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A review by wyabook234
The Staircase in the Woods by Chuck Wendig
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
TW: Childhood Sexual Abuse, Self-Harm, Emotional Abuse, Grief, Suicide
Chuck Wedig's The Staircase in the Woods is a book centred on friendship, exploring whether it can disintegrate or persevere through the toughest of times. With Wedig's story, it's about how friendship can survive past a staircase and through a hodgepodge of horrific rooms in another dimension. In this case, with the Covenant, they struggle to find their friend Matty, who went up the staircase when they were teenagers, and thus, they'll begin to search for him when they become adults. Each member of this supposed fellowship quartet has skeletons in their closet that have long stayed there, even since the disappearance of their fifth companion. Eventually, their closets get forced wide open once they become entrapped within an illusionary labyrinth that not only reflects their anguish about themselves and other people but also provokes that angst by allowing them to become their worst possible selves. Whether that would come from Nick's resentment, Owen's self-doubt, Lorde's alienation and Hamish's self-hatred, they all lead to these friends doubting the ties that used to bind them. Wedig's writing delves deep into the psychological toll of this labourious journey, coupled with grievances that these former friends have against each other before their big trip upstairs.
While their final confrontation with the house could be disturbing due to how the entity throws the Convent's trauma back into their faces through lifelike marionettes and human possession. How they get out of that situation by shouting outlandish stories from their high school years ruins any unnerving impact. I found some of their encounters within the various rooms to be frightening, with the descriptions of rotting dead bodies, which include a dead, wrapped infant floating in a bathtub. There's also the ghoulish encounter with the living suicide victim, Marshie. A final example of how evil these elusive rooms can be is how they showcase the actual relationship between Nick and his father to Owen. The scene is a disclosure that tackles a distressing subject matter, as trigger warnings are at the top of this review for anyone who wants to read this book.
While I didn't like the ending for how it implies that the stairway has changed Matty into a serial killer for no reason. The Staircase in the Woods is a good psychological horror, bordering on the unstable relationships between four friends or former friends.
Chuck Wedig's The Staircase in the Woods is a book centred on friendship, exploring whether it can disintegrate or persevere through the toughest of times. With Wedig's story, it's about how friendship can survive past a staircase and through a hodgepodge of horrific rooms in another dimension. In this case, with the Covenant, they struggle to find their friend Matty, who went up the staircase when they were teenagers, and thus, they'll begin to search for him when they become adults. Each member of this supposed fellowship quartet has skeletons in their closet that have long stayed there, even since the disappearance of their fifth companion. Eventually, their closets get forced wide open once they become entrapped within an illusionary labyrinth that not only reflects their anguish about themselves and other people but also provokes that angst by allowing them to become their worst possible selves. Whether that would come from Nick's resentment, Owen's self-doubt, Lorde's alienation and Hamish's self-hatred, they all lead to these friends doubting the ties that used to bind them. Wedig's writing delves deep into the psychological toll of this labourious journey, coupled with grievances that these former friends have against each other before their big trip upstairs.
While I didn't like the ending for how it implies that the stairway has changed Matty into a serial killer for no reason. The Staircase in the Woods is a good psychological horror, bordering on the unstable relationships between four friends or former friends.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Suicide, Blood
Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Sexual assault
Minor: Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape