The Staircase in the Woods

Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. How do you feel about the main characters? With whom did you sympathize the most while reading, and why?

2. Compare this novel to others in the urban fantasy genre. How is Wendig’s tale unique, and what elements does it share with fairy tales and urban legends?

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. What have your experiences been with “found family”? Is there any friend or group of friends whom you consider to be family? What makes this relationship so significant?

2. Have you ever felt so guilty about something that the guilt impacted other areas of your life? Reflect on the origins of this guilt and why it became so pervasive.

3. How does the privacy afforded those who live in single-family homes prove to be a double-edged sword? Has this ever been true of your own life?

4. How can people ameliorate The Long-Term Effects of Trauma? What helps the characters in the text grapple with these effects?

Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

1. Given what you know about urban fantasy, how does the text indict capitalism as a social ill? What role does capitalism play in the creation of the urban environments that become the ideal settings to hide people’s cruelty from the world?

2. How do the novel’s political allusions hint at Wendig’s own political opinions about the MAGA movement and the actions of the White House during Trump’s tenure?

3. The Alfie Shawcatch automaton, which serves as a personification of the house itself, makes racist comments about Black people. What is the apparent purpose of including such comments and slurs in the narrative?

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.

1. The text depicts many grisly actions and events, such as murders, self-harming episodes, and various kinds of abuse. How do these traumas combine to create a clearer sense of the main characters? Why would Wendig include these elements in the novel?

2. What is the effect of Wendig’s choice to depict the events in the text in a nonlinear fashion?

3. Why does Wendig use Chapter 0, “The Heart of It,” to provide a glimpse of the story to come?

4. Which chapter titles reveal the deepest insights about the events they contain, and why?

Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.

1. If this novel were converted into a television series, who would you cast as the adult versions of Owen, Lore, Nick, Hamish, and Matty? Who would you cast to play their younger selves? Explain your choices.

2. Choose one of the four main characters and create a playlist containing at least 10 songs that depicts their arc. Alternatively, create a playlist of songs that you think they would love. Why did you choose these songs in particular?