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.

I love everything and anything that has to do with folklore and urban legends so when I saw this book was based on real staircases attached to nothing in the woods, I knew I had to read it. Even if there’s an actual explanation as to why they’re there, it’s still a really creepy phenomenon.

This book is about a group of friends as teens who see a staircase in the woods. One goes up and disappears along with the staircase. Years later, they find a set of stairs again and go up it together to save their missing friend.

Although it started out slow, I LOVED this book. Once they’re up the stairs I was completely invested. The creepiness of the story, the guilt, the grief, and all they have to go through is written in a beautiful way. The ending left some stuff up to your imagination but was totally satisfying.

Why the four stars instead of 5? My issue with this story is that there is a few pages of a political rant very early on that honestly made me want to stop reading. It had nothing at all to do with the book and I wasn’t sure if it was going to keep coming up and that’s not something I’m interested in reading about right now. I think people who agree with the author and people who don’t agree with the author will still find this totally out of place and I hope that it gets taken out before it’s published, as I think people will not keep reading. Mind you, I agreed with author and still it was jarring to read. It’s a great story - just skip over this part it’s so unnecessary.

Also PLEASE READ the authors note at the end! I lovedddd his real life connection to the staircase.

Thanks to NetGalley, Chuck Wendig and the publisher for this eARC. I am a sucker for woods and stories set in woods or off the beaten track. I love the premise random stairs in woods that lead to a house or the concept of a house through which you might find infinite rooms. It’s different and I feel an original concept. When the characters got separated I was desperately willing them to find each other. Feeling a kind of claustrophobia that makes me feel as if it is happening to me. I was drawn straight into the story and enjoyed it the whole way through. On the back of this I shall be trying his other books, as I really enjoyed his writing style.

Will not be climbing any staircases in any woods at any time in the future. This was really good, though it became slightly repetitive toward the middle. I tend to love stories of friend groups fighting evil together— think the Loser’s Club from Stephen King’s It and the Stranger Things gang. There’s no friendship like the friendships you forge at 13 years old. I really enjoyed this story— especially the concept of the story itself. The house within a house, the copies/ghosts of rooms and people within the rooms. I’ll have to check out Wendig’s other work.

It's like Chuck Wendig wrote The Staircase in the Woods specifically for me. Ever since I went down a Reddit rabbit hole about these mysterious staircases to nowhere that can be found all over the forests of this country, I've wanted to know more, imagining what horrifying things could come from following those stairs...that is, if we lived in a scary story. Thank god for Chuck Wendig, who apparently also had the same thought.

He has crafted a deeply atmospheric and haunting tale that blends the supernatural with the power of friendship and the scars of the past. The premise is simple, yet chilling: a group of high school friends, united by an oath to always protect one another, goes on a camping trip in the woods. While there, they discover a mysterious staircase that seems to lead to nowhere. One of the friends walks up the stairs—and disappears without a trace. The staircase vanishes, and the group is left with a mystery that haunts them for years.

Fast forward twenty years, and the staircase reappears in the woods. The group, now fractured and carrying the weight of the years, returns to uncover what happened that night and to find the friend they lost. But what they discover on the other side of the staircase is far darker—and more dangerous—than they could have ever imagined.

The shift between past and present adds emotional depth to the story, as we see the characters as both their younger selves—full of hope and camaraderie—and as adults, carrying the weight of lost time and unresolved trauma. Wendig expertly explores themes of guilt, grief, and the bonds that hold us together, even when time and distance have pushed us apart.

If you’re a fan of horror that’s as much about atmosphere and emotional depth as it is about thrills, The Staircase in the Woods will leave you hooked. It’s a gripping, chilling story about friendship, mystery, and the terrifying things that may be waiting just beyond the edge of reality.

Five high school friends are bonded by an oath to protect one another no matter what. Then, on a camping trip in the middle of the forest, they find something extraordinary: a mysterious staircase to nowhere.One friend walks up—and never comes back down. Then the staircase disappears.

Twenty years later, the staircase has reappeared. Now the group returns to find the lost boy—and what lies beyond the staircase in the woods. . . .

This page turner had me hooked from the beginning. It's a fascinating concept. Wendig's writing is top-notch. The pace in this book is perfect. The characters are each broken in their own ways, and their own worst nightmares reflect them. Chilling atmosphere. Excellent execution. 5⭐

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced digital reader's copy (ARC) in exchange for an honest review!

Another great title from Wendig. The chilling atmosphere mixed with great characters makes The Staircase in the Woods an instant horror classic.

This book was creepy in all the best ways. The story centers around one mysterious night when a group of teenagers stumble across a weird staircase (sans house) in the middle of the forest, leading to the puzzling disappearance of one of them. Fast forward twenty years - the teenagers are all grown up but still remember that haunting experience with the staircase and their missing friend. And once the opportunity arises, will they be brave enough to solve the mystery of what happened to their friend all those years ago?

This one had me in full-on spooked out mode practically the entire time. I stayed up way too late to finish it! Great for any sci-fi horror enthusiasts. Just be prepared to keep your nightlight on.