I enjoyed this book. I am not a great lover of the "horror" genre but then I didnt feel this book had many horror elements.
Five teenagers ..already with a lot of combined life problems..go into the woods and four come out. The nicest,Matthew, has climbed a staircase in the woods and disappeared.
Over the years the lives of Lore Owen ,Hamish and Nick fall apart until Nick announces he has terminal cancer and they all come together for one last time.
And then the staircase reappears and convinced they owe it to Matt to at least try to find him ,this time they all climb it.
The remainder of the story is a battle to survive "The house" as it taunts and tortures them and truths are revealed. Do they find Matty?..that would be a spoiler.
Well written ,well thought out..I found the characters as I expected them to be. Not terribly likeable until the end.
Well worth the read if you like horror combined with acpsychological thriller.
Four stars.