K-drama midseason recap: Sell Your Haunted House – comfort food series mirrors everyday Korean woes
- Sell Your Haunted House encapsulates many facets of contemporary South Korea, with many storylines touching on some kind of social issue
- But diverting as the show has been and as magnetic as its leads are, the central gimmick has got somewhat repetitive
This article contains spoilers.
Walk down any street in South Korea and you’re bound to see three things: a cafe, a fried chicken shop and a realtor’s office. Sell Your Haunted House, a lightweight and endearing supernatural drama, gives us two of these in spades.
The “Great Real Estate” business, run by Hong Ji-a (Jang Na-ra), may not resemble Korea’s ubiquitous real estate enterprises – for one thing, its doors only open at night – but it represents the persistently lingering uncertainty of a speculative market. Real estate creates a lot of anxiety in Korea and while the fears of Ji-a’s clients are ostensibly brought about by ghosts, the real terror is that these supernatural guests are affecting the market values of their properties.
It’s difficult to overstate how much of a daily concern the housing market is in the country. Whether chatting with colleagues over lunch or if you happen to be eavesdropping on your neighbours’ conversations in a cafe, chances are someone will be talking about housing prices – though these days, stocks and cryptocurrency are just as likely to be on the menu.
Ji-a’s job is a stressful one and her supernatural ability requires her to expend a lot of energy – this is where the fried chicken comes in. Occasionally, Ji-a and Oh In-bum (Jung Yong-hwa) will drop into a restaurant, but for the most part she indulges in heaped servings of the battered bird, as well as other delectable dishes, at home.