Let me start off by saying I am usually not a horror, spooky, type of gal. This book was hands down one of my top 3 favorite books for 2024, and again in 2025 when I read it again. I was annotating, I was reminiscing, I was sad for the characters, I was so many emotions and none of them can describe what I feel for this book. This was incredible. You get 4 different characters and their individual experiences that make them who they are in their adult lives and you get to learn about yourself that if you don’t heal stuff from your childhood it will come back to haunt you (literally). 12 stars out of 10 for me. I cannot wait to have the book on my shelf in my house!

(Slight spoilers)

The Staircase in the Woods is my favorite book of the year. I felt so deeply for this group of friends, their journey, the house, its inhabitants, that I cried when it was over because I wanted to read more.

The plot starts off slow, but it gets its hooks in you and makes you care about the characters. Then the story becomes such an original twist on the traditional haunted house story that there were no cliches, I had no idea where it was going. It broke my heart. It was claustrophobic and felt yucky (in the best way), like playing Silent Hill.

I'll be writing a more eloquent review for Goodreads/IG/Amazon, but I wanted to share my immediate thoughts on Netgalley because I can't get this book out of my head. I'm so happy this was my first Chuck Wendig book, because now I have his entire backlog to explore.

This book hit me like a ton of bricks. I finished this in one sitting and it's probably going in my top reads this year. Not only was it incredibly well-written and fun to follow, it as also genuinely disturbing, sad, and terrifying. The staircase is based on a real stair case Chuck Wendig visited and my brain immediately goes to back doors and other dimensions and realms. Why is there a random staircase in the woods and where does it lead to?

My mind is blown and I need more. This is an amazing book!!

Please be aware this book does contain content readers will likely find disturbing. From gore, violence, and grief to mentions of $uicide, drugs and more.

Thank you immensely to Net Galley and Random House Publishing Group for early access to this book for free. I am writing this review voluntarily because I loved this book so much. I will definitely recommend this to any horror lover, as it's a great story and very disturbing and spooky.

A mystery and horror novel in the style of Stephen King's It that features 4 sympathic but troubled main characters who try to unravel the mysterious disappearance of their best friend who vanished on a strange stair in the woods back in the 90s. The narrative is split between the present, where the four main characters are middle aged, and their past as teenagers during the 90s. The main mystery of the strange stairs in the woods, and the question of their friends disappearance is quite engaging and will keep the reader on edge in this fast paced novel. Short chapters make the book easy to devour for genre readers. In general, I would recommend this book to every horror fan who likes strange mysteries instead of bloodshed.

This had all the elements that I look for in a horror novel, strong characters, found family, spiraling tension, compelling backstories, coming of age and a deeply terrifying haunted house.

Wendig creates such compelling characters that their fears and experiences are completely believable because you believe in the characters. Owen, Lore, Nick, Hamish and Matty have their own mythology, their own friend-language, with jealousies, obsessions and secrets within their love and loyalty to each other.

The stairs are an unsettling image, and the house is claustrophobic and horrific. Wendig uses visual descriptions like the”yellow of flu mucus” but elaborates with touch, smell and taste, with words like oily, greasy, gummy, he describes a “slick stink” and “skin like a popcorn ceiling” and it is all so wonderfully and terribly perfect.

I was compelled to read deep into the night and enjoyed every minute of this book.

Chuck Wendig, you have the most amazing imagination. I just finished The Staircase In The Woods, and I am gobsmacked! It was stuffed with everything that fills your previous stories, but more deliciously gory, gross and soooooo indelibly vivid! The Staircase In The Woods....four friends in search of one friend who climbed the stairs and was gone, just gone! I don't want to give anything else away, but readers of reviews, know this...if you love horror, an incredible sense of humor, and I also have to add, learning words (at least words and phrases that I have not heard before >>>yes, I have to check with dictionaries when reading Chuck<<<<<) this is the one to read. Chuck Wendig is all his own...and after finishing The Staircase in the Woods and reading that last sentence...please tell me there is a sequel in the midst? @chuck_wendig terribleminds.com

What happened to Matty?

actually this book should get 100 stars!!!!

Thanks to Random House Worlds/Del Rey and NetGalley for this ARC of 'The Staircase in the Woods. by Chuck Wendig.

A good and enjoyable combination of the haunted house trope and grown-up protagonists returning to the scene of their teenage 'crime' trope - a combination of 'The Haunting of Hill House' and 'IT', if you like :).

A group of friends (or are they?) reunite at the behest of one of their cohort to find their friend - the best of them - who disappeared up a mysterious stand-alone staircase in the middle of the woods years earlier when they were young teenagers.

We follow them as they navigate a haunted house and their own memories, emotions, fears, egos, personalities to try and come out safe at the other end. None of the characters are particularly likeable but I think that's OK and reflects the trauma that they went through as younger versions of themselves both in terms of the disappearance of their friend but, more importantly, their hidden home lives and experiences (some harrowing revelations there) - seems quite believable in that sense.

All-in-all well worth a read.

Oh. My. God.

I loved this book and cannot give it enough praise! I was scared beginning to end and truly cared about all of the characters. This has some serious classic Stephen King vibes in the best way. I'll be recommending this book left and right.

Review will appear on instagram @stressreads later this week, along with a review on my Goodreads page: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/3489960-jessie

Thank you so much for this review copy.

The Staircase in the Woods, 4.75*

If you’re a Chuck Wendig fan, just buy the book because you’ll love it.

Now, for everyone that’s left, let me say that this was a GREAT supernatural horror thriller. The plot is told across two timelines, the late 90s and current day. A friend group finds a staircase in the woods, one goes up and disappears. Current day, the staircase returns and the friends all go up and disappear. I won’t say much else to keep from spoiling the plot, but what follows is a terrifying ride all the way to the end.

I love how Chuck tells his stories. Characters are multi-layer d and incredibly flawed. This story is one about grief, loss, and self. It’s raw in how it provides a mirror to our worst, and isn’t shy about the brutal honesty of what trauma does to us. I did find some aspects of the story a touch repetitive, but that’s the nature of the setting and doesn’t really negate what’s great about this story.

This is an instant must buy. The Staircase in the Woods comes out on April 29, 2025.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House/Del Rey for giving me this ARC in return for an honest review.

This was so weird and unusual and I find myself still trying to process this. I did enjoy it but I also feel like I was thinking a lot more than I wanted to be. 😅

Rating: 2.5 stars, rounded up to 3

I was really looking forward to The Staircase in the Woods. The idea of a mysterious staircase deep in the woods hooked me right away, and Chuck Wendig is known for his creative and unusual stories. The book delivers on originality—the plot is unique, eerie, and full of twists that kept me curious. The atmosphere was well done, with vivid descriptions that made the setting come to life and added a sense of unease throughout.

Unfortunately, I had a hard time connecting with the characters, especially Lore. While I don’t mind flawed characters, they were so unlikeable that it became distracting. The “pick me” attitude of the characters and their forced interactions made the story feel less engaging. On top of that, some parts of the story felt repetitive, which slowed things down and took away from the suspense.

While The Staircase in the Woods didn’t land for me, I can still appreciate how creative and original it was. Readers who enjoy creepy, atmospheric stories with a strong focus on mystery might still find it worth picking up. For me, though, the characters and pacing were a letdown.

As with all DNFS on NetGalley, books will receive a 3 star average so I don’t skew star ratings for not finishing the book.

I am over half way through and I think it’s time to finally give up on this one. Grounded science fiction stories are my very favourite genre and I was so excited for my first book by Chuck Wendig but it’s time to give up. I absolutely love the premise of this book but in reading it feels superfluous to the actual plotline.

My problems with this are not few and far between so I’ll try to make it quick. The synopsis and the mysterious nature of the staircase and what’s behind it feels very much on the back burner here and it is much more in the vein of a character heavy plotline but that’s not what the synopsis gives us. While I don’t mind a character driven story, it’s not what I was expecting and it’s taking me so far out of the book that the “science fiction” and mysterious staircase feel unnecessary to the story. There are so many flashbacks that every time something interesting starts happening, I got ripped out to have a flashback of the characters years ago. If it felt relevant or did something to enhance the plot, I could get down on a couple of these happening, but it’s every chapter and feels pointless to everything else that’s happening.

With so many issues with stylistic choices, to writing choices, and characters it feels nitpicky to hate the cover as well, but here I am. At first it feels fun but then the fact the staircase is described in the book and doesn’t match the staircase on the cover REALLY irks me. Was it AI? Was it them not working together? I’m not sure but it really rubs me the wrong way.

I haven’t completely given up on Wendig as an authour and will try another of his older books but I wish there was a singular thing I liked here and just couldn’t even finish it which is disappointing in itself.

As I've said in my other reviews, I try to find a common thread in them. I want to connect to the stories personally. Sometimes, I can do that easily; sometimes, I can't.

Chuck Wending is a favorite author. Wanderer's is a book that my wife and I devoured in a week for me and a few weeks for her. It got us through lockdown in 2020 and everything that year threw at us. It's a big book about a virus.

Utah experienced a lot of growth in the 1980s. New subdivisions sprouted up overnight, and many were left unattended for days. They became playgrounds for my friends and me.

Half-finished staircases lead to empty floors—kitchens without their floorings.

Among all of this was a staircase that was by itself. It was like that for a month or more. I don't know why they stopped building. It's a finished house, but forty years ago, it was a monolith that we'd jump off of. We'd launch our bikes and come down hard on our seats.

While reading Staircase in the Woods, I thought of those days of freedom—of being us, with no parents to avoid, and me and my friends having fun.

I received a copy from the publisher because I reviewed Josh Malerman's Incidents Around The House. I thank the publisher for trusting me with a book that will be released in April 2025.

This book begins with events that happened years before. We discover the incidents leading to the event and how they changed the group.

We learn a lot of dark things as these friends look for one of their own who vanished years before on a staircase in the woods. One of them decides they need to find out what happened.

SPOILERS INCOMING

I try not to do spoilers in novels; it's nearly impossible with this book.

They get through a portal similar to the one their friend vanished in. They soon discover the world inside the portal is different. It's dark, disturbing, and nightmarish, giving me feelings of House of Leaves throughout the reading. The Navidson Record is in place throughout the story, or it felt that way to this writer.

It's a story about discovering the darker parts of yourself. Confronting those parts, those shadows, the things you'd rather not talk about. The childhood lost because of abuse, both mental and physical.

The book finds its footing quickly when we enter the portals, and the characters move through the world. At once, they adjust and modify their way through. In the book's latter pages, it's a dangerous game of cat and mouse as they search for a way out.

When we reach the end, each character has learned more about themselves and their friends.

This is Chuck's darkest, most visceral, and messed up book I've read.

It's also one of my favorites. I'm looking forward to the world reading this one and discussing it and the characters' experiences.

It's made me look at what I've been able to let go of, what I continue to hold on to, and whether it's healthy to do so.

There will be discussions about what occurs in this book. They will cover many topics.

I loved this book, and I'm thankful the publisher gave me a copy. Thank you to Random House and Kay Popple for the offer.

This was a terrifying nightmare factory of a story following 5 friends who grew apart after an inexplicable tragedy and how they fight to find each other again. I enjoyed this in the way one enjoys a horror movie, with my hands covering my eyes and needing to scream “nope nope nope” “fuck that no” “fuck that, fuck you, fuck this”. The pacing of this book leads you believe you will be going on a journey with individuals who used to be friends and will watch them rediscover that friendship when in fact we descend down a hellish rabbit whole that is designed to torment and torture. Another title for this book would be nightmare fuel. The writing style within this novel kept me hooked even when I wanted to escape it….i couldn’t. Owen, lore, nick, hamish, and Matty felt people that could walk off the page and their complicated friendship reminded me of standby me in some ways. This was standby me meets pan’s labyrinth meets my own personal nightmares. I would highly recommend if you are looking to be terrified while also having your heart trampled on by characters dealing with incredibly real and hard lives. My only gripe is that the end felt slightly rushed

This was my first Chuck Wendig book, and I loved it! Beautiful prose, interesting characters, and a plot that keeps you turning the pages. You can't stop wondering what's about to happen next. Can't wait for his next book!

Four friends reunite after decades apart, brought together by one's declaration of an illness, using the one phrase that brought them all together in the first place: The Covenant. Years before, there had been five friends, brought together for various reasons. But the Covenant is what kept them together, an oath to do what the others wanted, without question. It served them well during their time growing up, each with their own problems. There is Owen, with a father who hated him openly and a mother who let the abuse continue; Matty, whose parents relied on him to bring upon their own wishes; Lauren, whose mother was more invested in her various flavors of the month than her own daughter; Nick, the wild card who did all the silly and crazy stuff that often required the pronounced Covenant; and Hamish, the one who actually made something of himself as an adult after suffering greatly during his young adulthood.

During a camping trip is when Matty, the most successful of them at the time, went up a mysterious staircase in the woods and simply disappeared, never to be seen again. For years, the group wondered about the staircase but their lives went on. After their reunion brought them back together, to another staircase, they realize now that they had been duped by someone they thought had been their friend. But, with the "Covenant" uttered, the four them go up the staircase and are brought into a weird maze of rooms, each different than the other, to some different horror or another. And in the end, they are able to come together to beat it.

The Staircase in the Woods is a strange, confusing novel. While I felt the premise of the story had promise, I think the novel itself fell short of what the author's message was trying to portray. The chapters were on the shorter side, but oftentimes, they felt jumbled together, using confusing, big words that, to me, these characters wouldn't have used nor would even know the definitions too. They were often characterized as burnouts, so why would they have such an extensive vocabulary? That might be generalizing a bit, but based off the characters themselves, it didn't seem believable.

The ending of the story redeemed itself, as I felt the message was a bit more clear in its explanation in the end, but I felt the story ended too abruptly. We were finally going to see what happened to the one that got away from them, and then it was just over.

Overall, 2/5 stars.

Mind bending and creepy but still weirdly believable. The characters were wonderfully developed and perfectly unlikable. There were some gross/gory scenes but everyone was included to move the story forward....nothing gratuitous. The only thing that really threw me was the ending....a little too open for me but overall a very satisfying read.
A giant thank you to Net galley and the publisher for allowing me access to an advanced readers copy of this novel free of charge. I'm leaving my honest review voluntarily.

I was especially excited to see this new Chuck Wendig book, and when I saw the title I knew I’d love it. I’ve read and watched a few horrors about staircases in woods (excellently explained in the acknowledgements btw,) most notably a creepy pasta and the season of Channel Zero it spawned.
My expectations were high and were not let down as we followed “The Covenant”, a group of five friends with a tragic backstory from high school, and them reconnecting in the most mysterious of ways as adults. At times this felt like if ‘Ready Player One’ was just them in a horror game, and plenty of games were mentioned (I’m a Sims girlie so I did enjoy that particular mention!)
The characters were the standout for me. I really connected with Owen, at times it even hurt to read about him. They were all really fleshed out, in particular Lore, Owen and Hamish, all of whose stories were easy to connect to.
And the question of “what makes a home a home?” And how we tend to idolise the idea of home, when for some people it is a real horror show, was eye-opening for me and, no spoilers but I knew exactly what room I’d be getting.
All in all, really enjoyed this one, Wendig is a master of horror for sure.

Let me say I don't usually read horror books. I didn't realize this was in the horror genre, but I REALLY enjoyed it. It's as if Stephen King's it meets urban legends. I definitely recommend getting this book. It's amazing!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A group of friends meet after many years. The location is strange, the happening bizarre, and the ending?