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Exit 8 Review: More Than Just a Horror Story

 


Title: Exit 8 by Genki Kawamura

Genre: Horror, Thriller

Published: April 16, 2026

Rating: 5.0 ⭐ 


Blurb:

From the award-winning film director and New York Times bestselling author of If Cats Disappeared from the World, a surreal novelization of his hit film Exit 8, adapting the indie horror game of the same name.

A path with no beginning, no end.

A man with a life-changing decision to make finds himself trapped in a seemingly infinite corridor in a Tokyo subway station. Each time he passes through the sterile, quiet hallway, he discovers himself back at its beginning, walking past the same doors, the same posters, and disturbingly, the same people, as he did the previous time. He soon discovers that in order to reach the elusive "Exit 8", he must look more closely at his surroundings, and notice the tunnel's bizarre anomalies.

Spot one, and he must turn back. Spot none, and he can proceed.

Make it to eight, and he'll be free. Make a mistake, and he must start over again.

As he stumbles through an endless loop of conformity, confronting the strange, new possibilities of his own life, he begins to wonder if anomalies are not things to be feared but to be embraced. Maybe, he thinks, the only way out is through.


This started as a video game, then became a movie, and now it's a book. The book and the movie are pretty much the same, but while the movie leans more into the horror, the book focuses more on the emotional side of the story. 

The horror relies a lot on visuals and sound effects, which obviously aren't something you can get from a book. So, I found the book less scary. But the author, Genki Kawamura, gives us something the movie doesn't: the characters' minds. 

The book is told from multiple POVs, so we get to explore the characters' thoughts and regrets, which are reflected in the anomalies they encounter. I think this makes the story feel deeper and gives us a better understanding of what they're going through. 

So, if you want a scarier experience, watch the movie. But if you want to "feel" what the characters are going through, read the book. Or better yet, do both!

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