Put on the lists of most haunted places of South Korea, the once abandoned building of Neulbom Garden Restaurant, saw its fair share of ghosts according to the legends of this place.
The Neulbom Garden Restaurant (늘봄가든) building is located in Jecheon in North Chungcheong Province in South Korea. The restaurant is one of the most haunted places in South Korea according to most lists, blogs, youtube channels and articles. Often grouped together with the Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital and Yeongdeok Haunted House.
Arguably the most famous haunted place in South Korea is the Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital. When it was still standing it attracted a lot of ghost hunters, curious tourists and urban explorers. What was it behind the place that drew all these people?
Named one of the most haunted houses in South Korea, this house has attracted its fair share of ghost tourists. But is the Yeongdeok Haunted House really haunted by the death of Korean soldiers during the war, or is it simply the decaying look of the house that made the legend?
The story behind the haunted place of Neulbom Garden goes that the restaurant was once a very successful one that was run by a married couple. They had a young daughter with a physical disability in most versions of the legend. In some versions however, she was fine until the accident happened and turned their restaurant into Korea’s most haunted.
The Legend of the Haunted Restaurant
One day, the daughter of the restaurant owners was by the road right in front of the restaurant when she was run over by a car and she died. In some versions she survived the accident, but this is when her physical disability happened as her neck was snapped and left her brain dead.
Her father never recovered from this and ended up committed suicide by hanging himself in his grief. Her mother was also sick with grief and died not long after and the Neulbom Garden Restaurant was sold off.
After this tragedy, there were several attempts at running Neulbom Garden restaurant by other people, but strange things started happening all the time and the people working there started blaming it on some paranormal reasons.
The staff would take orders they forgot about, and when they realized it, they hurried over to the table with the forgotten orders. But when they came to the table, they found that someone had already served their guests.
They would also sometimes go home without cleaning the tables, but when they came back, the next morning, they found the whole restaurant tidied and clean.
The Abandoned Restaurant: Put on the lists of most haunted places of South Korea, the once abandoned building of Neulbom Garden Restaurant got a reputation of being haunted. //photo:
Not only the staff noticed strange things happening in the restaurants. Although perhaps a helpful ghost for the staff, the neighbors were less than pleased and constantly complained of loud noises from the haunted restaurant.
But although the ghosts seemed to have been eager to help with the restaurant, sometimes it would create chaos as well. Guests would sometimes order food by a female staff member, but the food would never arrive at their table. When the guests asked the male staff what happened to their order taken by the female staff, they could only answer: “We don’t have any females working here.”
The next owners that took over the restaurant finally gave up on running the restaurant one by one and left the building to decay, further fuelling the rumors of it being haunted. Rumors about the place is that a priest bought Neulbom Garden to let it rest in peace.
Although renewed as an art district in downtown Memphis, the buildings on South Main like Earnestine & Hazel’s Bar hold old history within its walls as well as hauntings of their ghosts.
There are so many conflicted theories about the restaurant and if we look at the earlier korean sources according to namu.wiki it was in 2009 an article of the hauntings of the Neulbom Garden Restaurant was written online. Here in this article it was the parents who died in both a car accident and by suicide by turning the gas stove on in the kitchen.
So what version could be the truth behind the many legends? More likely is that they closed down the Neulbom Garden Restaurant because the Jungang Expressway opened in 2001 and sales plummeted. It looks like it was purchased in 2012 by Buddhists that used it as a temple and cafe, but the business failed as well and it was closed again in 2015.
It was later run as a cafe by a group of christians it seems, and as far as research goes it looks like the building is still being used as a restaurant or cafe under a different name than Neulbom Garden Restaurant under the expressway. If the guests are still being served by ghosts is undisclosed.
Arguably the most famous haunted place in South Korea is the Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital. When it was still standing it attracted a lot of ghost hunters, curious tourists and urban explorers. What was it behind the place that drew all these people?
One of the allegedly most haunted places in South-Korea was the Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital (곤지암 남양신경정신병원). It was closed down in the 90s and the owner left the country after not documenting for the public the reason why it closed down according to myth. And the legends, rumours and tales started spinning, everything from murderous patients, mad doctors and so on.
So spooky did the world find this place that even foreign TV-station CNN called it one of the world’s most freakiest places in 2012, really making it an international destination for thrillseekers. Today however the empty building been torn down. But before that it managed to become one of the biggest hotspots for ghost seekers in Korea.
Let’s see how the abandoned hospital became known as one of the most haunted places in the country and unravel some of the legends it became known for before being demolished with nothing left but its legend.
The Asylum: This is how the abandoned hospital looked before being demolished in 2018, hidden away between trees at the foot of a mountain..
Abandoned Asylum in the Mountains
Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital was a building near the small city of Gwangju outside of Seoul in a residential area at the foot of a mountain. The old ruins of the abandoned hospital was just remote enough to be considered a spooky and haunted asylum tucked away in the mountains, and close enough to visit from big places like Seoul to spread the word of ghosts and mad doctors. Much to the locals’ nuisance as they have hated the rumours about the place that have drawn people from all over the world to trespass to have a look for themselves.
According to those who tried to find their way there, the locals around the place are not so forthcoming with giving directions to the site. This of course has fueled the excitement for the urban explorers and paranormal researchers alike, and every year thousands of people broke through the barriers to get a glimpse of the allegedly haunted asylum.
The Mad Doctor at Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital
So what really went down inside Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital before closing? Let’s have a look at what the legend claims happened inside of the supposed haunted asylum.
The Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital first opened its doors in 1961 and was a full functioning one all the way up to July 1996. Nurses took care of the patients on the three floor hospital and the doctors made their rounds, just as expected. But over the course of the last decade the hospital was in operation, mysterious things kept happening according to the legends the place left.
Read About More Haunted Hospitals Around the World in the MoonMausoleum
Many of the patients spent most of their lives inside of the walls of the old and overcrowded asylum. Some even say that some of the souls will spend the rest of eternity in this old asylum.
The haunted Island of Poveglia has always been a place for the unwanted. It has been a place for plague victims, a psychiatric hospital and burial ground. Today it’s known for being one of the most haunted places in the world.
The story goes that the patients started dying mysteriously without a good explanation. In addition to dying patients, there were also some of the staff that went missing and turned up dead in the rooms inside of the hospital. From a medical standpoint it was first believed that it could be an infection seeing as it also afflicted some of the patients family members as well, but no, it turned out to be something much more sinister.
Apparently it was the owner of the asylum who went insane himself and kept many of the patients prisoners and killing them one by one until he was stopped. It wasn’t until the government came to investigate because of the missing staff that he was caught and fled to America, causing the hospital to shut down.
There were also rumours about the director of the hospital took his own life after being found out to be behind the dead patients and missing staff, becoming one of the souls haunting the place.
But even after the mad doctor was caught, the souls of the victims could never be at peace, long after the hospital closed down and became forgotten for a long time as time ate away at the building.
According to the locals, screams had been heard coming from the abandoned building along with mysterious figures lurking around the dark hospital, believing it to be the haunted souls of the asylum. Poor victims that turned to vengeful spirits, haunting the premise and seeking revenge on those who wronged them.
The people that dared to visit the haunted asylum to check out the stories told of scary encounters they could only explain as paranormal. There were reports of dropping temperatures when it suddenly turned cold on a hot summer’s day, opening and closing of the heavy doors without a draft and they kept hearing voices of people that weren’t there.
The Legend of the Haunted Hospital Grows
Although Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital was such a well known place, the facts of the asylum’s history is hazy, especially after it has been mixed in with unverified legends and blockbuster movies. In 2008 a ghost hunter show showcased the hospital where they brought on shamans and reported that there indeed was something going on in the place.
It was not the only “documentary” that were made of the former hospital and helped to make it a well known building in the entire country and beyond.
The Documentary of the Ghost of Gonjiam: The ghost hunter “documentary” series Ghostspot aired an episode in 2008 about the legends of Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital. This definitely helped further the legends of the place and made the whole nation aware of its existence.
The culmination and peak of the legend must have been when the movies like commercial successful Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum (Korean: 곤지암) from 2018 didn’t help to quench the rumours about the asylum being haunted by ghosts. Although the movie itself was primarily filmed at Busan National Maritime High School, a supposed haunted place in itself, it capitalized on the legend behind Gonjiam.
It was kind of a big controversy when Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum came out in theaters as the owner of the building tried to stop the movie as he feared it would affect the property value.
But he lost and the movie was aired, making it a paranormal hot spot to visit once again, despite of the owner trying to keep people out. Barbed wire, cameras and warning signs have tried to keep visitors out since it closed down, to no avail. And the legend would not stop until the whole building disappeared.
Unraveling the Legends Behind Gonjiam
So why did Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital close down then if not for a mad doctor, missing nurses and murdered patients? More mundane reasons like financial difficulties, unsanitary conditions and big problems with the sewage systems according to the owners of the building was most likely the case. And with the water pipes not up to modern standard, they had no choice to pay up or shut down.
The director that was rumoured to have taken his own life had really just started to work at another hospital after Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital closed down. The children of the director inherited the hospital, but the costs of operating the hospital was too big and they decided to let it fall into ruin, perhaps not realising the stories an abandoned building can create.
In regards to the missing staff and murdered patients at the hospital, there are no evidence for it at all. According to a journalist making a piece on the Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital, they found out there had been no suspicious reports about the hospital over the years about missing people and dead patients.
The source to this article delving into the truth behind the claims was among others a policeman in the local police district. In fact, the patients that resided in Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital were supposedly transferred to Yongin mental hospital after the hospital closed down.
Gonjiam Psychiatric HospitalMovie: The movie based on the legend from 2018 was a box office success. Screenshot from that iconic scene. //Photo: Source: IMDB
So, although alive in legend, the former hospital and legendary haunted building is no longer there for those curious about the legend to see for yourself and we have to make due with movies, picture and old footage. In 2018 Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital was demolished, the same year that the movie made the legend last forever on film.
There are plans that it may be a new apartment building at the place, further erasing the history and creating a new one at the foot of the mountain. So perhaps now the legend of Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital will die out as an actual place and story, as the building can no longer attract the curious people looking for a thrilling legend? Or maybe the spirits of the place now just lost their home?
The tale of the two sisters, Janghwa and Hongryeon that turned into virgin ghosts, is a classic Korean ghost story that continues to inspire and scare those who hear it and are trying to look down upon the seemingly innocent and helpless.
The Korean Folktale and ghost legend of Janghwa Hongryeon jeon is one of Korea’s most well known ghost stories. The story means The Story of Janghwa and Hongryeon (장화홍련전) and originate in the Joseon-era, a five century lasting kingdom from the 1300s all the way to 1897 in Korea. When and who wrote the tale is unknown.
Read Also: Check out all of our ghost stories from Korea
The tale of Janghwa and Hongryeon is a classic tale of an evil stepmother like in fairy tales like Cinderella, Snow White etc. But this Korean ghost story does not ending in the two sisters becoming princesses in any way, but how they died and became ghosts. The story is also a story about wrongly accused looking to set things straight, and that karma always will get you in the end.
A Tale of Two Sisters Movie Adaptation
A lot of the reason why the ghost story is well known today, at least on a global scale is the critically acclaimed movie A Tale of Two Sisters.
Famous Story Turned Critically Acclaimed Movie: Many adaptation of the Korean ghost storyabout Janghwa and Hongryeon has been made over the years, showing that the story is an enduring and timeless one. // Screenshot from the movie, ‘A Tale of Two Sisters’.
The legend of Janghwa and Hongryeon has been remade to both k-dramas and movies many times with a new movie adaptation of the legend coming out almost once a decade. The most famous adaptation of this Korean ghost story is perhaps ‘A Tale of Two Sisters’ from 2003 by Kim Jee-Woon.
Although it is based on the legend of Janghwa Hongryeon jeon, it is a very different story and situation with a more psychological emphasis on the story than the haunting elements. This also got an American remake in 2009 by The Guard Brothers called ‘The Uninvited’.
But let us now have a look at the origin story about the two sisters from the classical folktale dating back to the Joseon area.
The Legend of Janghwa Hongryeon jeon
The Story of Janghwa and Hongryeon starts with a classical once upon a time. There once was a man named Bae Mu Ryong that lived in Chul-San-Gun in the Pyong-An province. This province is found in today’s North Korea. Bae Mu Ryong was a man of means and his business was going well. The only thorn in his side was that there were no children to pass his name onto.
Bae Mu Ryong wife, Jang, once had a dream where she was given a beautiful flower by some form of celestial being. The wind blew and the flower turned into a beautiful girl. That is why she named her first born daughter, Janghwa, meaning Rose flower. Two years later they had another daughter they named Hongryeon, meaning red Lotus. And although the parents desperately wanted a son, they loved their daughter all the same.
The mother died, however, of an illness when Hongryeon was only five years old without giving birth to a son. Their father chose to remarry to continue the family line. According to most versions, the new stepmother was both ugly and extremely mean to the two girls. She hated them, but hid her feelings away and pretended in front of the father that she loved the girls like her own children. That was until she had given birth to three sons and now had the upper hand in the household. Having sons gave her a great deal of power and she started to torment and abuse the daughters.
Joseon Family: During the Josean period, the clan structure became stricter and bloodline was very important. Family life was regulated by law and the most important possession for a Korean family was the firstborn son, or jangja (장자). It had always been the case, but neo-Confucianism strengthened the idea even further. It was so important that no man could die without having a male heir. If they were unable to produce one, they had to adopt as daughters like Janghwa and Hongryeon couldn’t inherit. Most of the wealth and land of the family was inherited by the firstborn son, with the other sons getting small portions; girls were denied any such rights.// Here a family portrait of a Korean family from ca. 1910.
Janghwa and Hongryeon never told their father about the abuse because they didn’t want him to worry, and the years went by under this torture and they constantly being in the shadows of their brothers. And like their mother, the sons followed in her evil steps and treated Janghwa and Hongryeon horribly.
The Wedding Plans and the Evil Plan
The torture of Janghwa and Hongryeon continued until Janghwa came of age and she got engaged to be married. She was told to be a great beauty, inside and out. She had fallen in love in her betrothed and she was thinking of planning the wedding soon. The stepmother was instructed to help her plan the wedding ceremony, which was something she refused to go through with. She couldn’t bear the idea that the family money that she considered her son’s future to be spent on those girls as their dowry.
That is why the stepmother made her eldest son and confidant put a skinned and bloody rat in Janghwas bed while she was asleep. The eldest son was eager to help as it was he who was to inherit the money and felt as his mother, that they were wasted on his sisters. And the less that went to his sister, the more for himself.
Strict Rules:The rights of women in the Joseon area were reduced compared to previously areas. Women had to conform to Confucian ideals of purity and obedience. They were obliged to listen to their fathers, husbands, fathers-in-law and firstborn sons and couldn’t inherit. The reason was that marrying daughters off required expensive dowry and daughters were called dodungnyeo (도둑녀), “thieves”.
The next morning the stepmother brought the father to Janghwas room and showed the bloody mess to him. Without knowing the truth, the sight could have seen like a bloody miscarriage and that Janghwa wasn’t as pure as she perhaps seemed. The stepmother accused Janghwa for becoming pregnant out of wedlock and leading a sinful life. The father believed this no matter how much Janghwa tried to explain and took the stepmothers side.
The stepmother showed the so-called fetus to the whole village so they could see what kind of woman Janghwa truly was. Without knowing what to do after being confused and humiliated, Janghwa ran out of the house to a small pond in the woods to calm down. The eldest son followed per the stepmother’s orders to push her into the pond to drown her. But as the brother was watching his little sister drown, suddenly a tiger attacked him, taking both a leg and an arm in the attack.
So the stepmother got what she wanted, the death of her stepdaughter, but at the cost of her son’s well being. So she was far from pleased and turned her anger to Hongryeon, and the abuse got worse than ever. The little sister couldn’t bear the torment, especially without her sister and drowned herself in the same pond to join her sister and escape her hell.
The Ghosts of Janghwa and Hongryeon
Strange happenings started to befall on the village after the death of Janghwa and Hongryeon. Whenever a new mayor was appointed to Chul-San-Gun to uphold justice, he was found dead soon after. Often even the following day after his arrival.
The virgin ghosts: Poster from the 1972 movie adaptation of the Korean ghost story, Janghwa Hongryeon jeon of the two sisters Janghwa and Hongryeon
These strange and mysterious deaths kept happening and although no one knew for sure about what was happening to the mayors of the town. Rumours started to spread throughout the village and most of the rumours were about Janghwa and Hongryeon that drowned in the pond and they were sure the sisters were the cause of it all.
But things were about to change when the young mayor came to the village of Chul-San-Gun. The young mayor was well aware of the deaths of Janghwa and Hongryeon that had occured, but had no fear for his own life.
Sitting in his room at night, the candle was suddenly blown out, even though there was no windows or doors open. Horrible noises and screams from nowhere filled the room and the door flung open. The air itself became damp and a smell of moss slithered in like he was in the bottom of the pond himself.
First he couldn’t see anyone in the darkness, but then the mayor saw two girls as the ghosts they were in front of him. He thought Janghwa and Hongryeon looked just like living human beings at first, but realised soon it had to be them haunting the place.
When the mayor asked them why Janghwa and Hongryeon had killed his predecessors, they started weeping, sick of people spreading false rumours about them, even after their death.
Janghwa told about the lies the stepmother had told about her and that all she wanted was the truth to be known. She had not been an unchaste woman that committed suicide out of shame, but that she had in fact been killed. The mayor asked for evidence and Janghwa told him to examine the fetus of the supposed miscarriage.
The Truth of Janghwa and Hongryeon comes out
The very next morning the new mayor did just this and followed Janghwa and Hongryeon’s advice. When examined more closely, it was revealed that the supposed human fetus was in fact a rat. Both the stepmother and the eldest son that had played a part in her evil plan was sentenced to death. The father on the other side was let go as they thought he had also been deceived. And the tale of Janghwa and Hongryeon ended with justice, even though they had to die before it happened.
Read Also: Another Korean ghost story about a woman trying to solve her murder in her after life is in The Legend of Arang
Many years later, the father of Janghwa and Hongryeon remarried again, still not giving up on family life. In a dream he had on his wedding night, he saw his two daughters and they told him that everything was alright and as it should be, that they missed him and wanted to come back to him very soon. The wife of the third wife delivered twin girls and the father named them Janghwa and Hongryeon, and according to legend of Janghwa Hongryeon jeon, they lived happily ever after.
The Korean Virgin Ghost of Janghwa Hongryeon jeon
The Tale of the two sisters Janghwa and Hongryeon is one of the most well known tales of the quintessential virgin ghost in Korean folktales. It is when unmarried women die before their wedding and the remorse of it all makes them into a vengeful ghost. Read more about them here:
The Korean virgin ghost may be based on the ideals that all a woman needs is a husband, but the anger of these spirits tells of a woman with another purpose. And that is mostly vengeance.
The ghost itself has gone through many changes throughout the ages since Janghwa Hongryeon jeon, and if anything, become more violent and bloody than in this classical Korean ghost story.
But nonetheless, the tale of the two sisters in Janghwa Hongryeon jeon keep on lingering in the back of Korean culture as an undying story with the two sister as a reminder that the truth will come out no matter what.
The Korean virgin ghost legends may be based on the ideals that all a woman needs is a husband, but the anger of these spirits tells of a woman with another purpose. And that is mostly vengeance.
There are according to legend, several signs that can occur when encountering a Korean virgin ghost. The temperature may suddenly drop, the wind may change direction. And the eerie feeling of chills on your whole body will take hold.
Read More: Check out all of our ghost stories from Korea
The Korean Virgin Ghost or Cheonyeogwisin (처녀귀신), in Korean, is one of those old legends in Korea that just won’t die, and so won’t the spirit either. The ghost is considered to be a staple of Korean ghost lore and is probably the most seen and used ghost in movies, books and good old ghost stories. They are originally from Korean folklore, but also make an appearance in modern urban legend and contemporary ghost stories as well.
What is a Korean Virgin Ghost?
The legend of the virgin ghost in Korea is the belief that unmarried women that died before they were wed off, are so full of remorse they are unable to go on into the afterlife. The name was coined during a time where an unmarried woman was in theory the same as a virgin. And the reasoning and purpose of the ghosts are also modeled after very old and strict ideals of a woman.
The legend of the unmarried ghosts is spurned after Confucian ideals of how to be a woman and the dangers when breaking the rules. In the old days, unmarried people were regarded almost as children and it was a shameful thing to be unmarried, especially for women.
Women have always been told, or at least used to be told, that their purpose in life was to first serve their father, then marry and serve their husband and then have children to serve. And if she died before fulfilling her purpose, her life would have been meaningless and she could turn into a virgin ghost, haunting empty houses and buildings, schools and forests.
But when we take a closer look at the legends of the supposed virgin ghost, there are many that don’t fit the criteria at all of the “unfulfilled woman”, but rather, young women filled with rage and in search of justice for themselves, or in some cases, revenge on those who wronged them. Not unlike the legends of the Onryō.
In many cultures, ghosts are put in different categories. Such is the case with Onryō (怨霊 onryō,) It basically means “vengeful spirit” or “wrathful spirit” in Japanese and is a mythological spirit of vengeance from Japanese folklore. They also have ghosts, called yurei, but these differ in the will of the ghost. As opposed to…
There have been many tales of the Cheonyeogwisin, or virgin ghost throughout Korean history. Two of the more famous Korean virgin ghosts are in the Korean folktale from the Joseon era, The Story of Janghwa and Hongryeon. A story of two sisters that died at the hands of their evil stepmother before their wedding. They came back as ghosts to get their revenge and set things straight. This story was also adapted into the modern horror movie from 2003, titled A Tale of Two Sisters, directed by Kim Jee-woon.
FamousGhosts: Many adaptation of the story has been made over the years.//Screenshot from the movie, ‘A Tale of Two Sisters’
In modern times the ghost can still be spotted in both horror movies, as in, almost every Korean horror movie as well as romantic k-dramas like “Oh My Ghost”, “Arang and the Magistrate”, “Hey Ghost, Let’s Fight” we meet a Cheonyeogwisin in true ghost story style, but in some modern retellings of the old myth, they are not always unmarried, and not always a virgin in the strictest sense.
Appearance Of The Virgin Ghost
Most often the Korean virgin ghost or Cheonyeogwisin is depicted wearing a white hanbok, a traditional attire in Korea called Sobok (소복) which is a traditional mourning hanbok. In most Korean ghost stories she usually has her hair down as the married women traditionally tied their hair up. And as this particularly ghost legend is not, she has no choice but to let her hair down.
Originally the virgin ghost was often mistaken as a living person because they looked like it. Like in the famous Korean folktale ‘The Story of Janghwa and Hongryeon’ they are described like normal people: “A beautiful woman dressed in a green jacket and a scarlet skirt came in quietly and bowed.” The ghost looked so great and real that the governor had to ask: “Are you a human or a demon, tell me the truth!”
But over the years the ghost has become more dramatic in the way it looks, perhaps in large part to scare factor in horror movies. Korea and the ghost story culture of the old times changed drastically, especially post colonialism and globalisation in the modern era, so many of the traditional ways of looking at things are now influenced by Japanese, Chinese and also Western influence and many of the original things with the virgin ghosts have been put in the background.
Nowadays the spirit is sometimes reported to have a pale face with dark circles with small drops of blood on the side of her mouth. Sometimes she is even shedding tears of blood or fully covered in it. As stated earlier it is very much reminiscent of the Japanese Onryo or vengeful spirit, but recontextualised in a Korean suit.
The bloody version: The virgin ghost has evolved into a more bloody and violent ghost than before. Source: Screengrab from Hometown Legends: Gisaeng House Ghost Story.
There is a male version of this particular ghost as well, called Chonggakgwishin (총각귀신) or the Korean Bachelor Ghost in old Korean folktales, although they are not portrayed as intimidating as their female counterpart. There are also not really many famous stories where the bachelor part of the ghosts identity is in focus. As with all Korean ghosts or Gwisin, especially those who seek vengeance or have something unfulfilled, are most often female.
‘Han’ The Grudge
Han is a Korean expression and even a cultural phenomenon that holds a lot of different meanings throughout the years. But one of them is a deep sense of grudge that can linger even after death. This is similar to many types of ghosts in Asian culture, like onryo or the vengeful or hungry ghost that we can find stories of in many Asian countries.
It was thought the virgin ghost directed their resentment against other women their age, harassing and harming them for getting the chance to have something they never would. Couples in love and newlyweds were also a target for the woman with a grudge.
Frost can fall even in May and June, if a woman harbors a grudge [han]. (A woman’s vengeance knows no bounds.)
여자가 한을 품으면 오뉴월에도 서리가 내린다.
This is one of many Korean proverbs about the resentment of a woman and alludes to just how dangerous that can be. Since the old times they thought the resentment was deep when a virgin died, and the fear of the living being possessed by one was huge. Because they believed that if you got possessed by a virgin ghost, you too would become resentful and not be able to get married.
The Grudge: In most tales about the Korean Virgin Ghost, the ghost is after vengeance or trying to restore her reputation after her death.
In today’s rereading of these stories the conclusion of the why has changed somewhat as the view on a woman’s place in society has changed drastically in most cases. Perhaps the ghost is not manifesting because the woman was robbed of the chance of knowing marital bliss and raising children.
Modern perspective reads more of the woman’s rage after all the years of oppression and being ignored throughout history rather than her inability to fulfill the wishes of the patriarchy. The modern Cheonyeogwisin is perhaps a more fitting image for the rebelling female. And perhaps that is also why the appearance of the ghost has changed from a neat perfect lady in hanbok to a bloodsoaked women with unkempt hair and revenge in mind.
Scared of the Virgin Ghosts
The best way to not turn into a virgin ghost according to old tradition, was to get married as soon as possible, problem solved, no Cheonyeogwisin in the afterlife for you. But even after death there were steps taken to prevent a virgin ghost from taking hold over the deceased spirit. The steps was not only for the dead in question, but also for the family, friends, and the entire village as they were terrified of these ghosts.
One of the things they did to prevent a virgin ghost from taking hold over the spirit of the dead woman was to place small dolls of straw in the coffin. The dolls were made with mens clothing and a huge emphasis on the male genitalia to help ease her suffering. It was believed she wouldn’t miss the contact of men as much because she would have something phallic to comfort her in her grave and her afterlife.
The diseased woman was then buried with the coffin upside down so that she wouldn’t be able to get out and turn into a Cheonyeogwisin. It was all complete when thorns were placed around the coffin. This all shows just how much the Korean virgin ghost was feared back in the day and how only phallic motifs could help preventing them.
How To Get Rid Of A Virgin Ghost
So that is how to prevent a virgin ghost from forming, but how did they deal with the Cheonyeogwisin already existing? It was thought that the only way to get rid of them was a ritual of some sort of exorcism, or ‘soul wedding’ (yeonghongyeolhonsig 영혼결혼식), as it was called.
It was most often held for the virgin and the bachelor ghost, making them a couple in the afterlife so that their souls could finally rest in peace. Korea was not the only country who practiced these weddings of dead people as ghost marriages was also a tradition in China.
In China there was a tradition of ghost marriage where the family of the dead arrange a marriage from beyond the grave, and there are still cases where the old tradition is not quite dead.
And if there was not a ghost of a bachelor in need of a ghost bride, there are also cases where very phallic statues were erected, making the virgins go off into the afterlife apparently. There were also shrines dedicated to the Korean virgin ghost with phallic carvings and sculptures displayed.
The Penis Park
Some of these phallic statues made to penetrate through the veil of revenge and appease the soul still exist today. One of the places you can still behold the phallic statues is Haesindang Park in Samcheok for instance, with over fifty penis statues in all shapes and sizes, ready to serve the wrath of the virgin ghost. It is otherwise known as the ‘penis park’,
The remedy: One of the statues found in Haesindang Park in Sinnam. This one appropriately titled, The Smiling Penis. Photo: Steven16091984/Wiki
The main legend behind this park is in fact about a woman that died before being married. The local legend is known as: Legend of Auebawi and Haesindang. She was left behind on a rock in the sea by her husband to be when he went out to sea to fish. He was supposed to pick her up again on his way back, but when he returned, she had died by being taken by a big wave and drowning. After this the fish disappeared from the area and they all believed it was the woman’s remorse and sadness that was at fault.
So how does this relate to penises? Well, a young man urinated into the same water and it was like this was what the fish had all been waiting for and they returned to the area. It was believed that all that was needed was a penis in the mix, and the spirit was appeased. In its honour the fishing community decided to build the penis park filled with these statues.
Since then biannual religious gatherings known as Haesindang is held on the rock, known as Aebawi Rock. They have also built a shrine in the virgin ghost’s honour, all to make sure they won’t be bothered by the wrath of her ever again.
Today, the tales of the virgin ghosts are not necessarily about getting married like in the old folktales, but fulfilling the things you couldn’t do in life. Therefore there are many ghost stories about virgin ghosts being able to pass on after fulfilling their purpose unrelated to getting married. And according to some of these stories, the purpose of the ghosts are releasing their full fledged anger.
The last few years, K-dramas has certainly taken over much of the media the world consume today and that goes for the Korean horror TV-Series as well.
Although it is largely remembered from the overly romantic dramas with umbrellas in the rain and watching over people with a cold like they are on their deathbed, some more darker series has caught on. In fact one of the more famous k-drama must certainly be the zombie driven historical drama Kingdom that entered as Koreans first entry to the Netflix family. And since then, the gems keeps on coming. Here are ten of the more darker k-dramas out there.
Revenant |악귀 (2023)
This slow burn ghost story is based on Korean folklore. It follows a professor in folklore (Oh Jung-se) who can see ghosts that teams up with a young woman (Kim Tae-ri) after her father dies in what seems to be a suicide. But strange things starts to happen to her and it turns out she is possessed by a vengeful ghosts, and that the string of mysterious suicides that happens around them is something much more horrifying.
Strangers From Hell | 타인은 지옥이다 (2019)
With a top stellar cast of Im Shi Wan (Run On) and Lee Dong Wook (Goblin), this had to be an iconic duo. The series is a trippy Korean horror TV-Series quest for a poor writer to distinguish between what is and isn’t real as well to figure out his true friends he can trust is. When he moves into a cheap hostel, Eden Gosiwon, he has to deal with the truly creepy residents he has to share kitchen and bathroom with. But although he hates it, he endures it to he has enough money saved up to move to something better in Soul. But then he starts fearing for his life when strange occurrences keeps happening around him.
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All Of Us Are Dead | 지금 우리 학교는 (2022)
This is another zombie series for Netflix that rose to the top streaming, even more so than the hit series, Squid Games. It is an adaptation of the popular webtoon of the same name and are now one of the biggest Korean horror TV-Series. A seemingly normal day at school that ends in an international disaster as a rabid zombie outbreak starts from the schools science lab. The student quickly learn that they are all on their own and must escape so not turn to one of the living dead. This is a gory series that doesn’t shy away from blood, violence and deeply flawed human beings with a twist on the zombie lore.
NB! Confirmed for more seasons!
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Hotel Del Luna | 호텔 델루나 (2019)
A series that managed to balance the campy romantic side of classic k-dramas with the gory horror of ghost is Hotel Del Luna and not purely a Korean horror TV-Series. Although the plot is not that terrifying, some of the characters and ghosts in the hotel definitely are. Super Idol K-Pop star IU stars as the greedy CEO, Man Wol, for a hotel that only caters to the dead to help them cross the bridge to the afterlife. Chan Sung is forced to manage the hotel as his father sort of sold him of to Man Wol as a child. And together they have to manage the hotel together as well as solve the mystery as to why Chan Sung keeps reminding Man Wol of her ex that betrayed her many years ago.
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Sell Your Haunted House | 대박부동산 (2021)
If nothing else, this is a great business idea. Ji Ah runs the company, Deabak Realty, specialising in selling haunted houses. A handy thing as she got her exorcism abilities from her mother (who btw haunts her daughter). She needs an assistant and meets the conman In Beom. He specializes in selling stuff that apparently exorcises ghosts, although it’s mostly junk. But together they team up to sell houses, exorcise vengeful spirits and deal with their pasts filled with sorrow in this action packed Korean horror TV-Series.
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Bring It On, Ghost | 싸우자 귀신아 (2016)
The cuter entry on the list is Bring it on, Ghost. Although it contains its fair share of ghosts, gore and dead cats so it falls into the Korean horror TV-Series. The series certainly hit its audience, and there is already a Thai adaption of the series. A college boy works as an exorcist part time. On a job he faces a teenage ghost that he accidently kisses, making her regain some part of her memory she searches for in the afterlife. Together they try to piece together the mystery behind her death as well as the strange stuff happening around the college he attends.
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Kingdom | 킹덤 (2019)
The mega series helped turn the tide for Korean horror TV-Series and certainly the interest in Korean zombies. A mysterious illness has befallen the king in a fictionalized version of Korea in the Joseon area. The illness of zombification is spreading throughout the kingdom and the crown prince travels out from the castle to solve the mystery behind his father’s ailment. Out there he finds a kingdom in disarray and hoards of zombies threatening the whole kingdom he was born to protect. With its two season wrapped story it looks like this is the whole of it, but with sidequel/prequel like movies like Kingdom: Ashin of the North, and the original cartoon with its specials, who is to say this is the end of the franchise?
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Sweet Home | 스위트홈 (2020)
This monster flick is truly on testosterone with the most crazy characters and designs for monsters roams freely in this damp and shabby residential building. This Korean horror TV-Series is based on the famous korean webtoon. A strange virus that turns humans to monsters has taken over the world. In a residential building a reclusive teen lives in isolation. But as the dangers of the virus threathernes everyone around him, he must come out of his shell and help fight back for the human survival.
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The Guest | 손 (2018)
A young shaman, Yoon Hwa Pyung, learns about the demon named “son”, (meaning guest) in this Korean horror TV-Series from 2018. The demon is a danger to everyone and leaves a trail of corpses. The young shaman meets up with a catholic guy and the daughter of a detective when their families are killed by a demon. Twenty years later they meet up again when the killings start once again. This time, to work together to bring down the demon.
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Possessed | 빙의 (2019)
A classic detective meets a medium to hunt down criminals in this Korean horror TV-Series. They meet when the detective is working a case and he immediately takes an interest in her. With both of their abilities, they start to solve cases together. One of the more divisive shows as many watchers found the k-drama way to dark for their expectations and for some it was right up their alley. Decide for yourself.
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Missing: The Other Side | 미씽: 그들이 있었다 (2020)
This is one of those rare cases were a k-drama actually gets a sequel with a second season confirmed. The first season started with a small village named Duon Village, that holds the spirits of missing and deceased people were they gather. A group of a fraud man, detective, a hacker and a mysterious man teams up to solve the mysteries behind the strange village and to find the missing people.
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Night Watchman’s Journal | 야경꾼일지 (2014)
One cannot complete a k-drama list without a historical drama on the list from the Joseon period, that is the law! And here comes the Night Watchman’s Journal in as a ghostbuster story in hanbok in this Korean horror TV-Series. With the backdrop of the royal palace, a group of guys spends their time fighting demons and vengeful spirits as well as dealing with the living trying to usurp the king.
An online magazine about the paranormal, haunted and macabre. We collect the ghost stories from all around the world as well as review horror and gothic media.
