A group of friends investigates the mystery of a strange staircase in the woods in this mesmerizing horror novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Accidents.

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 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…

I received an advance galley of this book courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts are my own.

I don’t know about you, but I am an absolute sucker for that nostalgic, spooky trope where a group of friends faces something terrifying in their youth, only to be forced to revisit it in adulthood -all traumatized, broken, and barely holding it together. That’s what this book is, and in a way it gives “Stephen King’s IT” vibes mixed with “Stranger Things”.

The setup is solid. Back in 1998, five high school friends – Owen, Hamish, Nick, Lauren, and Matty – are hanging out in the woods when they stumble upon the titular staircase. Matty – after a disagreement with Lauren – climbs it and then vanishes. The staircase disappears right after, leaving the remaining four to carry that trauma into adulthood. Fast-forward twenty years, and guess what’s back? Yep. The staircase. And now the group, very reluctantly, must return to confront what really happened – and what still might be waiting for them.

Wendig did a great job at crafting a ragtag group of characters. They felt familiar in a way, but they all worked. Owen is the anxiety-ridden, sensitive one who never really moved past the trauma of what went down in the woods. Hamish, once the bullied fat kid, is now a physically transformed conservative gym bro with a few skeletons in his closet. Nick is the chaotic jester of the group – the kind of guy who cracks a joke at a funeral and somehow gets away with it. Lauren is now a gender-fluid game designer who brings a grounded, emotionally intelligent energy to the mix. And then there’s Matty – the golden boy with a bright future who walked up the stairs and never came back. We only get to know him through haunting, bittersweet flashbacks, which adds this beautiful layer of mystery with a side of melancholy to the story.

First off, let me just say that Wendig is really good at creeping you out without throwing gore at your face for the sake of it. The prose is tight, vivid, and super atmospheric. The horror elements are also really spot on. There are scenes that seriously had me squirming, particularly when the veil between reality and… whatever’s up those stairs… starts to thin. Wendig knows how to ratchet up the tension and then hit you with something grotesque or unsettling. There were definitely a few moments where my imagination got the best of me, and I had to set the book aside for a bit.

That said, this book is long. Like, pack-a-snack, wear-comfy-pants kind of long. There were definitely chunks – especially in the middle – where I felt like we were circling the same emotional drain without really moving forward. Some of the trauma-processing scenes got a little repetitive, and I did find myself drifting now and then. Not enough to put the book down, but enough to notice that my attention was waning.

BUT – the final chapter? Absolutely killer. I kind of wish the pacing had been flipped: tighten the middle and stretch out the ending. The final scene was so captivating and opened up a new door so to speak. I would’ve loved to spend more time with what was finally revealed. It felt like things got fresh right when the book was wrapping up. A little frustrating, but also kind of impressive how Wendig left me wanting more.

Still, this book is undeniably inventive. It’s eerie, nostalgic, and emotionally resonant in a way that sticks with you – even if it tends to drag and repeat itself a bit in the middle. If you love stories where childhood trauma meets supernatural horror, and you’re down to follow a group of flawed, deeply human characters into the belly of something otherworldly, this one is absolutely worth the trip. Just maybe don’t go climbing any random staircases in the forest afterward. You know, just in case.