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A review by constancenorene
The Staircase in the Woods by Chuck Wendig
5.0
This house hates you.
In the summer of 1998, five teenagers go into the woods for a night of drinking and revelry, but only four come back out. Present day (2024 at the time of reading this, 2025 once it’s officially out,) the gang is called back together. Their friend Nick has terminal cancer, and he wants one last hurrah with his comrades.
However…Nick isn’t being entirely truthful. The friends have to confront what happened that night, when Matty climbed a staircase to nowhere and disappeared, and must retrace his footsteps on this new one to hopefully find him and solve the mystery.
The Staircase in The Woods is a love letter to Anomaly games, to the backrooms, to stories of mysterious staircases and the people who vanished nearby. It’s about getting lost and being found, confronting your deepest fears and learning those of your friends. It’s about what happens to a house when the love vanishes, when cruel acts change it from a heart to hurt.
Thank you to Netgalley and Random House/Del Rey for giving me a chance to read and review this! The Staircase in The Woods publishes April 28, so don’t forget to preorder or reserve a copy from your local bookstore!
In the summer of 1998, five teenagers go into the woods for a night of drinking and revelry, but only four come back out. Present day (2024 at the time of reading this, 2025 once it’s officially out,) the gang is called back together. Their friend Nick has terminal cancer, and he wants one last hurrah with his comrades.
However…Nick isn’t being entirely truthful. The friends have to confront what happened that night, when Matty climbed a staircase to nowhere and disappeared, and must retrace his footsteps on this new one to hopefully find him and solve the mystery.
The Staircase in The Woods is a love letter to Anomaly games, to the backrooms, to stories of mysterious staircases and the people who vanished nearby. It’s about getting lost and being found, confronting your deepest fears and learning those of your friends. It’s about what happens to a house when the love vanishes, when cruel acts change it from a heart to hurt.
Thank you to Netgalley and Random House/Del Rey for giving me a chance to read and review this! The Staircase in The Woods publishes April 28, so don’t forget to preorder or reserve a copy from your local bookstore!