely love Chuck Wendig’s writing style, he certainly knows the craft well enough to really immerse you in the setting and feel the claustrophobic nature of it all.

I also loved the retro 90’s vibes and emphasis on video games. If you are a video game fan, I think you’d really enjoy the storytelling featured here! Liminal spaces is a pretty trendy thing right now in recent horror games and gotta say, that same feeling was nailed here 🤌🏻👾

I also love whenever mental health is sort of a “monster” in a horror story in various ways and Wendig did such a fantastic job of weaving it in beautifully and gently.

I will absolutely be grabbing a physical copy of this one for a permanent spot on my horror shelf (and cannot WAIT to see the Evernight copy)!

PUB DATE: 4/29

This is my first novel by Chuck Wendig. Unfortunately it did not work for me. The writing story did not pull me in and I struggled to turn the pages and then hesitated to pick it up. I just didn’t get the thrill I was wanting

Scary, suspenseful, and just a little bit weird, Staircase in the Woods kept my attention from start to finish. The cast of characters were likeable while remaining incredibly flawed, and the conceit of a random staircase in the woods that leads to another dimension is enough to make me keep my eyes peeled in the woods (and no, I would not climb it). I think my only complaint is that the book ended without giving us all the answers- and I want ALL the answers. It felt like it didn't quite pay off in the way I wished it did.

Still another 5 star book by Chuck Wendig for me, although Black River Orchard remains my favorite so far.

Five high school friends go into the woods to camp one night. And only 4 come out. Now, 20 years later, the four remaining friends are back to try to find their missing friend.

This is creepy and weird, everything you'd want from a haunted woods story. The four remaining friends are of course struggling with their guilt and also the mystery of their friend. A good solid spooky story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for providing me with an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Available April 29, 2025

Gotta say, I am never disappointed by a Chuck Wendig horror/suspense novel. I’ve been looking forward to reading this one since I was approved for it, but there were a few books ahead of it! I loved it.

While the novel focuses on a group of five characters, the story is told from the points of view of only two of the five.

Lore is a game designer/writer and the only female in the group. She’s successful and likes to spend the rewards of her success. Lore struggles with her mental health. She won’t rely on anyone to help her out. She is what she is.

Owen is probably the least likely to belong to this group. He’s more of an introvert and reckless really isn’t in his vocabulary. At one time, Lore was his best friend. They planned to become game designers together. But something happened along the way, and now he floats from job to job just to stay alive.

Rounding out the group are Hamish, the hippie of the group; Matty, the overachiever; and Nick, the reckless one.

Back in high school the five took a camping trip. A staircase appeared out of nowhere in the woods. Stoned, drunk, and foolhardy, one of them ascends the staircase and disappears. For the next twenty years the remaining four go their separate ways. Until one of them brings the group back together, at a new staircase. It’s time to try to find their friend.

Truly a horrifying yet epic story about the bonds of friendship and what you are willing to sacrifice. The way this one ended makes me wonder if there is a follow up to this story. I hope there is, because I am dying to know what comes next.


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I liked this story a lot. It wasn’t what I expected, in a good way. It follows a group of high school friends who once found a mysterious staircase in the middle of the forest. One of them walked up and never came back, and the staircase vanished. Now, twenty years later, it’s reappeared, and the group returns to find out what really happened.

The mystery is super compelling, and I loved the mix of supernatural horror and emotional fallout. That said, Wendig’s writing style can be a bit much for me. It's very quippy and over the top at times, which pulled me out of it here and there. But overall, the concept and atmosphere were strong enough to carry it.

Wendig takes the haunted house trope, shakes it up and hurls out into the woods. The wild ride begins when high school friends, their bond long known as The Covenant, reunite decades after their friend Matty takes a mysterious staircase into oblivion. Be prepared for twists and turns, deep and possibly triggering character studies, and to suddenly look at houses and homes with paranoia.

This is a twisted and dark, psychological mystery novel about 5 kids who went out to party one night and ended up finding a "Staircase in the Woods" (lol, a fitting title). One of the kids, Matty, climbs the staircase and is never seen again. Time jump to several years in the future, the 4 remaining friends reconnect and find a second staircase, they make the hard decision to risk everything, in hopes of finding Matty again.

I am giving this 3.5 stars, I didn't hate or love it, but it was intriguing enough to keep me going. There were some creepy/chilling moments that won't leave my brain. But I think this book is more focused on the psychological aspects, as far as, how far can we push these people until they break and will their bond of friendship hold through one of the scariest/ most bizarre moments of their life. This book is written like a movie in your head, which is great for anybody that can picture the scenes while reading. I was definitely getting Cabin in the Woods/ Monster House vibes while reading this, just kind of the "WTF is happening right now in this house".

I think the story seemed to drag on at some point during the middle of the book, where I wasn't as focused or interested in what was going on, but it picked up again. The ending felt a tad rushed, but I am satisfied with the story overall. I would (and will) recommend this to anyone looking to read something spooky and unsettling.

Big thanks to Random House/Del Rey and, of course, NetGalley for this reading opportunity.

A suspensful dark novel about a group of friends. and staricases in the woods. This deeply thrilling novel left me wanting more, but not after I had slowly staked my way through the 50% mark. Don`t get me wrong, when the halfwaymark passed I just needed to know where the story went, hence my three star rating.

The characters are pretty unlikable, so be prepared of the nagging feeling of always wanting to scream at the characters, but I do believe they needed to be that way to fulfil the story`s premise.

All in all a good mystery/suspense novel

2.5 stars, rounded up 'cause I'm feeling generous.

It's not me, Chuck Wendig. It's you. (It might be a little bit me.)

I just didn't enjoy this book very much. I didn't hate reading it, but I didn't enjoy it either. I was pretty excited about it because I love the original "staircase in the woods" creepypasta (look it up on r/nosleep if you're not familiar) but this didn't really have much to do with the staircase, and more with where it takes you.

I agree with the other reviewers who pointed out that the characters were unlikeable. There wasn't anyone to root for - I found Hamish the least abrasive, and Nick didn't have much of a personality to begin with. I don't know if this is a one-off or if Wendig just sucks at writing women, but Lore/Lauren was the worst of the lot, a caricature of a screeching feminist harpy prone to screeds of "I'm pansexual, polyamorous, aromantic, AuDHD..." (this is an actual line from the dialogue) and attacking the other characters for their voting records completely out of nowhere. (And I say this as a liberal/progressive voter and activist.) She reads as the prime example of an "I'm not like other girls" girl, simultaneously promiscuous and aloof, cool because she works in tech, yet unattachable. It's an odd, hamfisted portrayal of a woman that makes me wonder if Wendig's opinion of women never progressed much past ninth grade.

The constant swearing was also over the top, and I'm no prude. Curse words should be used to highlight or punctuate a point, and lose their punch when overused, and the frequency at which they're used in this book smacks of edgelord. Not my speed.

The book itself is some combination of haunted house/slasher/body horror with a meditation on the myriad ways in which people hurt one another. The horror aspect of it isn't bad if you're a fan of the slasher/body horror genre; I think I was looking for more spooky, less bloody given the source material. It's written very cinematically, which makes me wonder if Wendig is angling for a movie deal. It wouldn't be a bad film, if they can manage to make the characters more likable.

Thank you to Net Galley and Random House Worlds for this title.

QUOTE: This place hates you....

What a strange and eerie story in the same vein as SyFy's Channel Zero and reminiscent of the novel Mister Magic.

What ends would friends go to if one were in trouble? These friends created “the covenant” just for that reason. Matty, Owen, Hamish, Nick, and Lorn (short for Lauren) would do just about anything for one another, but after Matty goes missing, these friendships would be put through the ultimate test.

Fast forward, and the now estranged friends are brought together because one has cancer. Once again, they return to the woods where another staircase has appeared, and they have decided once and for all to try to find out what happened to Matty.

This would be more than a guilt trip about their lost friend, but a rehashing of all the trauma and insecurities they faced as teenagers. The bullying in school, the neglectful parents, and memories they’d rather have buried are returning.

Once up the staircase, they arrive at a strange house that is a type of hellscape where each room is a memory of some violent crime, or a place in time.

This is so more than just a demented horror story; it talks about trauma and how trauma is addressed, and we learn about how it all came to fruition. The origin story of Dan Harrow, the creator of Harrowstown (if you read the book, this makes sense), which was planned housing communities in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. Dan loves houses; he would sketch them, and he was particularly fond of the different styles of architecture.

In 1945, while at a bar, Dan meets Eddie Naberious, and Eddie plants a seed. Eddie knew that soldiers would be returning home from the war, and they would need houses. Eddie Naberious had money and government contract connections. So they began a partnership, and by 1947, the first neighborhood would be born.

The estranged friends are angry that they didn’t do more to save Matty, that they didn’t return to the woods to look for him, which would result in the friendships falling apart as they reached adulthood.

QUOTE: “Dreams curdling fast into nightmares, it’s here a house stops being where the heart is.”

This story also explores the origins of a house. A house is just a house until people make it a home by filling it with life, adding décor, and sharing the smells of great food, giving it their love, memories, experiences, and even their hate. A home can also be a place where terrible things happen, but it's always the first thing we miss when we're away from it. What's the strongest thing in a house?... Why the staircase (of course), its grandeur, its allure, draws you in.

This staircase is a demon, a haunted vessel that appears in the woods and lures people to its mystic. The home that follows the stairs takes the most twisted memories from each person and infuses them into the house, which is why everyone’s experiences aren’t the same; it’s why Lore, Hamish, Owen, and Nick all saw and felt something different.

Talk about one scary experience. This is a story about friendship, a story about getting lost, screwing up, but managing to find your way back to your friends. Bonds are unbreakable, and the relationships that people form will always pull them through anything, even a haunted staircase.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.

strong premise, but too repetitive starting around the middle of the book / didn't feel quite like a time jump. hard to root for any of the characters, sadly.

My Rating: 4*

What an intriguing, gritty mystery which starts down a supernatural and fantastical path with 4 friends coming back together after quite a few years. Though the summary starts by talking about 5 friends walking into the woods, we in fact start with only 4 who are haunted by what happened to their friend, Matty, when they were in high school.

Now, 20 years later, Nick pulls the friends together for one more group outing, but the staircase which took their friend has reappeared and they must right the wrong they feel they committed by not following Matty the first time up the stairs.

This group of friends seems to have fallen apart over the years, with each going their own way and trying to process the trauma in whatever way they could. Lore went to create video games even though she took an idea from Owen because he wasn't doing anything with it. Owen works a part time job and is barely holding himself together as he chews his fingernails until they are bleeding. Hamish seems to have done a 180* by getting married, having kids, and becoming a mortgage broker. And finally there’s Nick, who seems to have let the guilt of letting Matty go alone, spur him to hunt through forums and conversation threads to find the staircase again. This time, when the groups find the stairs, they will all follow after their friend and try to find a clue as to what happened 20 years ago.

It’s a great mystery read with some supernatural elements and trying to process some levels of trauma and mental issues. It has some classic horror vibes and the characters are a bit unlikeable which is a part I seemed to like.

I do like a horror story about childhood friends coming back together as adults and having to deal with not just the supernatural stuff, but also the very real traumas of their past along with the changes that inevitably come from growing up. I also love a haunted house book, and this book is one in what feels like a very literal sense whilst also not really being a haunted house book at all.

I found this a genuinely scary read and one that kept tension up pretty much consistently. The characters aren’t really all that likeable, but they feel damaged and complicated and real and I nearly always prefer interesting characters over likeable ones.

The book has a lot of body horror, which I keep saying is not for me but then I keep finding myself enjoying books that have it. There were definitely moments I had to read with no eye closed (don’t ask me why that makes it easier to read, it just does!!)

Because of the nature of the plot it did feel a little repetitive in places, and the scenes in between the tension actually felt a little ‘empty’ at times. It gave you a moment to catch your breath but that moment went on just a little too long, and that made some of the pacing feel a little off.

I have not read anything from Chuck Wendig before and I was pleased to discover I really do like his writing style. I can’t wait to read more by him soon.

What a read - what a read!
Thankfully the author summarized the themes at the end - I got them right! LOL!
What a writer! Excellent representation of a queer, poly woman calling out her friend who voted for that guy. Lore's rage and expression of the political climate - YES YES YES!
I loved the theme of friendship and showing up for each other - even years, years later. Just such a well done you had no idea I was battling these issues when we were kids but that's ok. Closure. Reconnection. Forgiving your previous self.
Doing better.
Just excellent read!

Content warnings are important for this one: self-harm, suicidal ideation, domestic violence, drug abuse, child abuse, sexual abuse, rape, bullying, etc. – it’s incredibly dark.

In this thoroughly original take on the haunted house novel, Chuck Wendig takes us into the woods on a weekend in 1998, where five teenage friends, bound together by an oath to protect one another, are surprised to find a staircase standing alone in the clearing where they plan to camp. On a whim, one of them goes up the staircase… And by morning, the staircase is gone, and only four teenagers walk out of the woods. Now, twenty years later, the staircase has reappeared, and it’s time to reclaim the friend that was lost.

The Staircase in the Woods features a familiar horror trope – a group of friends reuniting in adulthood to confront something menacing from their youth – but this is Chuck Wendig, so the book is anything but ordinary or derivative. He takes the idea of a haunted house and frames it as a place where the ghosts are actually remnants of trauma, so it’s heart-wrenching as well as frightening. There are some scary moments, but even beyond those specific scenes, the entire vibe of the book is unsettling and liminal. It feels immersive and immediate; we are right there with the characters, not sure what’s going on and what will happen next. This is existential, psychological horror at its finest.

I have to confess that trauma horror, which this book also very much is, isn’t my favorite subgenre, but Wendig navigates the murky depths of his characters’ trauma with deeply-felt emotion and sensitivity. All five central characters are developed well, quirky and interesting and easy to empathize with even if they aren’t all very likable. I did struggle, though, to believe in the bond among them; the flashbacks didn’t give me quite enough. I also felt like the book lost its way a bit in the middle act, retreading some already traveled ground, but the first and last acts are stellar and make up for that.

Horror doesn’t usually serve as a meditation on the power of friendship and the difficult, worthy work of recovering from trauma, so I really appreciated that The Staircase in the Woods works to do that. Wendig is a great storyteller, and I love (and am frankly a bit scared of) the way his mind works. Thank you to Del Rey for the early reading opportunity.

This one was not for me. There are a lot of different plots going on with characters that felt half developed. The story is too long, making everything feel disjointed and sporadic.