Netflix premieres Spooky in Love this Saturday with a premise that could seem like pure fantasy: a hotel heiress who sees the restless dead every night, and a prosecutor who shares that ability the moment he touches her hand. The show’s central mechanic—physical contact transfers ghost‑sight—is entirely new to this television adaptation, and it builds on Korean ghost mythology that names the spirits haunting Park Eun‑bin’s character and sets specific rules for who can help them.
Park Eun‑bin plays Cheon Yeo‑ri, the heiress of a major South Korean conglomerate and CEO of a luxury hotel. Privately, she is exhausted by a lifelong secret: each night, the spirits of people who died unjustly arrive, and she sees every one. Yang Se‑jong plays Ma Gang‑uk, an ace prosecutor with an unblemished record and a notable weakness—he is terrified of ghosts. When their worlds collide, the key mechanic appears: when he holds her hand, he temporarily sees what she sees.
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The series premieres Saturday, July 18, 2026, at 9:10 p.m. KST on tvN, with simultaneous global streaming on Netflix. Episodes 1 and 2 will be available to international audiences at 8:10 a.m. ET the same day. Twelve episodes follow on Saturdays and Sundays through August 23, each running about 70 minutes.
The Touch Mechanic Is the Show’s Innovation
At a press conference in Seoul on Tuesday, Park described the tactile transfer as the drama’s central innovation. “One of the key supernatural elements involves Yeo‑ri’s hands,” she said. “Anyone she touches can also see ghosts. That lets us explore the premise in a richer way and gives viewers something entirely new.”
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The mechanic is new to this adaptation. In the original 2011 film Spellbound—a romantic comedy starring Son Ye‑jin and Lee Min‑ki that earned roughly US$18.8 million at the domestic box office—the male lead was a stage magician who witnessed paranormal activity but could not share the female lead’s perception. The drama expands the premise: the protagonist moves from a lonely employee to a chaebol CEO, the male lead’s profession shifts from magician to prosecutor, and the show adds a perceptual bridge that makes physical contact a narrative engine.
Why a Prosecutor Makes Sense in Korean Folklore
The decision to pair a ghost‑seeing protagonist with a prosecutor maps directly onto Korean folkloric tradition. In Korean mythology, the gwisin is the broad category for human ghosts. Within that category, the wonhon—a spirit carrying unresolved grievance from an unjust death—haunts Cheon Yeo‑ri.
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Ong Seong‑wu rounds out the three‑lead cast as Kang Min‑han, a rival hotel executive whose connection to Yeo‑ri complicates the dynamic. Supporting cast includes Jo Hye‑joo, Kim Do‑wan, Ye Soo‑jung, Cha Mi‑kyung, and Lee Chang‑hoon. The series was directed by Lee Min‑soo, written by Choi Jung‑mi, and produced by CJ ENM. Filming took place in Seoul and internationally in Singapore, with sequences shot at Lau Pa Sat and the Marina Bay Waterfront Promenade.