I’ve been hearing our editors rave about Disney+‘s latest K-horror drama – Light Shop ever since the 2024 Disney APAC Content Showcase in November. And finally, it is my turn to watch it.

Rather than the conventional way of just rambling through what’s happening in the drama, I’m taking a different approach this time round – I shall write down my thoughts and comments as I watch on the first 4 episodes of this drama.

Note that my commentary contains spoilers (even though I am trying hard not to give out too much of it!), so do read on with caution.

Episode 1

Sypnosis: Ji-Young, a woman with long hair, sits with her head down in front of the same bus stop at the same hour every night. Hyun-Min, who takes the last bus home begins to notice her. One rainy night, he musters up the courage to talk to her, offering her his umbrella.

• Wait, is Ji-Young (acted by Seol Hyun) a ghost? But she looks so real. Thank goodness she is not in any scary make up.

• Can Young-Ji (acted by Park Boyoung) see ghosts? What is Won-Young’s (acted by Ju Jihoon) role in this drama? Is it like IU or Lee Dongwook‘s role in Hotel Del Luna or Goblin where they “serve” the dead?

• Is Hyun-Ju (acted by Shin Eunsoo) a human or ghost? Her classmates seems to be oblivious to her presence when she talks to them…
• Won-Young as the shop keeper of the Light Shop, is he preventing souls from leaving the Earth? Because he is seen asking customers (whom I think they are dead or half dead) not to touch the light bulb in the shop…
• Won-Young can see ghosts too and he is not an ordinary person as from the reflection on the table it shows that he is actually a very very old man.
• As the camera pans to Ji-Young’s hands, we can see that her fingernails are grown on the pads of her fingers instead.
• Now we know that Ji-Young is not human because of what Won-Young said to Hyun-Ju – There are people that are a little strange that blends in with other people. You will have to look closely and carefully to tell the difference. Something is different about them but it is just hard to notice.

Episode 2

Sypnosis: Sun-Hae rents a place in the middle of an alley where a realtor assures her it will be quiet. Full of problems, the house leaks and lights keep turning off without explanation.

• Sun-Hae’s (acted by Kim Minha) rented place is so creepy! Who is that person standing outside her door?
• It is so creepy the lights kept turning off by themselves at night. And what is inside that mysterious locked room in her rented place??
• Why is that male student walking aimlessly in the alley? Is he lost?
• Is that a monster or ghost in the alley that is chasing Hyun-Ju, when she realised it is different? (this part was really scary when that “thing” started transforming to non-human like when Hyun-Ju starts to notice the difference).

• What is beneath those shades that Won-Young is wearing? How can he scare that thing in the alley away just by staring at it? I think something must be different in his eyes…

Episode 3:

Sypnosis: A detective begins to investigate the death of an old man in his district. While the name appears to have died of natural causes, the detective can’t shake the feeling that the entire scene looks staged. Unable to ignore his instincts, the detective begins his search for the killer.

• Alright, 1 word for this episode – CONFUSED… I might need to re-watch a few times.

Episode 4:

Sypnosis: Two people come to work the night shift in the same hospital – one a mortician, the other an ICU nurse. As their shifts roll on, they both begin to experience unusual things around them.

• The mortician working in the hospital can talk to the dead.
• The detective in Episode 3 told Won-Young that this guy (acted by Kim Daemyung) that he has been chasing down, his eyes becomes slitted like a cat when light hit his eyes. Could that be the same for Won-Young too? Because earlier when he took off his shades he made the ghost/monster (?) walk away when it was chasing Hyun-Ju down the alley. And he only wore shades all the time.
• The detective is also weird… WHY IS HIS EYE MOVING LIKE THAT!!
• Up to Episode 4, it just keeps raining and it is so dark all the time… Rarely see scenes in daylight setting
• This man that is looking for the dog which barked every night at his estate… Seems like he’s frozen to death but he doesn’t know that he’s dead yet? He obviously looks different.

• BIG SPOILERS! Some of the characters that we’ve seen so far turns out to be ICU patients at Young-Ji‘s ward (the detective too!) who are on the border between live and death. Then what about Sun-Hae? And Ji-Young and Hyun-Ju?
• IS HYUN-JU’S MOM DEAD? Because the scene panned to the mortician at the start of Episode 4 stuffing cotton into the deceased’s mouth…
• Oh right she is really dead..So is Hyun-Ju not aware that her mum is dead?
• I screamed when at the end of Episode 4 the camera pans into the peephole of Hyun-Ju’s apartment and we see the lady at the bustop looking into the peephole from outside. (I can’t get this scene out of my head)

My thoughts after watching all 4 episodes of Light Shop:

I think Kim Heewon and the team really did a great job in adding horror elements into the drama without adding in any scary make up effects (up to Episode 4). Also, why do the non humans visit the Light Shop? What will happen when they touch the light bulbs?

I hope my commentary has intrigued you to watch this drama, I will press on and finish up the last 4 episodes once they are up on Disney+ (even though I am weak-hearted for Horror genres)

You can now stream Light Shop on Disney+ !