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The Staircase in the Woods by Chuck Wendig Book Review

 

Title: The Staircase in the Woods

Author: Chuck Wendig

Genre: Horror

Published: 4/29/25 by Del Rey

I received a copy for review from the publisher through NetGalley. 


A group of friend's camping trip ends in disaster when they find a mysterious staircase in the woods that leads to seemingly nowhere. One of the teenagers climbs the staircase and never returns. Many years later, the staircase has reappeared and the group is determined to find out what happened to their friend.

 This book explores friendship and trauma in a very unique way. Though the premise seems whimsical and mysterious, I can say that this is a very dark horror story. It takes very classic horror tropes and does them in a very new way that left me intrigued. The characters were not all super likable, but they are felt real and well developed. They all had their very interesting stories to tell through the narrative. Since this is a book about trauma there is some triggering material such as self-harm and suicide. If you like a story that takes its time with setting and characters, but also does not skimp on the horror than this may be a book to check out.

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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