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The country excels at making both movies and TV shows across various genres, and its special brand of horror is enough to draw in viewers no matter where they come from. Korean horror shows combine elements from multiple genres, and at the same time, they still manage to be genuinely scary — at least the best of them do. Here are some great shows for folks looking to dive into the world of Korean horror.
Updated on March 15, 2022, by Ritwik Mitra: Korean shows have become all the rage in modern times, and it’s easy to see why this is the case. A combination of brilliant cinematography, gripping plots, and suspenseful moments have catapulted the majority of these shows to new heights. There are several genres that these Korean shows like to explore, with horror being one of the most popular verticals of the lot. Keeping this in mind, here are some of the best Korean horror shows that fans should check out.
10 Hellbound
There was a time when Squid Game reigned supreme as one of the biggest Korean shows around… before Hellbound came into the picture and unseated this wildly popular show from its throne. The premise of this show involved nightmarish supernatural beings passing judgment on sinners.
The concept of hell and sin itself is explored beautifully in this show, making for a great time indeed. It’s a short and sweet watch that fans of good horror shows should check out.
9 All Of Us Are Dead
Korean shows and zombies are two elements that go hand-in-hand almost all the time. In fact, it’s downright incredible to see just how many Korean shows use zombies as a central focus for their plot.
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This is the case in All of Us Are Dead as well, where a high school becomes the hub for a vicious zombie outbreak. Watching a bunch of likable students trying to survive this epidemic is surprisingly entertaining, with the eerie zombies adding a ton of tension to some brilliantly shot scenes.
8 Save Me
The idea of a haywire cult sowing seeds of discord within a close-knit family is pretty harrowing as is. However, it’s the manner in which Save Me weaves its intricate plot line around this setting that makes it a brilliant show indeed.
Save Me doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to showing the brutality of humankind in more ways than one. It’s one of the queasiest watches on this list, mainly because the monster that is terrorizing the characters of this show are also pretty human in their own right.
7 Kingdom
Zombies are among the most popular horror creatures in all types of horror media, so it’s not much of a surprise that one of the best Korean horror shows, Kingdom, focuses on them. It takes place in a kingdom whose prince becomes the only hope against the mysterious sickness that is slowly engulfing the land.
Two seasons have premiered so far, each with six episodes, so it’s possible to finish watching the show quite fast. Available on Netflix, Kingdom has it all, from captivating plotlines to intriguing characters to brutal action scenes.
6 Master’s Sun
Some of the best horror stories manage to combine both drama and comedy, and the 2013 series Master’s Sun is a good example of that. Its main heroine, Tae Gong Shil, doesn’t lead a peaceful life — because she can see ghosts almost everywhere. Things start to change when she meets the cold and arrogant Joo Joong Won. He’s the only person in whose company Tae feels normal, like everybody else.
The series incorporates humor in the dialogue exchange between the main duo, yet it’s also quite terrifying at times. For viewers who enjoy unusual romances, the series is worth checking out. Just like Kingdom, Master’s Sun is also currently streaming on Netflix.
5 Hotel Del Luna
American Horror Story: Hotel isn’t the only scary series taking place in a hotel. However, Hotel Del Luna couldn’t possibly be more different from the American show. It focuses on Jang Man-Wol who’s been leading the Del Luna hotel for over a thousand years. Unsurprisingly, this hotel is far from ordinary. Its guests are the souls of people who died but remained in the mortal world. It’s unusual for living people to stumble into the hotel, until one day when exactly that happens, and everything changes.
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The show is full of fascinating concepts that make it worth watching. It has sixteen episodes in total and has since stopped airing, so it’s possible to binge-watch it without the need to wait for the story’s resolution. It manages to combine multiple genres, and its characters will keep the audience intrigued.
4 Sweet Home
The Netflix horror show Sweet Home is based on a comic book. Hyun is a high school student who must fight for his life since monsters have seemed to take over the planet. Luckily, Hyun won’t be the only one who takes the monsters on.
Unlike other series that work with well-known monsters (such as zombies), Sweet Home features a large variety of creatures. They keep the audience on the edge of their seats, since they never know who or what will show up next. The heroes are sympathetic, and it’s easy to cheer them on.
3 Possessed
Being a psychic might be a dream come true for many people, but the main heroine of this series, Hong Seo Jung, doesn’t see it that way. She tries to hide her powers from others, but when the detective Kang Pil Sung finds out, he convinces her to work with him.
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It’s not the first show featuring an unlikely duo working together. However, Possessed presents the old formula in a refreshing, interesting way. Hong and Kang are so different that it takes them a while to get along — but meanwhile, they have to solve problems that would have most people shaking in their boots.
2 Zombie Detective
Some TV shows have names that simply speak for themselves, and Zombie Detective is one of those. A zombie becomes a detective after its resurrection, joins forces with a writer, and the two solve crimes together.
It might sound like a bizarre idea, but the show makes it work. It’s equal parts frightening and hilarious, appealing to those who love horror comedies The first season has 24 30-minute episodes, which makes it easy to watch the entire series in a relatively short time. And even though the main hero is a zombie, he’s far more sympathetic than many human characters audiences see on TV.
1 Strangers From Hell
Living in a flat with other people can be difficult, especially if they’re complete strangers. In Strangers From Hell, the main hero moves to Seoul for a job and discovers that his new housemates are…a bit odd.
The series successfully creates a mysterious, suspenseful atmosphere and keeps the audience invested in the protagonist’s situation. The actors give excellent performances and the story maintains a fast pace, despite the fact that each of the ten episodes lasts over an hour.
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