Staircase In The Woods by Chuck Wendig – A Book Review

Horror writer Chuck Wendig’s latest book, Staircase in the Woods, plays on the creepypasta concept of a mysterious staircase in the middle of the forest leading to nowhere, but also goes deeper into several deeper issues like mental health, friendship, and getting older. From one of horror’s great writers, this book is a ride not to be missed.

Nick, Lauren, Hamish, Owen, and Matt are a close-knit group of friends who refer to themselves as the Covenant. In 1988, the five go on a camping trip, but only four return. Matt, the group’s leader, goes missing after walking up a staircase that appeared in the woods.

Many years later, when Nick is dying from cancer, he requests his friends to invoke the Covenant one last time. Matt’s disappearance had fractured the group, while they somewhat kept in touch. The friendships that once were are a fractional thing of the past.

When the four friends meet in the present time, there’s animosity and reluctance to even show up. While they aren’t close, everyone has kept tabs on each other in some way.

These scenes are juxtaposed with flashbacks that give us some context: who dated whom, details of what happened during the camping trip, and the aftermath of Matt’s disappearance. The kids of the town were essentially ostracized and looked down upon more than they already were. 

With frequent time jumps, Wendig does his best to contrast the characters’ personalities in the past with what they’ve morphed into in the present. Some people you can see a mile away how they will turn out. Constantly walking on eggshells and biting his fingernails until they bleed, Owen is the least changed and least successful.

Lauren has immersed herself in gamer culture, both tabletop and video, and has rebranded herself as “Lore.” Hamish went MAGA on the group, which some members take offense at. Nick is the wildcard of the bunch; while he had cool parents growing up, he also has a lot of skeletons to deal with. 

Touching on themes of grief and friendship, Wendig’s book feels like a metaphor for not just losing friends to the perils of getting older, specifically anxiety and depression.

It delves into the causes of these things, stemming from several things like different forms of abuse, neglect, and bullying. These flashbacks start to taper off as these themes come to the forefront. 

Overall Grade: 7/10

Chuck Wendig spent some time in the trenches at Disney writing Star Wars books. While his time was cut unceremoniously short, I think his novels post-Disney/Star Wars are much more polished. While this is not my favorite novel of his, I still think this was a good ride. I liked his previous novels, The Book of Accidents and Black River Orchard, but felt they were a little long in places. There are a few places where I felt the same here, but his stories are always satisfying. Wendig’s recent output does feel very Stephen King adjacent, in the best way. Purchase Staircase in the Woods, here or wherever books are sold

Check out Forrest’s other review of Stephen Graham Jones’s The Buffalo Hunter Hunter.