New York Times bestselling author Chuck Wendig's The Staircase in the Woods grips you from the start with a chilling atmosphere and intense emotional core. Wendig invites us into a world where mystery and friendship intertwine against a backdrop of eerie suspense.

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...

Chuck Wendig has crafted a thrilling tale with an engaging premise that quickly captured my attention. With an opening that sets a tone that's both mysterious and foreboding, hinting at supernatural elements while weaving in very human emotions to a conclusion that was worth the wait, The Staircase in the Woods was one wild ride.

Wendig truly excels at crafting multi-dimensional characters that drive the novel forward. Initially, I found myself struggling to connect with certain members of this group–finding some annoying–but as their individual backstories unfolded throughout the novel, my perspective shifted. Each character carries their own baggage from the original fateful night and how they dealt with said night was different for each person. The evolution of each relationship over twenty years is portrayed with nuance and empathy, making their reunion around solving this long-unanswered mystery all more palpable.

The Staircase in the Woods is steeped in suspense. Wendig employs twists and turns wonderfully, ensuring we remain perpetually on edge. The pacing feels relentless yet controlled; just as you're about to catch your breath from one heart-pounding moment or emotional revelation another awaits almost immediately around each corner within these woods.

Chuck Wendig has crafted more than just another horror story with The Staircase in the Woods; he's created a thought-provoking exploration into friendship's complexities layered atop tantalizing suspense and mystery. Through relatable characters and breakneck pacing, The Staircase in the Woods is a gripping experience in true Wendig fashion. The novel is captivating thriller that challenges not only our perception of reality but also the bonds we hold most dear.

The Staircase in the Woods was not one of my favorite reads. I could not fall in love with any of the characters and the political rants were a bit much for me. I didn't hate it but also did not love it. Thank you NetGalley and Del Ray for this advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest review!

Special thanks to Random House Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

I love Chuck Wendigs and he did not disappoint me, as one of his recent books was a little far fetched for me, this was an easy and compelling read. While the story took me out to a political rant in the beginning that was a little jarring, it quickly got back on track and was a really good story. I read it quickly and enjoyed it very much.

I would definitely recommend this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC to review!
Rating (on a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being excellent)
Quality of writing: 4
Pace: 4
Plot development: 5
Characters: 4
Enjoyability: 5
Ease of Reading: 4

Overall rating: 4 out of 5

Traditional format (eReader). I have never read a book by Chuck Wendig but the synopsis sounded cool and I gave it a try. That was not a good decision. This book was extremely difficult to get through and finally after 78% I decided to cut my losses and not finish the book.

The pacing of the book was all wrong for me and led me to quitting. Just when I got interested in the plot, there would be a shift to a flashback that didn't really add to the story and took away from the main plot. The book had lots of gore and the right elements of horror but the book just did not come together for me and after struggling for weeks to push through I couldn't do it any longer.

In a nutshell, the book was a good premise that did not deliver. I don't always rate books that I don't finish but as I invested a lot of time in this one I am going to give it a below par 2/5. It should be a 1/5 but it did deliver on the horror/creep out factor so I bumped it up.

Thank you Random House Worlds | Del Rey for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Sometimes there’s just too much extra and characters that grate on your nerves. The Staircase in the Woods takes a creepy concept with good writing yet keeps hitting rewind through the use of excessive flashbacks and backstories, breaking the momentum and suspense, the atmosphere and mood, too many times to count. I found myself stopping and starting so often then ended up slogging through. There’s no doubt this author can write. And there are some genuinely chilling depictions in this book, yet expect to be wound around a lot and often with a sense of unintended futility.

The story itself is 5 stars, but I'm dropping the overall rating to 4.

- A political rant by a main character near the start was jarring and took me out of the story. I agree with the rant but books should be an escape from the shitshow of The Real World. It dates the book horrifically as well which will make the politics even MORE jarring for rereads in 10 or 15 years.

- Some parts of the writing are "how do you do, fellow kids?" It's okay to not be young anymore. In fact, sometimes it's more fun to be a cranky old bastard.

- Why does everything always, always relate back to mummy and daddy trauma? It's sooo boring. I'd like books about fucked up staircases in the woods to just really be about fucked up staircases in the woods and not read about how much daddy hates me.

These things aside, the actual story is fantastic. It's spooky, suspenseful, and deeply unsettling. I stayed up half the night to keep reading. I couldn't put it down.

The ending was satisfying. Wrapped up enough to not make you throw it across the room but also slightly ambiguous that left me going "aaaaarrrgfhhh noooo!!"

I will definitely reread in a few years.

I adore stories about characters going just past the boundaries of reality, and I especially love horror that’s not so much about the SCARY THING as they’re about the ordinary folks dealing with the THING. Wendig’s characters are wonderfully flawed and real, and I think this novel is great both for teens in the midst of these friendships and for adults who remember being in them.

Ooof.
This really drew me back to being a teenager and the dual timeline was great and easy to follow.
I loved the tension and eeriness of the book. The author was reallly great at setting the scene, description of characters.
As someone who has gone down a Reddit rabbit hole pertaining staircases in the woods, wooo. This was great, page turning and darn right thrillingly scary 😂.

Thank you to Chuck Wendig, NetGalley, and Random House for providing me with this ARC.

To start off, as someone born and raised in NH, the story and the afterword now have special places in my heart

This book was WILD. An Absolutely wild ride. I literally never knew where the book was going. The characters were well developed, and you were invested in them. I found the ending satisfying, which is rare. I truly enjoyed this book and will definitely be reading more from Chuck.

I've recently had the pleasure of reading The Staircase in the Woods by Chuck Wendig, which ranks as one of the creepiest books I've encountered in a while. The story's uniqueness and expertly crafted psychological horror elements make it a standout. I highly recommend this gripping page-turner to fans of the genre.

I was really excited about starting this book and it expired in my Netgalley account before I could begin.

I just finished The Staircase in the Woods by Chuck Wendig. I received a free eARC from Netgalley.

Four childhood friends reunite 20 years after the incident that broke their friendship. Lore, a videogame designer, type-A who doesn't need anyone. Owen, an OCD goth who never quite found his place in the world. Nick, a ball-buster with a devil-may-care attitude. And Hamish, the quintessential family man. But there used to be 5 of them. Twenty years ago Matty, the golden boy athlete-scholar, the 5th member of their sacred Covenant went missing when they were camping. He went up a staircase in the woods, and never came back. Twenty years later, the old friends try to erase the sins of the past, but they're not expecting what they'll find at the end of the staircase.

Wow wow wow. I've never read a Chuck Wendig novel before, but the cover and description were too good to pass up. And What. A. Story. Perfectly paced, the transition between the past and the future was excellently handled. Wendig is amazing at revealing just enough at just the right time for maximum affect. The characters are so lived in. Wendig lets you live in each of their heads a bit, and each one feels different, and deep, and so real. At it's heart, this is a story about trauma, and how we wrap ourselves up in our traumas to keep the world at bay. Each of the friends has their own individual trauma, and then they are both bound by and repelled by their shared trauma of losing Matty in the woods. It's also about the ways in which our trauma marks us, makes us different, sometimes only to ourselves, but sometimes to everyone else too. The four friends are forced to confront their trauma in a truly creepy and horrific setting. Wendig takes typical horror tropes and makes them feel intimate, obscene, and unsettling. Without too many spoilers, I will say, you've never met a haunted house like this.

And that ending though. I've rarely wanted one more chapter as badly as I did for this one.

Thanks to Random House Worlds and Netgalley for providing this ARC. Although I have enjoyed other Chuck Wendig titles, this one did not do it for me. I plodded through, considering stopping many times. But I persisted. In the end, I was disappointed. It was mostly slow-going and I found the ending unsatisfying.

This was another really good story by this author, this one leaned more into the horror genre, but overall very good. A group of close friends decide to go camping in the woods, something they have done frequently usually to drink, do drugs get busy that sorta thing. Two of them wander off, Matt and Lauren (Lore), he wants them to be bf/gf, she's undecided and wants them to drop acid, he doesn't want to and takes off when she offers. She catches up to him at the campsite where he sees a staircase in the woods and decides to take the steps up, yeah so not a good idea, cause he doesn't come back down. Several years go by and of course the remaining friends have moved on, lost touch, they were never charged but many people thought they had something to do with Matt's disappearance. Then one of them decides they need to get together, he's dying and wants them to go for one last camping trip in the woods, so of course they all agree and meet up to go on this trip. That's when things go very sideways. The story goes back and covers the backstory for each person, not all of them have had a nice life, all of which is what they experience for the latter half of the book Going into detail would be a spoiler, but I would highly recommend, a very good and fast read. Thanks to #Netgalley and #Del Ray for the ARC

The Staircase in the Woods by Chuck Wendig is the creepiest book I've read in a while (creepy in a good way)!
A friend group made up of 5 teenagers head to the woods for a weekend of camping to escape their issues at home.
But only 4 of them return after one of them climbs a staircase in the woods and jumps off. The teen and the staircase both disappear without a trace.
Years later, the 4 friends are brought back together and come across another staircase in the woods. This time they all decide to go up the stairs to try and find their missing friend and fulfill their pact to each other.
They end up lost in an unknown place that's ever changing and filled with horrors. Here they learn more about them selves and each other by having no choice but to face their trauma head on.

The ending felt a bit like a cliff hanger. The characters did achieve what they set out to do, but I was left with even more questions.
At times, it felt like the author was trying to tie a deeper meaning through out the book but it sometimes fell short for me. I couldn't quite grasp it and weave it together until I read the authors note. I did like the story alot and thought it was very unique. It had my stomach in knots and I had to sometimes put the book down when reading at night!

I had high hopes for this book. The story sounds intriguing and the reviews were good but i couldnt get into this. Some might like it but it wasnt for me.

Another knock out hit by Chuck Wendig.
With the authors books, I always learn something. Black Orchid was the many types of apples and people trying to save them. This book, it was about staircases in the woods from houses no longer there.

The author weaves a great tale of growing up, the pains of childhood, the injuries that our parents inflict upon children, and trying to reconnect with childhood friends.
All the while that is going on, the reader must come face to face with an evil house. The Heart is where the Home is, after all.

This is a spellbinding tale that will leave the reader wondering how many staircases are in the woods and where doe the stairs lead?

A brilliant psychological horror book that is a masterful tale. I highly recommend.

Very good book. Very atmospheric. I really liked the general plot, characters were great, and just was creepy but fun.

This is my book of the year. Absolutely amazing from beginning to end without a lull. An incredible story of supernatural houses, friendship., the horror of humananity and the power of love. 10/10