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While romantic K-dramas make us swoon, horror K-dramas can make our blood run cold. These spine-chilling horror K-dramas use numerous different themes, from zombies to ancient Korean folklore, and create a terrifying atmosphere where the characters find themselves. These circumstances often make viewers mirror the dread and terror of the characters.
Whether the setting of the show is as secure as a school or even one’s home, these terrifying tales in horror K-dramas can instill intense fear in anyone watching the show. By bringing back an ancient evil creature, turning close ones of the protagonists into zombies, or even injecting fear by making them question their faith.
Here’s a list of 10 horror K-dramas that won’t let you sleep at night by introducing you to frightening storylines.
Disclaimer: This entire article is based on the writer's opinion. Reader discretion is advised.
Top 10 horror K-dramas that won't let you sleep at night
10) The Guest
The Guest is one of the horror K-dramas that narrate the gritty tale of three individuals who are connected by a horrific incident because of an evil spirit, leaving them traumatized for years. These individuals, consisting of a young priest named Choi Yoon and Yoon Hwa-pyung, a taxi driver and a shaman, try to find the evil spirit, Park Il-do, and exorcise it from Yoon’s brother’s body.
As Hwa-pyung can see who was possessed by Park Il-do and also who they have killed under possession, their path crosses with Kang Gil-young, who is a police officer like her mother and is trying to bring justice to the victims of Park Il-do. The series blends horror, mystery, and thriller, curating a gritty and horrifying tale, which will surely keep you up at night.
9) Gyeongseong Creature
Gyeongseong Creature brings a fictional tale inspired by Korea’s tragic past during the Japanese invasion. Set in 1945, it narrates the story of Han So-hee’s Yoon Chae-ok and Park Seo-joon’s Jang Tae-sang encountering a mysterious creature, apparently made by the biological experiments that the Japanese forces were subjecting the prisoners to in the infamous Ongseong Hospital.
With two seasons, the storyline of the Korean series takes us back to post-World War II Korea and also to the present time, which has not been exempt from the parasite, Najin, that wreaked havoc in the past. Blending the real-life terrifying story of Unit 731 and fictional horror elements, Gyeongseong Creature depicts a frightening tale, making it one of the best horror K-dramas that have come out recently.
8) Hellbound
What makes Hellbound one of the best horror K-dramas is its take on the themes of faith, concepts of hell, and sin. Taking place in a future in Korea, monstrous creatures come and beat individuals to death after a mysterious face, deemed as the Ange,l appears and delivers the date and time of their death due to them being a sinner.
Initially, the common, god-fearing people accept it as their god’s way of punishing the sinners, until a newborn baby is subjected to the prophecy. This results in the people questioning the concept of sin altogether, creating a complex narrative. If you are looking for a show that could not only keep you up at night with its terrifying atmosphere but also make you question the morality of human beings, Hellbound is a must-watch horror show.
7) The Cursed
This is one of the horror K-dramas that used Korean cultural themes, introducing spirits like inugami and procedures of shamanism. Jung Ji-so’s Baek So-jin helps reporter Im Jin-hee to uncover the truth and fight against an evil spirit that resides in an IT conglomerate named Forest’s CEO, Jin Jong-hyun.
The story narrates how teenager So-jin, who was also possessed by the inugami, can perform the powerful procedure to fight against Jong-hyun’s evil spirit, and tries her best to do so. Although So-jin appears to be powerful enough, Jong-hyun has the help of another powerful shaman, who helps in protecting him from So-jin. The series compiles a compelling story of the fight between good and evil with depicting Asian spiritual practices, like shamanism.
6) Revenant
Revenant is one of the horror K-dramas that will not only scare you with showing scary scenes but also will keep you up at night, compelling you to witness the societal struggles that sometimes end up creating monsters. The series follows Kim Tae-ri’s Gu San-yeong, who is possessed by an evil spirit, whose identity is a mystery for most of the series.
Apart from the elements of supernatural horror, the Korean series’s other main theme is suicide and survival. The deaths that San-yeong and folklore professor Yeom Hae-sang try to investigate are mysterious suicide cases. With connecting one of the most pressing issues of the modern world, the show highlights how these suicides are mostly caused by societal failures, depicting a grave issue other than the horrors of the evil spirits, making it one of the best horror K-dramas in the list.
5) Kingdom
Kingdom blends horror elements of zombies in an intriguing political tale set in the early 17th-century Joseon dynasty, just after the Japanese invasion war. It follows the story of Lee Chang (Ju Ji-hoon), the crown prince who tries to investigate his father’s illness but is caught by the son of Lord Cho Hak-ju.
Hak-ju is also Chang’s political rival, whose daughter is married to the king and has aspirations to gain that power. Amid all the political play, the country grapples with the horror involving the undead. Just like Revenant, Kingdom is also one of the horror K-dramas, which, apart from scaring you with the terrifying atmosphere, also makes you see the class difference that depicts a more horrific sight. Furthermore, Kingdom has also been compared to Game of Thrones for several of its storytelling components.
4) Parasyte: The Grey
Based on the popular manga series by Hitoshi Iwaaki, Parasyte: The Grey narrates the story of alien parasites taking over the human body. The Parasites, who have a knack for killing humans, take control of the human bodies and are also able to shapeshift.
With the grotesque detailing of the parasitic transformation and gritty storyline, this sci-fi horror series depicts a chilling tale about otherworldly creatures taking control of humans. The series also laments on the fact of if humans and aliens could co-exist or one of them has to take over the other one, making it one of the most compelling horror K-dramas.
3) Sweet Home
Based on the webtoon of the same name, Sweet Home follows the story of the residents of the rundown apartment, Green Home, as they grapple with the changing world around them, where the survival of humanity is at stake due to the supernatural creatures/monsters.
Just like many other horror K-dramas, Sweet Home has a compelling story at the heart of it. The residents’ struggle to survive and the hope of finding a cure for the monster problem binds a terrifying yet compelling story where, just like the residents of Green Home, you’ll find yourself hoping and praying for humanity to prevail while the monsters take over the world.
2) Hell is Other People/Strangers from Hell
Hell is Other People starring Squid Game 3’s Im Si-wan as Yoon Jong-woo, who moves to Seoul to achieve his dream of becoming a crime fiction writer. Due to a shortage of money, he has to live in a cheap dormitory called Eden Studio. However, the place and the residents of the dormitory make him feel scared and paranoid.
Although Hell is Other People does not introduce some supernatural creatures to scare us all, it relies on something scarier in the real world: the human psyche, which has no boundaries. With excellent cinematography, the series reels you in on Jong-woo’s struggles, feeling at times the claustrophobia, the paranoia that he is feeling, which is enough to run your blood cold, making it one of the best psychological horror K-dramas.
1) All of Us Are Dead
What could be more frightening for a student than being stuck at school due to a zombie apocalypse, which results in them losing some of their close friends and even family members? All of Us Are Dead narrates the story of a group of high school kids who try to get out of their school after it becomes a ground zero for a zombie outbreak.
While using the familiar yet frightening theme of zombie horror, the series also moves the stakes higher by introducing a new and evolved form of zombies called hambies, who, while being a zombies, have retained their human consciousness, making them either more vicious or protective, depending on how they were as humans.
The series does not shy away from depicting the gruesome details while also maintaining a gripping tale of survival and sacrifice, which adds to the horror elements, making it one of the best horror K-dramas.
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