Korean Drama Review: Sell Your Haunted House

Sell Your Haunted House is a 2021 South Korean drama series directed by Park Jin-Seok starring veteran singer-turned-actress Jang Nara, and CNBlue lead vocalist Jung Yong-Hwa.

It’s about a real estate agent who exorcizes houses for sale. She teams up, at first against her will, with a fake exorcist to fight off evil spirits, solving unfortunate mysteries and unearthing a secret past together.

Ok, that last bit about uncovering a secret past together is very common in many kdrama series. The two main lead characters will have a past where they’ve crossed paths before or after a tragedy. But no matter how many times we see this trope, it still works, and Sell Your Haunted House is no different.

THE BEGINNING

We’re introduced to the two main characters as they go about their daily life. One, In Beom, cons gullible, rich people with a device that supposedly helps exorcize and ward off unfriendly, scary spirits that haunts them. The other is Ji-a, a legit real estate business owner who sells haunted and unsellable properties after exorcizing them.

They cross paths on a case where a husband and wife contacted them separately, one intent on selling their property, and the other wanting to get rid of the ghost that supposedly haunts it.

They eventually started working together on cases when Ji-a discovered that In Beom is the type of psychic she needs for the job. And of course, In Beom needs the job.

THE CASES

I’ll call them cases. So, as with most procedural Kdramas, each episode is a case that they have to solve. I particularly like this kind of storytelling as it doesn’t leave you hanging and everything gets resolved nice and tidy with a little bow on top.

In many of the cases, grudges get resolved, questions are answered, the true culprits are captured, and evil spirits get sent to where they belong.

One of the cases I liked is from ep. 5, where the ghost of a slain bakery owner haunts the basement sauna. That ghost scared the bejeezus out of me! Ghosts and water…uh-uh. The ghost was the co-owner of a rooftop bakery that became really popular. She disappeared one night and was never seen again.

Apparently, the lady landlord wanted their daughter to manage that bakery and made sure that no one gets in the way. Ji-a and In Beom eventually learned the truth and were able to lead the police to the body and the culprit to justice.

Another case that I liked, which also made me tear up, is the story of the restaurant owner’s son. The elderly couple who owns the restaurant across from Daebak Realty has a son who ran away from home after being told off by his mother. He hasn’t come back or been in contact with his parents for years.

Turns out he’s been working to save up some money before he comes home to his parents. But alas, before that happens he is killed and becomes a ghost with unfinished business.

Of course, our ghost-busting duo resolved this case without the use of their abilities. All it needed was for the mother-ahjumma to let go of her guilt so her son could rest in peace. It was so touching how the ahjumma prepared a last meal spread for her son and let him go.

PAST CONNECTION

Along with claiming justice for loved ones and resolving spirits’ grudges, Ji-a and In Beom have a connected past, which they discovered in the middle of the series.

It turns out, In Beom’s uncle Oh Sung-Sik was Ji-a’s mom’s last client. The one Ji-a remembers as the reason why her mother died. Of course, this caused complications in our psychic duo’s deepening relationship.

But because their memories were fragmented, with parts supplemented by what they think they remember, our ghost-fighting partners decide that it shouldn’t affect them and instead focus on finding out the truth about what happened.

By exorcizing the spirit of Oh Sung-Sik, they were able to discover more truth and who the ultimate antagonist really is, their BFF from the beginning, Do Hak-Sung, who they were able to exorcize (after he died trying to kill our protagonists) and seal for eternity. No chance of ever walking the earth as a vengeful spirit and demonizing a living soul to do bad deeds.

REVIEW

Despite this being a ghost story with serious topics, it’s not super scary. It had a perfect atmosphere, mysterious and haunting, but not very dark to leave you with nightmares.

The ghosts had scary features, but it was mostly just black eyes and lips, a washed-out coloring overlaid with the black misty aura representing their unrestfulness. And they are not able to speak in this series; they can only do facial expressions and point or run.

But what I really like is their delivery of the ghost cases. In each of these stories, there are life lessons to be learned and societal issues that are put to light. It featured unfair treatment from those in power, abuse of power, coveting other people’s good fortune, etc. Some cases covered family and relationship dynamics like when an elderly father left home to keep himself from being a burden to his children. Or when a demanding, helicopter mother caused the death of her daughter.

And the casting, oh the casting of this Korean drama series. What can I say? Everyone did really well in their roles. Even the sidekick thug was likable! And you’ll hate the villain, like are you even human? C’mon!

In my opinion, not one of them under- or over-acted. The backstory of our main characters intertwined with the cases was paced perfectly, unfolding at the right moments and even sometimes connected to the cases. It kept me watching day after day until I finished it (yes, it took about 3 days–have to work too).

I’m not sure if there was even a romance brewing in there somewhere between Ji-a and In Beom, but it didn’t need that or even a bawl-fest to make me keep watching Sell Your Haunted House. I never like overly dramatic series anyway.

All in all, I would recommend this kdrama series if you want with a bit of mystery, comedy, action (yes, there are fight scenes here as well), and a good dash of life lessons.