11 Korean Zombie Shows Bringing The Genre Back To Life
If you're up for a scare-fest, these are the ones to watch
By Michelle Lee SM -
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Since mega-hit movie Train To Busan dominated screens in 2016, the Korean drama and movie scene has exploded with themes centred around the horror and zombie genre. Can't get enough of zombie shows? From intense action-packed series to spine-tingling moments, here are some of the best that'll get your heart rate up and on the edge of your seat.
1. All of Us Are Dead
What it’s about: Based on the chart-topping Korean webtoon called Now At Our School, this apocalyptic series premiered on Netflix in 2022 and is set in a high school where a deadly virus outbreak spreads like wildfire, turning students and teachers into zombies. A group of high schoolers is trapped in their school, and without a way to reach their family, and with no food and water, they can only count on themselves to survive.
The show dives into survival, friendship, and tough choices as the students deal with some seriously terrifying situations. The series stars young actors Yoon Chan-young, Park Ji-hoo, Cho Yi-hyun, Park Solomon, and Yoo In-soo.
Following a cliffhanger in Season 1, the second season is likely to return in 2026, and we can't wait!
Available on Netflix.
2. Newtopia (2025)
What it's about: Blackpink's Ji-soo stars in this series, which follows two lovers trying to survive in zombie-infested Seoul. Lee Jae-Yoon, played by Park Jung-min, first encounters the outbreak while serving in the military. His girlfriend Young-joo, portrayed by Jisoo (Kim Ji-soo), is an engineer who has just started a new job and is eagerly awaiting his return. As they navigate the city separately, they battle zombie attacks while desperately trying to reunite.
Available on Prime Video.
3. Zombieverse
What it's about: Ever imagined what a zombie apocalypse would be like IRL?
Enter Zombieverse, where contestants experience a simulated zombie attack and fight to survive till the end — from completing quests such as looking for food or a safe space, to deciding whether to save those infected by a ‘zombie’. To make it more realistic, special effects are provided by the All of Us Are Dead art team and the zombie choreographers of Kingdom.
Season 1 aired in Aug 2023, while season two, Zombieverse: New Blood, premiered in Nov 2024, picking up where the first season left off with enhanced quests, heightened zombie threats, a fresh cast, and an expanded universe. Participants include K-pop idols, actors, TV personalities, and professionals, including popular reality star Kim Jinyoung (Single’s Inferno S2), actress Lee Si-young, and Girls' Generation's Taeyeon.
Available on Netflix.
4. Kingdom S1 and S2
What it's about: Adapted from the webcomic series The Kingdom of the Gods, this is Netflix's first original Korean series, which has run for two seasons.
Set in the medieval Joseon Dynasty, a zombie plague has swept across the nation. Crown Prince Lee-Chang (Ju Ji-hoon) doesn't just get embroiled in a political conspiracy but also has to deal with the hordes of zombies that are threatening to take over the land.
The series has also spawned a special episode, Kingdom: Ashin of the North, that delves into the backstory of the plague. Starring Gianna Jun as the mysterious Ashin, it reveals the origin of the resurrection plant, and how it caused the zombie outbreak.
Sadly, despite the show ending with various loose ends, a third season is nowhere in sight.
Available on Netflix.
5. Train To Busan (2016)
What it's about: The most famous of Korean zombie shows would be Yeon Sang-ho’s 2016 massive hit, Train to Busan, which has been credited with the renewed interest in the genre. The plot follows work-obsessed fund manager Seok-Woo (Gong Yoo), who boards a train with his estranged daughter to visit his wife, from whom he is separated.
What they don't realise is that an infected woman has boarded a train. She later turns into a zombie and starts attacking and infecting others on the train. Trapped in a zombie-infested high-speed train, Seok-Woo and the rest of the travellers must fight to stay alive.
What makes it so compelling isn't just the intense situations and very realistic zombies, but also the emotional scenes of sacrifice, with characters you both root for and loathe.
Available on Prime Video and Netflix.
6. Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula (2020)
What it’s about: Billed the sequel to Train to Busan, it picks up from where the first film left off.
Four years after the events of Train to Busan, former soldier Jung-seok (Gang Dong) is in Hong Kong and safe from the zombies that have taken over South Korea. However, he subsequently gets assigned to retrieve a truck full of money from Seoul. As he and his team navigate through the shattered wasteland that is the Korean Peninsula, they don’t just have to deal with zombies, but also rogue militia. He also stumbles across a family of survivors.
Available on Netflix and Apple TV.
7. Alive (2020)
What it’s about: Gamer Joon-woo (played by Yoo Ah-in) wakes up one day to find out his family has left him alone in the apartment. But when he turns on the news, he discovers that a mysterious disease — and zombies have overrun his neighborhood.
He quickly barricades himself in his apartment, but as the days go by, he runs low on food and water, and the Internet gets cut off. Just as he’s about to give up hope and hang himself, he realises that there’s another resident (Park Shin-hye) in the opposite building who is still alive. The duo team up to try and get to safety. Laced with the usual jump scares and fast-action scenes, the movie also weaves in plenty of millennial culture, including the use of a drone to combat the terrifying undead.
Available on Netflix.
8. Happiness
What it's about: Another series centred around survivors trapped in apartments, this story unfolds in a high-rise apartment building in Seoul, where residents are quarantined after the outbreak. The rapidly spreading virus creates a tense atmosphere as both the infected and uninfected begin to turn on their neighbours.
The show is centred around two main characters: Yoon Sae-bom (Han Hyo-Joo), a tough and determined member of the Special Operation Unit police squad, and Jung Yi-hyun (Park Hyung-Sik), her childhood friend who is now a detective. They work to navigate the chaos within the building, trying to protect themselves and others while uncovering the truth behind the virus.
Happiness is available on Netflix, Viu and iQiyi.
What it’s about: This series deviates from the zombie genre a little, and instead, focuses on humans that mysteriously start to turn into gruesome monsters.
9. Sweet Home S1 to 3 (2020 - 2024)
What it's about: Song Kang plays depressed teenager Cha Hyun-soo, who moves into an old apartment called Green Home after his family is killed in a car accident.
Soon, however, monsters start to unexpectedly show up, but Hyun-soo and his neighbours are stuck inside. They hole up inside the apartment in hopes of surviving the monster apocalypse as they can – but what they soon realise is that the “monsters” are really people who have turned into these creatures when they give in to their desires, and they could so become one themselves, too.
Seasons 1 to 3 are available on Netflix.
10. The Cursed: Dead Man's Prey (2021)
What it’s about: After the success of his previous films, Train to Busan director Yeon Sang-ho wrote the screenplay of The Cursed: Dead Man’s Prey, which is directed by Kim Yong-wan.
In this spin-off from the 2020 K-drama series The Cursed, bizarre serial murder cases are taking place, and the suspects are corpses that have been brought to life and manipulated. Who’s manipulating them? This suspense film combines a crime thriller with shamanism and rampaging zombies.
Available on Apple TV.
11. Rampant
What it's about: Before Kingdom, there was 2018's Rampant. This movie also follows an outbreak of the undead in the Joseon Dynasty.
Crash Landing on You's Hyun Bin stars as exiled prince Lee Chung, who is able to return to his homeland with the help of his brother and heir to the throne, Prince Lee Young. But with his return home, he doesn't just have to face a political coup headed by war minister Kim Ja-joon (Jang Dong-gun), but a plague of monsters that run rampant at night.
Available on Viu.
This article was originally published on Aug 15, 2024, and updated on May 14, 2025.