The Staircase in the Woods is an unsettling and eerie read, perfect for spooky season. There are no jump scares or slasher-movie moments - the tension builds in a more subtle, psychological way. It makes you jumpy, has you glancing over your shoulder, and reading with the lights on—everything you want from a good horror novel. The story taps into the human condition, exploring how our relationships and inner struggles can both break and save us. It delves deep into the emotional lives of the characters, showing how the traumas and issues they dealt with as teenagers have followed them into adulthood.

The narrative jumps between past and present, which helps fill in the blanks, giving you a fuller understanding of the characters and their bond. This also adds a layer of unpredictability to the book. What initially seems like a supernatural mystery about a staircase in the woods evolves into a chilling exploration of friendship, trauma, and the passage of time.

The ending felt unresolved, and that might leave some readers craving more closure. It seems deliberate, though—perhaps to let readers interpret the conclusion on their own or to leave room for a continuation. Either way, The Staircase in the Woods is a chilling, atmospheric read that lingers long after you finish, making it a perfect pick for fans of psychological horror.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Del Rey for this ARC!

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Suicidal ideation, Suicide, Murder, Child death, Sexual abuse (parent/child), Graphic violence and gore, Animal consumption of a human body, Self-harm and extreme bodily injury

Wow—this book left me seriously unsettled! The Staircase in the Woods had me hooked right from the start. The story of five friends finding a creepy staircase in the forest on a camping trip—where one of them just disappears—gave me chills. And then, boom, twenty years later, the staircase shows up again. The way Wendig pulls you into the mystery and the tension between these friends is so intense; you feel like you’re right there with them, unraveling dark secrets. It's eerie, emotional, and totally unforgettable.

I haven't heard much from Chuck Wendig lately, so I was super stoked to receive an ARC review from Netgalley!!

The story is definitely top notch, so this review will just be a paragraph per great thing, in no particular order...

One of the challenges of the Horror Genre is it can be hard to balance tone and tension across a whole novel length piece of writing - i.e. its pretty difficult to enjoy 80,000 pages of jump scares. But what Wendig does with this book is a solid 3 act structure of horror 'tone.' Act 1 is very ominous and uncertain, sinister even. There is a sort of IT vibe without an overt clown (more on this later). Act 2 is more straight up horror, and to be honest some perhaps a little cliche moments, but it isn't overdone and we quickly shift into Act 3 which draws together existential and character driven terrors.

To go back to my comment about IT - the plot revolves around 4 of a previously 5 person group returning to the 'staircase' where their 5th went missing. I am probably very very biased in this element but the characters were so deeply millennial and flawed I couldn't get enough of them. The few flashbacks to the 90s and back to the modern time captured extremely well the strange blend of a 90s kid's life starting basically with TV to being balls deep in memes and video games.

In terms of the characters there was something quite deft in the writing of their development. I won't say that the group were the deepest character studies in literature, but it was refreshing that they weren't just crafted fictional units either. The story didn't solve their problems, not by a long shot, but it was dramatic in the changes and challenges they overcame. It's also a little myopic - fitting with the theme of the story it felt like a micro-scope on the main characters, other than the flashbacks there are barely any minor characters, we are very much deep diving into Owen, Lore, Hamish, and Nick's lives.

My final favourite thing about this book was the pacing. Alluded to in my discussion about the changes in tone, there were the odd moments in this book that I worried I was going to get bored with X situation, for example when in the first act we flashed back I though 'oh boy we're doing this now? yawn.' but my worries were misplaced. Despite these worries this book is very well penciled to keep the story moving, it felt like Goldilocks was editing because each scene and sequence seemed to have the just right amount of page time.

I wish I could deep dive a bit into spoiler territory, because there are interesting things to say about this plot, unfortunately (for me anyway) that's terrible form for an advance review, so I'll just have to be patient for the release date and hopefully dive back in later.

I fully loved this book, there were legitimately scary moments, and more than just a haunted house story. What is the definition of home, is it a place, a person, or a literal house. Also playing with the ideas of fear, what is scarier, the "ghost" in front of you or the fears you create in your own head? There is a lot to be mined here, but I will let the reader decide what they enjoy the most. I'm a big fan of this author, as he has a way of making the crazy seem really down to earth. On a personal note I don't think I have ever related more to a character in a book before. Awesome stuff here, and Wendig has a way with words.

The novel is primarily through 2 main characters, so we get to know them the most, so I will say that when something happens to one of the other characters it doesn't have as much impact on the reader.

A few other nitpicky stuff, that's easy to look past, good stuff here, and who knows where those stairs will lead.

While camping in the forest, a group of friends found a staircase in the woods. When one friend decided to climb the stairs, they disappeared at the top of the staircase and was never seen again. Twenty years later, the friends meet up again to find that the staircase has reappeared. What mysteries are at the top of the staircase, and what happened to their friend when the first staircase appeared.

Although I do not usually read horror, the synopsis of this book captivated me. I decided to give this book a chance and The Staircase in the Woods did not disappoint. I was completely invested in the mystery from page one. The dual timeline of the friends explains the traumas that each friend had faced in the past and the difficulties they faced today. The chilling atmosphere and dark mystery of this book was exactly what I wanted before Halloween.

The Staircase in the Woods is out April 29th, 2025.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Worlds for the opportunity to review The Staircase in the Woods. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Great set-up and beyond fascinating concept. I literally fell down the deepest reddit rabbit hole reading about staircases in the woods. I’m used to a slow burn from Wendig, but this definitely felt longer than its 400 pages. I found myself expecting a bit more. Very creative haunted house story, though. An emotional read with flawed, broken characters. The dynamics of friendship was my favorite part. There is one character I wish we got a POV from because I don’t feel I ever got a clear understanding of his motives.

Overall, solid horror read but not my favorite Wendig book.

This book is difficult for me to review. The premise is genius. The characters are well rounded and the house as a character is diabolically clever.
I think the biggest issue for me was the length. The middle felt very repetitive, and the ending felt rushed. I loved the ending, but the middle could have been chapters shorter.

I had no idea what to expect coming in to this, but I am forever changed by the premise of this book. Four friends experience the loss of another after they encounter a staircase hidden in the woods (a very real phenomenon- look it up!) In the style of It, they reunite years later under false pretenses to rediscover a different staircase. What's down there? Did their friend they never find become victim to the staircase? Once the friends are in the process of exploring, they find tons of terrifying tales come to life. There are ghouls and gory scenes, but above all- I found the metaphors and relatability to be so astounding. We are placed into the POV of two of the friends, and learn about the history of certain elements of the story within those. The nuance and formation there blew me away. Despite some of the buddies being grating and unlikable, it was just so genuinely written. I couldn't help but believe these were real people, maybe even ones I know. The horror within was so memorable- I won't spoil it, but there is more than one occurrence in the staircase that will stick in my brain walls forever. As an avid horror lover, I especially cherish being blessed with atrocities I've never heard of before. My only complaint- it didn't come across as super genuine for Matty to be involved with this particular friend group. It is but a small whine, so I'm waving my five star rating around proudly. Honorable mention that even the acknowledgments at the end made me truly GET Wendig as an author.
Thanks so much to the author and the publisher for the eARC!

What a fantastic plot this has! The Staircase is open to many interpretations of what is really means. I thought it was very well put together and I was able to visualise the rooms well.
Highly recommended.

This book had modern Stand By Me.IT vibes. You could feel the bonds of friendship and how it was tugged and pulled until the edges frayed and the bonds got smaller and smaller, ready to snap at any moment. The story held my attention, which isn't easy to do these days, and I enjoyed it a great deal.

This book focuses on a group of friends after their other friend mysteriously disappears. I did not expect this book to go where it did and I haven’t read anything like this. I felt like I was in a video game the entire time. The characters were complex, well written and adequately shows how delicate their friendships were after dealing with a trauma.

The author’s writing was fantastic and incredibly descriptive and gruesome. That being said, I don’t think this book was for me. I was grossed out throughout the book and had some lingering questions at the end. I would recommend checking out the trigger warnings before reading.


Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Worlds for providing me with an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley & Random House Worlds | Del Rey for this ARC! The Staircase in the Woods by Chuck Wendig is a captivating blend of horror and dark fantasy that delves into the complexities of fear and memory. The narrative follows a protagonist grappling with personal trauma as they navigate a mysterious forest and its eerie staircase, each step revealing deeper psychological truths. Wendig’s vivid prose and masterful world-building create an immersive atmosphere that both intrigues and unsettles readers. With its exploration of grief and the haunting nature of the past, this novel stands out as a thought-provoking and chilling read.

This was absolutely amazing! I was totally enthralled with this story from beginning to end, I could barely put it down, and when I finally read the last page, the house was dark, I was hungry, thirsty, needed to pee and my neck was stiff. But damn, it was worth it!

₊‧ ୨୧ 2.25 stars ◞♡

uh uh. nope.

lemme give u a quote and pls tell me if this makes u feel anything:
“stepping on puppies until they pop”

i mean eXcUsE Me 😭😭 yuck.

so ye…. this book was weird and it defs delivered on the “spooky” side of things… except it was leaning more towards disturbing than anything else.

firstly, the pacing was so confusing. at one moment they were here and the next it was half a year later and they still have phone battery left??
ye that don’t make sense.

and the characters were all unique, but i kinda hated them sometimes… but their friendship was super cute 🧸🎧

other than that, i think the writing was ok overall…

tbh i thought this was gonna be a thriller and not a horror… uhm i was wrong. like, at times i thought i would puke bc of how disgusting some things were 😀↕️

i defs recommend reading this ( when it comes out ) if u want a nice horror book with some SUPPPERRRRRRRRR slow slow-burn ( if it can even be called that 🌝 )

It started a little on the slow side for me, however, by 3/4ths I was hooked. I practically highlighted every word of that last bit. It was such a touching and profound prose.

This was much better than I was expecting! Amazing concept, so visual, and filled with horror imagery. This was incredibly atmospheric and you’re able to effortlessly visualize everything. All that you know about this book from the synopsis is only the first 30% of the book. After that, the rest is a complete mystery until you read it. Hint: what happens after they all go up the stairs that lead to nowhere and all the crazy things that happen next. It’s completely unpredictable and I had no clue what was going to happen next. Once they go up the staircase I could not put this down because I was desperate for an explanation for what was even going on.

Along with being so easy to visualize, unpredictability is this book’s other strong suit. I’ve read enough books where I can predict most things and at least have an idea of where things might go, but this was so unpredictable I had no clue or guesses what was going to happen next or where this book was even going. Those are definitely this book’s two strongest suits, the easy visualization and unpredictability due to a really good concept. The visuals, the setting, it was all so easy to picture, just like a movie.
I really couldn’t guess where this was going or how they were going to get out of this one.

The concept was brilliant, with high enough stakes that keep it compulsively readable. This book is claustrophobic and imaginative and so visual. From about 30 to 70 of this book, I was starting to think that this was going to be up there with Incidents Around The House, what I personally think is one of the best horror novels written. But this lost me once you find out the explanation behind it all. I enjoyed this book but I had to take off a star because I thought that the explanation behind the staircase was too wacky. Even for a fiction novel.




ENDING SPOILERS AHEAD DO NOT READ IF YOU DON’T WANT TO BE SPOILED





































Sorry but the explanation behind the staircase made no sense. How can trauma make an inanimate object become sentient? Because that’s what a house essentially is. A man made object. Even within the realms of fiction, how in the world does it make sense that man made objects, like houses, become “reborn” with sentience after being destroyed because dark things happened within it? Bad experiences happening around an object can’t bring said object to life. Apparently the explanation is that bad things happened within the house so that somehow made the house come alive and I guess magically gave it a working brain to manipulate people? Like, huh? Sorry but this was too much of a stretch. This needed a better explanation.

Details aside, I did enjoy this. It just kind of lost steam after the 70% mark but I did like how it ended.

Thank you to Netgalley and Del Rey for sending me an advanced copy in return for my honest review.

3.5 stars ⭐️

Five friends go on a camping trip and find a staircase. The staircase is just in the middle of the woods and leads to nothing, or so they thought. When one of them decides to climb the stairs he mysteriously disappears and it changes the rest of the group forever, Now twenty years later the staircase seems to have reappeared. Determined to find out what happened to their friend all those years ago the friends climb the stairs.


I want to thank NetGalley and to the publishers for giving me this arc in exchange for my honest review.

As soon as I read the description I instantly wanted to read this book, it screamed creepypasta (which I love) and I’ve been wanting to check out this author for a while.

This book is about fear, friendships, and trauma. The things discussed in this are very heavy,there were moments I had to put it down for a while. I won’t lie, reading this messed with my mental health a bit. I definitely think anyone who reads this should prepare themselves a bit by looking up trigger warnings.

I hurt so deeply for these characters and the ending crushed me.

I will say I enjoyed Chuck Wendigs writing style so I’m definitely going to be checking out their other work.

Does Chuck Wendig ever disappoint?! I quite literally squealed when I saw I was approved for this NetGalley ARC and let me tell you I am so happy I did not sit on this. This is high up on my charts for favourite horror read. It hooks you in from the first page and doesn’t let you go until the last. It fills you with such a sense of dread and unease but you can’t put it down. It LITERALLY gave me nightmares last night, that’s how deep this book sewed into my mind!

Like others have said, it gives you a very Stephen King vibe at the beginning. A group of kids who get back together again as adults to solve the mystery of their missing friend twenty years ago and the mysterious staircase in the woods. It’s hard to say much more than that without spoiling anything. But I was so immersed in this book. It was gripping and terrifying but also tugged at my heartstrings with all the trauma and loss these characters have bonded over. It’s a horror coming of age novel that I won’t stop thinking about for a long time.

Have you ever played a video game where you travel through rooms in a house, trying to find an exit? If you have, you know all the rooms have booby-traps that can wipe you out in an instant. Yet you keep playing because you want to get out of that house and you want to win. The Staircase in the Woods is much like one of those games, with the exception being that the booby-traps are deadly serious. The novel is about a group of friends who bond when they are in middle school. Four of them are misfits. Owen, afraid of his own shadow and terribly insecure; Lauren, who is probably brilliant, but has always been alone; Nick, endlessly sarcastic who harbors a dark secret; and Hamish, a big overweight kid, the butt of bullies’ jokes. The fifth member of this squad, is Mattie, who seems to be an outlier. He is the perfect kid. He stars in school plays, gets good grades, succeeds at sports, and all those other attributes most parents wish their kids had. Yet, he and the other four become best friends and, in fact, form what they call “The Covenant” to protect and defend each other.

The novel starts when they are adults and have grown apart. Owen receives a call from Lauren (now called Lore), about an email she received from Nick. Nick says he is dying of pancreatic cancer and is invoking “The Covenant”, demanding that his friends come see him. Reluctantly, they comply and fly to Boston where they are greeted by a limo. The limo takes them, not to a hotel, but to the woods. Nick tells them they’re going camping and a disgruntled Lore, Owen, and Hamish follow him into the forest. They finally come to a clearing and there it sits – the staircase in the woods. Something they’ve dreaded for years.

The novel then shifts back in time to 1998 for another camping trip. It’s then that they see the first staircase and Mattie, having had a tiff with Lauren, decides to ascend it. When he gets to the top, he disappears and is not seen again.

Now, years later, Nick challenges his 3 remaining friends to help him find Mattie by invoking, once again, “The Covenant.” Thus, the four ascend the staircase and find themselves trapped in a malevolent house with no windows or doors.

The Staircase in the Woods is a superb horror novel. The characters, while, at first, are not really likeable, grow on you and, as they travel from room to room trying to find an exit and their lost friend, you can’t help but root for them. A thoroughly addictive read, I found it hard to put down. The Staircase in the Woods is highly recommended for lovers of horror fiction, intricate puzzles, and video games like the one described above. It’s an absolutely amazing and thrilling read.

I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced reader copy of The Staircase in the Woods in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this! The Staircase in the Woods was It meets Cabin in the Woods and it was sooo great! After a high school boy climbs a mysterious staircase in the woods and disappears, his four friends can't figure out what happened. Twenty years later, they come back together to determine what exactly is at the top of the staircase in the woods. Very creepy. 4.5 stars rounded up to 5.