Chuck Wendig is an author that can do no wrong in my eyes. And this book is no exception. A journey through a mysterious creepypasta, but with some answers this myth doesn't usually have, Wendig does it again.

A non-stop creeptfest, filled with horrific visuals, the story never lets up. It's as scary as it is fun. Lore, formerly Lauren, is one of four that make the plot interesting as you experience the story through the eyes of all four of the main characters. The mystery of what happens to Matty hangs in the air throughout and is tense as it is horrific.

Be sure to check out the novel when it is released in April 2025 and always, give Wendig a chance.

What a strange, strange book. It involves a group of friends that had gone their own separate ways after the night their friend disappeared. One brings them all together to try and figure out what happened that night many years ago. What happens are so many twists and turns. The characters all have very unique personalities and they are drawn out well throughout the book. The only thing I struggled with was some of the slang that was used in the book, but it was very enjoyable.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Worlds for gifting me this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was ok. I had higher hopes for it and found myself eager to just finish it so there were parts of the text I skimmed through. At times it was overly descriptive and adjectives were in patterns of three which I found irritating.

Storyline wise, it was the best part. Whilst I didn’t enjoy the jumping back and first through time, I did enjoy each character development and understanding their thought processes. The ending was kind of abrupt but it did leave me wanting to know more.

Thanks to NetGalley for the arc!

Five best friends, all with difficult lives, go camping in their hometown woods. They see a staircase that seemingly leads to nowhere, when one goes up and never comes back down, they realize they’ve encountered something dangerous, possibly supernatural, and no one will believe them…they become the town outcasts, weirdo, murderers.

Nick, hardass and kind of an asshole, has a secret he hasn’t shared with a soul, but his friends are his reprieve. Being with them makes him laugh, allows him to enjoy life. Hamish, the clown, the chunky one, the stoner, always down for anything, even if anything means smashing his face into a tree, but “whatever dude.” Owen, the emo one. His life sucks and his parents are horrendous, he’s secretly (so he thinks) in love with Lauren, the only girl in the group, and heavily leans on her for support. Laur (later Lore), is the smart one, the edgy one, the girl who’s constantly alone at home due to her moms numerous men, therefore finds comfort in being with the group, all together, all the time. She knows Owen is in love with her but what no one knows is she’s in love with the last member of our group, Matty. Matty is the odd one of the group, he has a seemingly great home life, he’s the golden boy, good at all he does, the star of anything he commits to. This forms “The Covenant.” When those words are spoken, you drop everything and help your friends. You come together. They’ve all used the phrase, all except Matty.

“They were each the other’s respite. A safe space, a found family, a real home, existing wherever they each were at any time—they could always shelter in place with one another. They were more than just a clique, more than just fellow wanderers. They were the crew, bound by their Covenant.”

So when Matty and Laur get into an argument during their camping trip, Matty decides to goes up those stairs they stumbled upon, he calls covenant but no one follows. And so begins the end of their friendships as they knew them. But Nick…he never gave up the search. While everyone else went off to college and started their new lives sans Matty, doing anything they could, even if damaging to themselves and others, to move on from Matty’s disappearance and the trauma of the weeks after, Nick searched. He researched every random door and staircase appearance. When he gets sick and calls the covenant home…they come home to another staircase. And so they enter a world more horrifying then they ever expected. They go in together but may come out solo…or never again.

“Home becomes another name for that place where monsters go to hide and do their terrible work.”

Leaving you with the first passage in the book, the moment I knew this was for me, that made me gasp at its beauty…

“Friendship is like a house,” she said to him, his head cradled in her lap. “You move into this place together. You find your own room there, and they find theirs, but there’s all this common space, all these shared places. And you each put into it all the things you love, all the things you are. Your air becomes their air. You put your hearts on the coffee table, next to the remote control, vulnerable and beautiful and bloody. And this friendship, this house, it’s a place of laughter and fun and togetherness too. But there’s frustration sometimes. Agitation. Sometimes that gets big, too big, all the awful feelings, all that resentment, building up like carbon monoxide. Friendship, like a house, can go bad, too. That air you share? Goes sour. Dry rot here, black mold there, and if you don’t remediate, it just grows and grows. Gets bad enough, one or all of you have to move out. And then the place just fucking sits there, abandoned. Empty and gutted. Another ruin left to that force in the world that wants everything to fall apart. You can move back into a place like that, sometimes. But only if you tear it all down and start again.”

*Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Del Rey, for providing this digital ARC with me in exchange for my honest opinion. This was the BEST book I’ve read this year.

To start I would like to thank Netgalley, Random House Publishing Group, and Chuck Wendig for the opportunity of being able to read this book as an ARC.

Overall I enjoyed this book.. I was so excited to read this due to my past love of CreepyPasta stories and NoSleep stories on Reddit. The creepiness of this book was great, I loved the idea of all the different rooms and their stories. Honestly I wish I could have got the background story on all the rooms. I was okay with the ending as well, this is the kind of book that I would LOVE to see adapted into a movie. Now, the reason this was only a 3.5 star book. The characters were really hard to actually like, they were each supposed to have their own messed up pasts and trauma but they all seemed so 2D and just bland. I also was not much of a fan of the random political fights and how hard the author tried to put all these “woke” thoughts into it. It did absolutely nothing for the story, not to mention annoying since you read books like this to stay away from reality. I also felt like at some points nothing was happening, like the book was at a standstill and there was really nothing left for them to do. It was a decent book, I wouldn’t read it again but I’d probably recommend it to certain people.

I love how the reconnection of friends feels fresh in a sea of books written within this genre with these familiar themes. I would read this again.

Absolutely brilliant book!
I am a big fan of this author and love the writing style!
I cant wait to read more!

This book was a wild ride—dark, unsettling, and totally gripping. The book takes nostalgia and mixes it with the grotesque in a way that’s both beautiful and horrifying. So much of it is rooted in the 90s, which made for a nostalgic backdrop I really enjoyed.

One of the standout strengths of this novel is the way it handles sensitive topics like self-harm and healing from abuse and trauma. The representation feels genuine—thoughtful, gentle, and never overdone. Wendig writes with a clarity that brings deep understanding to these subjects without sensationalizing them.

The scenes themselves? Incredible. The one with the girl in the bedroom had me glued to the page, and the electrocution scene? Absolutely unforgettable. This book is packed with moments that made me want to shout “What just happened?!” but in the best way possible. The descriptions of the beings and what the characters encounter are disgusting in the most perfect way—vivid, vile, and disturbingly real.

The characters are also a highlight. I loved and hated each of them equally, which made for such an interesting reading experience. Owen’s unhinged panic and desperation over Nick? Absolutely unrelenting. And Lore’s character, as someone who is poly, pan, and essentially nonbinary, is such a refreshing piece of LGBTQ representation.

The imagery is another win—grotesque yet stunningly written. And the book’s political undertones add a sharp layer of commentary without overwhelming the story. It’s clear Wendig put a lot of thought into every element.

My only real critique is the formatting. The italics and extra embellishments felt overdone at times and distracted from the flow. But honestly, it’s a small thing in the grand scheme of an otherwise amazing book.

If you love Stranger Things vibes, grotesque horror, and layered storytelling, this is a must-read. Oh, and don’t skip the author’s notes at the end—they really tie everything together.

*Full review to be added closer to publication!*

Chuck Wendig truly never fails to tell a horror story that is imaginative, terrifying, and will stay with you. I always think I might know what to expect from a Wendig book, but I'm never quite right and am instead always surprised--in the best ways, though! A group of teenagers were once surprised to find a mysterious staircase appear in the woods-and shocked when one of their friends disappears as a result. Later, when they are adults, the friends are brought together again when the staircase reappears and they want to find out what happened to their friend. This was everything I love in an eerie story and I was so hooked on this entire premise and what happens as this group begins to explore. There's plenty of horror and suspense, of course, but also a lot in the way of character development and an exploration of friendships and relationship dynamics that are explored as well, both of which are things that Wendig excels at. I cannot wait for this book to be released and I am so grateful for the opportunity to read this one. I had a blast!

Chuck Wendig is quickly becoming a favorite author of mine. It seems like he knows just the right thing to write about to really make me dive in and keep reading. His latest, The Staircase in the Woods, is part old Stephen King group of kids coming up story and part liminal spaces nightmare.

The book centers around a group of friends who have a "Covenant" where they will always have the back of the other members of the group. This covenant shows up when one member is getting bullied, someone needs help passing a grade, and even doing yardwork when you weren't able to make it to an event. These friends are with each other through thick and thin...until they aren't. A friend goes missing after walking up a flight of stairs randomly in the woods and it shakes them to the core. The covenant is all but dissolved as the events spiral out of control as well as the life of each covenant member. Each person goes their own way in life and eventually they all lose touch. That is, until one covenant member reaches out years later with a lead on their missing friend and invokes the covenant to get the others to come help him search. Even after the decades since the event, the friends drop everything and meet back up to find out why happened to their friend while putting themselves in incredible danger of the supernatural variety.

The book was a great read and I highly recommend it to others who enjoy dark supernatural thrillers. Bonus points if you enjoy things like the backrooms or other liminal spaces. One thing to caution, there is some dark stuff in here. Suicide, child abuse, murder...it's all there and covered pretty in depth. This book really goes into some dark areas and it's all the better for it, but just know what you're getting into.

All in all, glad I picked this one up and I plan to read more of Wendig in the future.

Thanks to Random House Worlds | Del Rey and NetGalley who provided me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

Chuck Wendig's The Book of Accidents blew my mind a few years ago. It was scary, relentlessly paced, and was one of several titles that reinvigorated my love for horror novels, hence the many stacks of them covering most flat surfaces in my home. His latest, the intriguingly titled The Staircase in the Woods, might be even better.

Anyone that has spent some time reading "creepy pastas" online or generally browsing r/creepy has probably heard of staircases in the woods. You can find photos both fictional and real (abandoned homes, typically) of such all over the web, and even some physical tourist attractions if you want to see one in person. I would advise you don't try to find the staircase featured in Wendig's new novel, though. This book tells the story of a friend group -- five youths who have formed what they call The Covenant, in which they swear to always have each other's back -- and the thing that happened during their teen years that haunts them, now down one member, for years to come.

You see, one planned trip to have some fun away from the world in their local woods ends terribly when Matty, the well-liked school/sports/social standout of the group, climbs a mysterious staircase they've unexpectedly stumbled upon. He gets to the top and steps/jumps off... and disappears. The other friends panic. They search for him, thinking he's playing some sort of joke. They eventually stage it so people will think he has maybe fallen off of a cliff, and, this being the 1990s, the community blames them for the popular kid's disappearance, anyway. They're kind of strange kids, after all -- maybe this is one of those Satanic things!

It's not, of course. What it actually is for the group is a friendship-fracturing disaster that follows them around forever. Owen, a nervous, self-doubting teen with a deadbeat dad, was jealous of Matty's relationship with Lore. Lore, who was mad at Matty the night of his disappearance, carries that burden around. Nick, the clown but also the hothead of the group, willingly takes most of the heat for the disappearance by admitting to the police that there had been drugs and alcohol involved that night and gets sent off to juvie. Hamish, who struggles with his self-image, turns to religion and fitness and, well, Republican politics.

Years pass and Lore has made a name for herself in the world of video game development. She has done so by perhaps abandoning Owen on a project they had dreamed up together, which has left him deeply resentful. Hamish has made himself successful and fit and has gotten married and had kids, but bickers with Lore about politics and has a few secrets of his own. Nick has spent years emailing everyone asking them to come back to their hometown to help look for Matty again, often including online posts about similar staircases in the woods. Now, though, something forces everyone to finally return: Nick has informed them that he has cancer and doesn't have much time left.

Owen finds the courage to hop on a plane. Lore is struggling with her game and her guilt over her final night with Matty, so she's in, too. Hamish seems excited to see his friends despite the somber occasion. And Nick? Well, he might have some surprises in store. He gets everyone back home but hasn't arranged hotel rooms for them like they expect. No, he's got something else in mind. A trip into the woods. Into the woods where he has once again discovered a strange staircase standing all on its own. And this time, everyone is climbing it. Once they do, all hell breaks loose... or does it surround them?

You see, at the top of that staircase is a house. It's a strange house. The rooms don't make sense and the doors shift. There are horrors to be found everywhere. Grief and terror seep from the very walls. And every passing room is going to push Owen, Lore, Hamish, and Nick further into the dark depths of their "Covenant," their minds, and their very understanding of reality. To talk much about the labyrinth they find themselves in would be to spoil the sweat-inducing and nightmare-fueling brilliance of Wendig's novel, so that's all I'll divulge here.

Chuck's prose, as ever, is clear and concise and will have you flipping through pages and chapters with horrified joy. The sign of any good book is that constant feeling that you just have to read one more page, and The Staircase in the Woods doesn't disappoint on that front. I may have extended one (or two... ) of my lunch breaks at work to tear through another few chapters. Just when you think you have a handle on what Wendig's shifting house at the top of the stairs is really about, he twists things on you again. The scares aren't limited to sights and sounds. Deep-rooted anxieties, repressed memories, and relived traumas are all fair game once the friends climb those steps. It's riveting stuff that I thoroughly enjoyed and plan on bugging all of my reading friends to check out as soon as it hits shelves next year. This one's a new favorite.

Five high school friends went in the woods for a campout. Four came out. What happened to the fifth has remained a mystery to people. As time went by and Matty's body was never recovered, each of the remaining four has had to move on with their lives. Or have they really moved on?

Years later one of the remaining four has called all of the rest back. Back to their hometown. Back to the woods. Back to the abandoned staircase that sits in the woods. Back to Matty? Now all four must confront what really happened that night, as well as who they have become.

I really enjoyed The Staircase in the Woods. It was super creepy. Keep me up at night creepy; yet I still kept reading because I had to know what happened. "The Convenant" core friendship group in this novel reminded me of the kids in Stand By Me or It. In fact a lot of the story gave me the feeling of a great Stephen King book (and I mean that as a compliment). Supernatural, examining the dark side of life, but at its core a story of friendship. I highly recommend.

Thank you to Penguin Random House for gifting me an advance readers copy of this book. I enjoyed it so much!

Well this was a wild ride that I was not expecting it to be. Excellent. You will be up all night finishing this one.

Thank you to the publisher for allowing me an advanced readers copy to enjoy!

"The Staircase in the Woods" is a story centers on five high school buddies, who in a camping trip, lost one of their friends. They all discover a staircase in the middle of the woods. One decides to climb the staircase and vanishes. This leaves a traumatic toll on the remaining 4 who face suspicion from the public. Decades later, the staircase reappears and the 4 agree to climb it to search for their long lost friend, only to find themselves trapped in a surreal, ever-changing environment, confronting personal demons and the complexities of their friendship as they seek to uncover the truth behind the staircase and their friend's disappearance. The story delves into themes of friendship, guilt, and the passage of time, blending supernatural elements with psychological horror. Recommended.

Ok so a fun fact about me is that a few years ago I went down a Reddit rabbit hole about people finding random staircases in the woods, and it scared me so much I had nightmares for weeks. Obviously they were all made up, but when I saw this ARC on NetGalley I HAD to request it and scare myself all over again. This was sooo spooky, and the scariest books to me are the ones that are half actual horror and half horror from trauma, which this absolutely was. I was a little bit disappointed with the ending, as I wish there had a been a few more chapters so we could find out what happened with *that* character, but overall I really enjoyed this!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Worlds for sending me this book!

This is one of my favorite new authors in the horror genre. I love his writing style and characters. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

Always have been fascinated with the idea of abandoned staircases in forests, creepy yes, but there is something eerily fascinating about them. Then again it may be due to my creepy pasta phase.

Anyways, the book captivated me from the beginning with characters, the disappearance of their friend Matty, however, halfway through I did start to lose momentum as I found the story arc and happenings a bit redundant with the changing of the rooms and then the possession. However, the ending was intriguing and reads a bit like a movie ending of "tbc".

Enjoyable book for one who likes friendships, fear, and twisting labyrinths of rooms and creepy happenings.

Reading the ARC of this novel, thanks to NetGalley and the publisher.

So to be clear, I read to 53%, skimmed a bit, then read the last two chapters because I was done with the seemingly endless place of creepiness but needed to know if it ended. It does! Sort of. I can recommend it to those of you who enjoy puzzles that get very personal to the characters and are confusing and upsetting and weird.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a copy of The Staircase in the Woods by Chuck Wendig.

This book is honestly hard to describe because of its incredible layers and complexity. The story completely blew my mind.

It begins with a group of friends who go camping and stumble upon a mysterious staircase in the woods. From there, a series of strange and unsettling events unfolds, culminating in one of the friends climbing the staircase and disappearing without a trace.

Years later, the group returns to search for their missing friend, only to find themselves trapped in a nightmarish house of horrors. They must work together not only to survive, but to preserve their sanity as they face escalating dangers.

The Staircase in the Woods is a fantastic blend of mystery, thriller, and horror. Its unique storyline, combined with a tense, almost game-like atmosphere, will keep you hooked, constantly questioning what’s going to happen next and how the characters will escape. If you're looking for a truly original and mind-bending story, this is a must-read.

From the eerie allure of an impossible staircase to the haunting bonds of a fractured friendship, Chuck Wendig delivers a story that is both terrifying and profoundly human. The Staircase in the Woods is an electrifying fusion of horror, mystery, and emotional drama that lingers long after the final page. With masterful prose, a tautly-wound plot, and characters so real they feel like old friends, Wendig will have your heart racing and your stomach clenching between deep emotional scenes and moments of genuine horror. Buckle up — this isn’t a story for the faint hearted; it’s an unforgettable journey into the unknown.

At the heart of the novel are the five members of 'The Covenant', whose lives are forever altered by one terrifying moment when their friend disappears up the titular staircase in the woods. Twenty years on they have each dealt with the fall out of this event in different, often self destructive, ways and grown apart. Now with the return of the staircase its time to try to find and save their friend - little do they know the horrors they will experience. Wendig skillfully alternates between the past and the present, showing how their relationships have evolved and fractured over the years. Each character feels layered and authentic, with personal struggles that enhance the stakes beyond the search for their friend to their very survival. Whether it’s the guilt of leaving someone behind, the longing for closure, or the terror of confronting the unknown, the emotional beats hit just as hard as the horror is unsettling.

And the horror is both unsettling and disturbing. The central mystery of the staircase is the kind of premise that gets under your skin but this is not just a mystery romp through the woods. Wendig shines a distorted mirror on each character’s deepest fears, regrets, or memories, blending psychological terror with body horror and surreal, otherworldly menace. While each horror is deeply personal to the characters vulnerabilities they're also things that speak to the shared human experience, if you've ever been a nail biter, afraid of something under the bed or struggled to silence that voice in your head, you may find them hitting close to home yourself.

While the novel delivers its fair share of chills and unsettling moments, it’s the themes of friendship, loyalty, and redemption that really take it somewhere special. The Staircase in the Woods is just as much about the bonds between people as it is about the otherworldly terror they face. And its how relatable and realistic these themes are that make the moments of horror all the more gut wrenching. At some point in our lives we've all had that group of friends that just grew apart, met up with an old friend only to realise they weren't the same person anymore, or held that grudge long after others have moved on. Wendig asks big questions: How far would you go for someone you love? What happens when grief, guilt, and fear collide? How well do we ever really know the people in our lives, even our best friends?

More than just a creepy staircase, this is a story about the ghosts of the past, fractured friendships, and the lengths we'll go to set things right. The Staircase in the Woods is a haunting reminder that the scariest journeys are often the ones we take within ourselves and that sometimes, the hardest thing to face is the past. For those who love their supernatural horror with soul, Chuck Wendig is here to hit you where it hurts with this unforgettable journey.

Thank you to Del Ray for providing a DRC in exchange for an honest review via NetGalley.