Not every K-drama ghost is there to scare you.
Some are searching for justice. Others are holding on to unfinished love, protecting family members or waiting for one final chance to say goodbye. And that is exactly why some of Korea’s most memorable supernatural dramas can be far more emotional than frightening.
Tatler Asia’s latest roundup revisits a collection of heartbreaking ghost characters—from the new 2026 fantasy romance Spooky in Love and supernatural legal drama Phantom Lawyer to tearjerkers such as Hi Bye, Mama!, Goblin, Chicago Typewriter, Hotel Del Luna and Light Shop.
Warning: The article and this rewrite contain major story spoilers.
1. Spooky in Love — When First Love Refuses to Disappear
The newest entry on the list is 2026’s Spooky in Love, starring Park Eun-bin and Yang Se-jong.
The tvN fantasy romance follows Cheon Yeo-ri, a hotel heiress who can see ghosts, and Ma Gang-wook, an ace prosecutor who is terrified of them. A strange supernatural connection eventually turns the unlikely pair into partners investigating unresolved cases. Netflix also describes the series as the story of a ghost-seeing heir and prosecutor who team up to solve unsolved murders.
At the emotional centre is Kang Ji-hwan, Yeo-ri’s childhood friend and first love, whose death continues to affect her years later.
His story becomes even more complicated because his donated heart was transplanted into Gang-wook, creating an extraordinary connection between Yeo-ri’s lost first love and the man she eventually comes to love.
Rather than simply being a frightening presence, Ji-hwan ultimately becomes part of Yeo-ri’s journey toward letting go.
2. Phantom Lawyer — A Father Returns With Unfinished Business
If courtroom dramas weren’t already intense enough, Phantom Lawyer adds ghosts to the equation.
The 2026 SBS fantasy legal drama stars Yoo Yeon-seok as Shin Yi-rang, a struggling lawyer who discovers that he can see—and become involved with—ghostly clients.
Netflix’s official description says Yi-rang begins receiving spectral clients after opening his practice in a former shaman’s space, eventually using their supernatural connection to pursue justice for the dead.
One of the most emotional cases involves Yi-rang’s late father, Shin Ki-joong, a former prosecutor whose reputation has cast a shadow over his son’s career.
His return as a ghost gives father and son an opportunity to uncover the truth behind the scandal that destroyed their lives—and, more importantly, a chance for reconciliation.
3. Hi Bye, Mama! — A Mother Gets 49 Days With Her Family
Few supernatural K-dramas turn grief into an emotional gut punch quite like Hi Bye, Mama!.
Kim Tae-hee plays Cha Yu-ri, a mother who dies shortly after giving birth and spends years watching over her young daughter as a ghost.
Then she gets an impossible second chance.
Yu-ri is given 49 days to return to her former place in the world of the living. But there’s a painful complication: her husband has remarried, and her daughter has grown up without her.
The central question isn’t simply whether Yu-ri can become human again.
It’s whether she can accept that sometimes loving someone means knowing when to let them go.
4. Goblin — A Love Story That Has to Face Death
Goblin remains one of the defining supernatural K-dramas of its generation.
The 2016 series follows the immortal Kim Shin and his human bride Ji Eun-tak, whose relationship becomes intertwined with the Grim Reaper and the afterlife.
The show’s emotional impact comes from the fact that their romance is never separated from mortality. One of its most devastating sequences occurs when Eun-tak dies and reaches the Grim Reaper’s tea house, where souls prepare to cross into the afterlife.
The fantasy may involve immortals and supernatural beings, but the emotional core is painfully human:
What happens when the person you love has to leave?
5. Chicago Typewriter — A Ghostwriter With a Past Life
In Chicago Typewriter, the supernatural arrives through an antique typewriter.
The 2017 tvN drama follows bestselling writer Han Se-joo, who encounters Yoo Jin-oh, a mysterious ghost connected to the typewriter and to events from the characters’ past lives.
CJ ENM describes the series as a time-slip romance mystery connecting three people through the old typewriter, while Soompi’s coverage confirms that Jin-oh is eventually revealed to be an actual ghost.
As the story unfolds, Jin-oh’s tragic history and unfinished promise become central to the drama.
His ultimate goal isn’t simply to remain among the living—it’s to make sure a story from the past is finally completed.
6. Hotel Del Luna — The Ghost Who Waited for Centuries
Hotel Del Luna takes the idea of a haunted hotel and turns it into something surprisingly romantic and tragic.
IU plays Jang Man-wol, the immortal owner of a mysterious hotel that caters exclusively to ghosts. Yeo Jin-goo plays human hotel manager Goo Chan-sung, who becomes responsible for helping the spirits who pass through.
But one of the show’s most heartbreaking figures is Ko Chung-myung, played by Lee Do-hyun.
His connection to Man-wol stretches back centuries, and his lingering presence represents devotion that refuses to disappear—even after death.
His story transforms what could have been a typical ghost romance into a meditation on guilt, loyalty and the pain of waiting for someone you can no longer have.
7. Light Shop — When Love Means Letting Someone Go
The most recent title before the 2026 releases is Disney+’s Light Shop, based on Kang Full’s popular webtoon.
The 2024 mystery thriller follows people caught in a strange space between life and death after a devastating bus accident. The mysterious light shop becomes a place where the fate of those trapped between worlds can change.
Among its most emotional stories is that of Jung Yoo-hee, played by Lee Jung-eun, and her daughter Joo Hyun-joo.
Yoo-hee has died while her daughter remains in a coma. Instead of desperately trying to keep her daughter with her, the mother must ultimately encourage her to choose life—even if that means leaving her behind.
The story turns the traditional ghost narrative upside down.
The supernatural isn’t about a spirit refusing to leave.
It’s about a mother learning that sometimes the final act of love is letting go.
Why these K-dramas hit so hard
The appeal of these stories isn’t really the ghosts.
It’s what the ghosts represent.
Across Spooky in Love, Phantom Lawyer, Hi Bye, Mama!, Goblin, Chicago Typewriter, Hotel Del Luna and Light Shop, the supernatural becomes a way of exploring grief, unfinished relationships, guilt, sacrifice, justice and the difficulty of saying goodbye.
That’s also why Korean supernatural dramas can move effortlessly between comedy, romance, mystery and tragedy.
The ghosts may come from another world—but their problems are remarkably familiar.
They simply want one more conversation.
One more chance.
One final goodbye.
And sometimes, that’s enough to completely destroy the audience.
WWC ONE MEDIA J.M.D
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