Spooky in Love

8.5/10

I really enjoyed Spooky in Love overall. The romance between the two leads was genuinely sweet and carried a lot of emotional weight, the main characters felt well-developed and likable, and the ghost cases were some of the most interesting parts of the show. The actors (especially Park Eun-bin and Yang Se-jong) did excellent work and made the central relationship very watchable. There are some noticeable plot holes and underdeveloped threads that keep it from being a full 10 for me, but they didn’t ruin the experience. I could easily rewatch it if it came up again, and I’d recommend it to fans of either lead or anyone who likes this kind of supernatural rom-com hybrid. It’s a fairly unique offering in the genre in how it blends the ghost-helping cases with the chaebol and romance elements.

Spoilers

A lot of the things that held it back for me had nothing to do with the romance itself and more to do with logic gaps and missed opportunities.

It felt odd that so many guys were into Yeo-ri (Cheon Yeo-ri). There were basically three childhood-friend types circling her, and two of them were brothers (Kang Min-hwan and Kang Ji-hwan). The show explained why one brother liked her (she stood up for him as a kid), but it never really showed how or why the other developed feelings, or why they kept it hidden from each other. The other guy who almost married her was confusing too—it was never clear if she was marrying him because she loved him or because it was arranged, and she didn’t seem particularly heartbroken when he backed out.

The water-ghost situation (tied to Ji-hwan, the one who saved her) didn’t fully land. They made him out to be a good guy, so having him try to drown people in the elevator just because they got close to her felt inconsistent.

The heart-transplant plot with Gang-uk (Ma Gang-uk) had multiple issues. You realistically couldn’t get a viable heart from someone who drowned the way it was portrayed, and the show barely acknowledged the medical reality—almost no anti-rejection medication, no lasting physical limitations, and he bounced back from serious events (including his heart stopping) far too easily for a transplant patient. The mutual near-death rescues were also stretched: when he saved her and nearly died, he was basically up and functional right afterward, which made no sense given his condition. Later when she saved him it was treated more seriously, but the imbalance was noticeable.

Gang-uk’s grandmother separating them over a superstition felt especially poorly thought-out. Knowing her grandson had heart problems and still essentially risking giving him a broken heart over something that thin was hard to buy. Yeo-ri going along with it for as long as she did also felt off.

The cousin (Cheon Ha-ri) and the succession plot never made much sense. She showed no real skills for running the family business—she mostly floated around and had terrible taste in men (every guy she was interested in turned out to have killed someone). If she wanted to take everything her cousin had, it was strange she never showed any interest in Gang-uk. The whole argument that Yeo-ri couldn’t stay in the business because she sees ghosts also fell flat. She was a high performer as CEO; boards usually care about results more than private supernatural issues as long as they’re not being broadcast.

I also didn’t love the emotional dynamic where Yeo-ri was the strong, capable woman who didn’t need anyone and was constantly emotionally rescuing Gang-uk, who came across as more emotionally vulnerable. That imbalance felt a bit one-sided.

The ghost cases were some of my favorite parts and I wish there had been more of them. The early setup suggested she would actively work with him on his cases and that the partnership would help him, but it mostly played out as her already having a ghost situation and him joining in. Occasional overlaps happened, but it never became the balanced case-solving collaboration it could have been.

The corporate angle would have been more believable if the aunt (Ok Gye-hui) had seemed competent. Instead she was mainly doing an art extension of the company and embezzling through it. She never demonstrated the skills or presence that would make a board throw support behind her (or her ambitions for her daughter). That undercut the entire succession conflict.

One of the more frustrating moments was when Yeo-ri looked extremely suspicious at the murder scene of Park Seung-jae and Gang-uk wanted to help her, but she wouldn’t let him. It felt like a missed chance to show real mutual support. Another big missed opportunity was the heart connection itself: I kept expecting their temporary separation to involve her doubting whether he truly loved her or if it was just because he had Ji-hwan’s heart. The show never went there at all, which made the specific choice of whose heart he received feel under-used.

Yeo-ri never fully remembered what happened on the yacht. The story kept hinting that she was going to recover the complete memory (including seeing Min-hwan not save his brother), but she only got pieces of it—never enough for that thread to land with the weight it seemed to be building toward.

The 300-year-old love-letter case also felt over-weighted. The way it was presented made me think it might turn into a reincarnation parallel or something more significant for the main couple, but it ended up being just another ghost story they solved. After spending that much time and atmosphere on it, the lack of larger payoff was noticeable.

By the end, after the breakup and getting back together, it still wasn’t clear what the formal status of their relationship was. They were obviously together, but it was never spelled out whether they were still engaged, needed to get re-engaged, or were heading toward marriage.

Finally, the mother’s forgiveness of her adopted son Min-hwan felt off. In most other Korean dramas, adopted children are often treated with at least a subtle difference in social or emotional standing. Here the mother was still so deep in grief twelve years later that the memorial looked like the death had just happened—far more elaborate and intense than what’s usual by that point in other shows. Their relationship had only recently started to heal (partly through the necklace), and she had earlier seemed distant from him. For her to move to forgiveness so readily, while focusing mainly on the brother and barely addressing the second, more calculated murder of Park Seung-jae, didn’t feel consistent with the earlier setup or with typical portrayals.

Despite all of those issues, the central romance and the actors still made it worthwhile for me.

Overview

Year Aired: 2026

Number of Episodes: 12

Average Run Time per Episode: 63 minutes

Country of Origin: South Korea

Genre(s): Romance, Romantic Comedy, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery

Synopsis

Spooky in Love follows Cheon Yeo-ri, the beautiful and wealthy heir to the Reina Hotel empire. From the outside, she appears to have the perfect life: wealth, status, intelligence and a position of authority. What few people know is that Yeo-ri has been able to see ghosts since she was young, a frightening ability that has made ordinary relationships and everyday life anything but ordinary.

Then Yeo-ri meets Ma Gang-wook, an ambitious prosecutor known for his sharp mind, strong sense of justice and determination to pursue the truth. There is just one problem: Gang-wook is absolutely terrified of ghosts. Their first encounters are anything but smooth, with Yeo-ri's supernatural secret and Gang-wook's inability to accept what he is seeing repeatedly putting them at odds.

Yet the two discover something neither expected. Through a strange connection that allows Gang-wook to interact with Yeo-ri's unusual world in a way other people cannot, they become an unlikely investigative team. Yeo-ri's ability to see what others cannot and Gang-wook's prosecutorial instincts make them surprisingly effective when unexplained cases cross their paths.

What begins as an accidental and decidedly strange partnership slowly develops into something much more personal. Yeo-ri and Gang-wook must learn whether two people with such different fears, backgrounds and ways of seeing the world can trust one another enough to build a future together.

At its heart, Spooky in Love combines a supernatural mystery with a romance built on two people who initially seem completely incompatible, using ghosts, investigations and family secrets to bring them closer together.

Major Characters

Cheon Yeo-ri (Park Eun-bin) — The wealthy heiress and CEO of Reina Hotel who can see ghosts. Yeo-ri has learned to keep people at a distance because of the burden and fear created by her supernatural ability. She is intelligent, capable and outwardly cold, but her encounters with Gang-wook gradually allow her to let someone into the isolated life she has built for herself. She is the female lead and one half of the central romance.

Ma Gang-wook (Yang Se-jong) — An accomplished prosecutor with a strong moral compass, sharp intelligence and a stubborn determination to pursue justice. Unlike Yeo-ri, Gang-wook is terrified of ghosts, making their partnership particularly inconvenient at first. His investigative skills combined with Yeo-ri's supernatural abilities eventually make them an unexpectedly effective team. He is the male lead and Yeo-ri's romantic partner.

Kang Min-hwan (Ong Seong-wu) — A man with a significant history and emotional connection to Yeo-ri who becomes the third point in the central romantic triangle. His feelings for Yeo-ri complicate her developing relationship with Gang-wook and contribute to some of the emotional and personal conflicts surrounding them.

Cheon Ha-ri (Jo Hye-joo) — Yeo-ri's cousin from a collateral branch of the Reina family. Disadvantaged in the family's succession struggle, Ha-ri carries a deep inferiority complex toward Yeo-ri and watches for opportunities to improve her own position. Her ambitions make the family conflict much more personal.

Park Seung-jae (Kim Do-wan) — A professional golfer and Ha-ri's fiancé who comes from one of South Korea's most powerful families. He holds a grudge against Gang-wook because of a previous legal dispute, putting him directly at odds with the prosecutor while also becoming entangled in the Reina family conflict.

Ok Gye-hui (Baek Ji-won) — Ha-ri's mother and an influential member of the Reina family. She is determined to secure the hotel group's succession for her own children rather than allow Yeo-ri to inherit it, making her an important force behind the family's power struggle. Years of dealing with her demanding mother-in-law have also made her highly skilled at navigating the family's complicated social dynamics.

Baek Kyung-ja (Ye Soo-jung) — Yeo-ri's grandmother and the formidable matriarch of the Reina family. Her position and influence within the family make her approval and decisions important to the succession battle surrounding Yeo-ri and her cousins.

Paeng Myo-sun (Cha Mi-kyung) — Gang-wook's grandmother and one of the strongest sources of emotional support in his life. She provides a grounding family presence that contrasts with the complicated and politically charged world surrounding Yeo-ri.

Bong Ji-wook (Lee Joon-hyuk) — The capable general manager of Reina Hotel who works closely with Yeo-ri and helps oversee the hotel's operations. His long association with her also develops into a personal closeness that adds another layer to the relationships surrounding Yeo-ri.

Ko Pil-dong (Lee Chang-hoon) — An investigator at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office and Gang-wook's close friend. Intelligent and perceptive, Pil-dong has an almost brotherly relationship with Gang-wook and becomes an important colleague as Gang-wook handles cases involving Yeo-ri.

Son Hyeong-min (Kim Min-ho) — A member of Gang-wook's prosecutor's-office team who works alongside Gang-wook and Pil-dong. He is part of the professional circle that supports Gang-wook as his unusual investigations increasingly intersect with Yeo-ri's supernatural world.

Song Hee-won (Kim Seo-ra) — The vice chairwoman of CL Hotel & Resort Group and Min-hwan's mother. She presents herself as gentle and composed while keeping an important secret concerning her son, giving her a significant role in Min-hwan's storyline.

Cheon Dong-jun (Lee Dal) — Another member of Yeo-ri's extended family whose ambitions and concern with status place him within the complicated succession struggle surrounding Reina Hotel.