Poster for ‘The Guest.’ Photo: OCN, courtesy of Han Cinema.
This spooky season, if you’re looking to go beyond mainstream shows like Squid Game, All of Us Are Dead, or Sweet Home, there’s a darker corner of creepy Korean horror series lurking in the shadows, waiting to jump out at you. From psychological thrillers to occult-themed shows, here are five lesser-known, underrated, yet undeniably creepy-as-hell Korean series to add to your Halloween watchlist.
White Christmas (2011)
White Christmas is a stark, tense psychological thriller that will crawl under your skin. An elite high school in the mountains takes center stage as a group of students, a teacher, and a visitor find themselves stuck inside it during their winter break. The vacation goes horribly wrong when strange events and threats start circulating, and they realize a killer is hiding among them.
The drama trades the jarring jump scares you’d typically find in ghost or gore stories for slow-burning tension. There’s a creeping sense of unease that comes from watching the characters grapple with the unknown, and the fear of their own secrets and insecurities, as well as that of death that’s closing in. “What makes a monster?” the show asks. “Are we born with it, or do we become one with the pressures around us?” As the protagonists confront a life-threatening situation, their masks peel off — unveiling the darkness within, and leaving you to ponder this haunting question.
Nightmare High (2016)
Yosan Private High School becomes a living hell when Han Bong-gu (Uhm Ki-Joon) joins as a substitute teacher with a sinister agenda to turn the students’ deepest desires into their worst fears. When they keep disappearing, one by one, Kang Ye-rim (Kim So-hyun) and Seo Sang-woo (Lee Min-hyuk) must investigate what’s behind it all before the horror manifests and victims multiply.
Nightmare High (aka Nightmare Teacher) is an unsettlingly good watch in that it uses the familiar setting of a high school to explore the darker aspects of Korean society. The show’s focus on the anxieties of academic performance, social hierarchy, and physical appearance makes it incredibly relatable, and the horrors that unfold are a terrifying commentary on the pressures of growing up in Korea.
The Guest (2018)
A malicious spirit begins unleashing its fury in a small town, setting off a chain reaction of darkness and tragedy that links Yoon Hwa-pyung (Kim Dong-wook), a psychic from a shaman family, Choi Yoon (Kim Jae-wook), a cynical exorcist priest, and Kang Kil-young (Jung Eun-chae), a gritty, street-smart detective. Many years later, they team up once more to confront the sinister force that keeps possessing people, compelling them to monstrous behavior and heinous crimes.
The Guest packs layers of horror with shamanism, exorcism, and crime into a plot that’s as complex as it is unpredictable, making each episode a thrilling, cinematic experience.
The Cursed (2020)
Im Jin-hee (Uhm Ji-won), a fearless journalist, has her sights dead set on Forest, a tech giant with a dark side. During her investigation, she meets Baek So-jin (Jung Ji-so), a teenage girl who can curse people to death thanks to her supernatural skills. So-jin also has a grudge against Forest’s chairman, Jin Jong-hyun (Sung Dong-il), who is responsible for her mother’s tragic death. The two women then join forces to expose what’s hidden behind the scenes.
The Cursed’s horror element is rooted in classic Korean shamanic rituals, corporate corruption, and the occult. What also sets it apart is how it dives deep into the gray areas of morality, revenge, and the blurred lines between good and evil.
Somebody (2022)
Kim Sum (Kang Hae-lim) is a brilliant software developer on the autism spectrum who struggles to interact with people. But when she creates a dating app called “Somebody,” it becomes her primary social outlet. Sadly, it also becomes a hunting ground for a serial killer, who’s using the app to stalk his next victims. With each new murder, the plot intensifies. Still, Sum begins to feel a strange sense of attraction to the killer, and vice versa.
The dating app becomes a real element of horror in the story, reflecting just how easily technology can be misused. The developing romance between Sum and the serial killer adds to the unease — their strange compatibility making their relationship intriguing and really disturbing at the same time.
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