The cartoonist and webcomic creator is Kim Yong-ki
It’s almost fall! Which means creepy shows are welcomed and encouraged to get us in just that perfect spooky mood for Halloween. So, though I am normally fear averse, I try to tell myself to give it a go during this time of the year.
The first creepy show of the fall, this year, is Strangers from Hell on OCN, starring Lee Dong-wook and Im Siwan. This is Im Siwan’s first acting project out of military service so we will see him dust off a few acting cobwebs. Though I am fairly confident that he had plenty of scream training in the military since they usually want you to say everything at the top of your lungs. I also think horror is the best place for Lee Dong-wook because his pretty features go creepy surprisingly well.
Strangers from Hell is based on a Naver webtoon of the same name by Kim Yong-ki and tells the spooky tale of a twenty something man moving to Seoul for work and taking up unfortunate residence in an eerie yet cheap apartment complex where the residents are the ones to be afraid of. I mean, I’m scared already. It has a cast of characters who each live in the hotel and depict their own different flavor of deranged in the posters which should have told Im Siwan to go on ahead and turn around and skip his butt to a jimjilbang.
As for the cast of characters, Im Siwan plays Yoon Jong-woo who is that poor unfortunate soul who moves into apartment #303 and is immediately like, WTF? His poster reads “This place is hell, a horrific hell made by strangers.” Time to move out, go on ahead and let them keep your deposit.
The owner of the hotel is Eom Bok-soon (played by Lee Jung-Eun). She looks delightful and innocent with her smile and welcomingly open window, but when surrounded by all the other tenants, she looks just as creepy as the rest of them. Her poster reads “The people here are nice, you’re coming, right?”.
Lee Dong-wook’s character is a bit of a mystery to me at the moment. He does not have an apartment number on his door, though I think he is a resident. He is also a dentist with a good reputation, but that smiling-dentist fact alone could creep someone out all by itself, especially if they grew up with Doctor Giggles. His poster reads “I will not let you be in pain.” I mean…yes?….but also, please no.
#302 is Yoo Ki-hyuk (played by Lee Hyun-wook). Though he is the first to talk to Im Siwan, everyone else in the apartment is scared of him the most. His poster reads “Now….it’s your turn.” Which is completed by his creepy smile and concealed room. What do you have in there Lee Hyun-wook? Nevermind, I would rather not know.
#306 is Beon Deok-jong (played by Park Jong-hwan) whose poster is not so quietly asking you to run through a window screaming. His room looks like Marie Kondo tied up his place, he has a stutter coupled with a giddy laugh, and is perhaps perpetually brushing his hair, though I am not actually sure what is in his hands. His poster reads “Yes, I adored….hahaha.”
#313 is Hong Nam-bok (played by Lee Joong-ok) whose room is basically the opposite of Beon Deok-jon’gs. It looks messy and disheveled, and yet just the way he wants it. He loves to stare and is described as staring at Im Siwan from day one. His poster reads “Kill? Or not? Kill? Or not?”
Everyone in this place is a mess, y’all. Plus, the actually apartment looks hella grimy. Can you imagine the roaches in this place??? It would not be in my first hundred choices of residence, though I guess Im Siwan will not have any other options with the sky high prices of apartments in Seoul and his job that he moved to the city for. Hopefully that is nicely established in the first episode, because if he just moves into this place like it is serviceable accommodations – I ain’t believing that.
Strangers from hell is coming to haunt on August 31, 2019. It will air on OCN Saturdays & Sundays at 22:20 KST
“Strangers From Hell” takes over the OCN Sat. Sun. 22:20 time slot previously occupied by ” Watcher ” and followed by ” The Lies Within ” October 12, 2019.