Publication Date: April 29th, 2025
Hardcover. 400 pages.
“Chuck Wendig weaves his magic once more, turning a lonely staircase in the woods into a searing, propulsive, dread-filled exploration of the horrors of knowing and being known.”—Kiersten White, author of Hide and Lucy Undying
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. . . ."
Twenty years ago, a group of five high school friends--Nick, Matty, Owen, Hamish, and Lore--took a camping trip in the woods. While in the forest, they stumbled upon a random staircase leading to seemingly nowhere. Matty decides to trek up the staircase... and disappears. The rest of the group have no idea where Matty went, the staircase is gone, and they must eventually move on with their lives. Now, in the present day, the group gathers once again to venture into the forest, where they find the staircase once again, and this time they plan to find Matty.
The Staircase in the Woods is a dark exploration into the minds of our characters, as well as the horrors that humanity can thrust upon one another. This book travels to some very dark corners of terrible topics, so I would definitely advise caution before diving into this one if you are sensitive to subjects relating to abuse, murder, self harm, suicide, and similar. I will say that Wendig is one of those authors that I fully trust to tackle such topics in a way that is both raw and authentic, but also thoughtful and done with clear intention throughout. There's not too much in the way of misery porn for the sake of it, but rather things seem to be placed intentionally and with care so that readers can fully grasp everything that's happening and feel just as horrified as its characters at everything going on. There are also plenty of little twists and unveilings throughout that keep the pages turning.
One thing I always expect from Wendig is a focus on his characters, their backstories, motivations, and innermost thoughts and feelings--the good, the bad, and the downright ugly. The Staircase in the Woods does just that and we get to fully learn almost as much as there is to learn about each individual friend, as well as the many varying and ever-shifting dynamics of their friend group, including who has feelings for who and how that also affected their friendship. I'm a little torn in how I feel about some of this because I always appreciated getting to learn more about characters and how they became who they are in a story, but I also sometimes felt like the constant narrative shift back in time to explore a certain time period or element of history of a character slowed the pacing a decent bit, and even at times felt somewhat repetitive. This, however, is something that I have found to be present in most of Wendig's novels, so I know it's absolutely his style and overall it works for the story he creates.
Owen is our primary protagonist, and I appreciated getting to really dive into his own anxieties and struggles that plagued him as he grew into adulthood after experiencing everything the five friends experienced growing up. With this heavy focus on characters, I often find some of Wendig's characters to at times feel a bit over the top in certain ways, and that certainly was the case here for a couple of the characters. Lore, for instance, is someone who I would describe as having a bit of an abrasive personality at times, and I found it difficult to really understand where she stood with everything at times and how who she was in the present reconciled with who she was in the past. What I did appreciate though was how well Wendig really captured the tension that was present among the friends. A tragedy fractured their friendship--and themselves--during some formative years, and nothing ever remained the same. It's sometimes awkward enough just trying to catch up with friends you were so close with once upon a time when you barely no them anymore, it's another thing entirely when there's even more baggage to deal with.
I don't want to get into too many details about what happens once the group ascends the staircase, but I try to say what I can while remaining a bit vague. The staircase sends them into what I can only describe as a rabbit hole of horrors, what is essentially a--literally--severely haunted house with what appears to be a never-ending shuffle of rooms that feature deeply traumatizing and disturbing scenes that the group is forced to make their way through. There's not so much physically that's a threat in most of these cases (though that's not always the case), but rather it's the psychological aspects that are meant to horrify and slowly eat away at each person's sanity as they attempt to navigate this doomed house. The horrors are truly relentless, and I began to feel as fatigued as our characters by it all.
This actually brings me to my main issue with this book, and that is with the general pacing. For some reason, I really struggled with this about halfway through. It was slightly perplexing to me considering how much this book should have been something I'd love the entire time, but I think the rut that the characters fell into while trying to survive this how somehow transferred to a rut that I felt with them, and therefore with the book itself. We spend a lot of time exploring the horrors of this house, and then in turn the different backstories of each character, and altogether I felt the pacing just slowed immensely and left me really hoping for something to happen that would renew my interest. Fortunately, I did regain my interest near the end, although even there I felt the ending may have dragged just a bit in some places.
Overall, The Staircase in the Woods is another incredibly successful horror from Chuck Wendig and definitely reminds me why I'm always so drawn to his work and the incredibly complex and detailed characters he finds within his stories. If you're already a Wendig fan, then I'm sure you'll also enjoy this one, and if you're new to Wendig, then you're certainly in for a--rather messed up--treat!
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