K-Drama “Spooky in Love” Turns a Ghost-Seeing Curse Into a Tense Love Triangle Ahead of July Premiere

tvN has unveiled fresh character posters for its upcoming drama “Spooky in Love”, setting up a romantic thriller built around an occult curse and a three-way emotional conflict. Premiering July 18 at 9:10 p.m. KST, the series is a remake of the 2011 film “Spellbound” and follows a hotel heiress who can see ghosts—after discovering that touching her hand triggers visions instantly. The newly released posters spotlight the escalating tension between its three leads, including actress Park Eun Bin, prosecutor character Ma Gang Wook played by Yang Se Jong, and hotel heir Kang Min Hwan portrayed by Ong Seong Wu.

A curse with romantic consequences

The drama’s central premise hinges on Park Eun Bin’s character, Cheon Yeo Ri, a chaebol heiress who can see ghosts. According to the poster release, Yeo Ri must keep others at a distance because anyone who touches her hand is instantly pulled into a ghost-filled reality. In the first poster, she appears using a gloved hand to prevent contact, emphasizing both her fear and her secrecy.

The poster caption underscores her warning to potential suitors: “Are you truly confident that you can handle holding my hand?” In other words, the show is not simply selling supernatural romance—it frames the curse as a boundary, and the romantic pursuit as a risk. That structure signals that “Spooky in Love” will likely blend emotional vulnerability with suspense, as characters weigh desire against danger.

Three characters, three approaches to the same “touch”

The character posters also act like visual storytelling, suggesting that the love triangle isn’t just about who likes whom—it’s about incompatible motives and methods of attachment.

Yang Se Jong’s character, Ma Gang Wook, is described as a passionate prosecutor known for persistence and a strong sense of justice. His poster contrasts with Yeo Ri’s defensive stance: rather than avoiding contact, he responds decisively. The caption frames his challenge as commitment: “If it’s your hand, then I suppose I’ll try holding it one more time.” The phrasing implies a refusal to be deterred—suggesting that, for him, the curse may be something to confront rather than something to fear.

The third lead, Ong Seong Wu’s Kang Min Hwan, enters from a darker direction. He is introduced as a hotel heir who masks ambition behind a gentlemanly demeanor. Unlike the more direct but resolute touch shown in Ma Gang Wook’s poster, Kang Min Hwan’s image emphasizes possession. The release notes that he pulls Yeo Ri’s hand toward him in a controlling, dominating way, hinting that his pursuit is tied to ruthless determination and possible willingness to cross ethical lines.

His caption is the most ominous of the three: “I’m not satisfied until I get what I want.” Together, the posters suggest that Yeo Ri’s hand—normally something to hide behind gloves—becomes a battleground where each man expresses a different worldview: justice, persistence, and power.

Remaking Spellbound: what “Spooky in Love” could bring

As a remake of the 2011 film “Spellbound,” “Spooky in Love” arrives with an established supernatural romance DNA: ghosts, emotional stakes, and intimacy complicated by otherworldly rules. Yet tvN’s latest marketing leans strongly toward character-driven conflict—particularly through the visual metaphor of handholding.

In many romance narratives, a handhold is a symbol of trust. Here, it becomes a trigger for fear and supernatural exposure. That choice can raise the drama’s tension because it forces the leads to confront the cost of intimacy. The show’s premise also implies that the ghost sightings may not be random; they could connect to unresolved stories, secrets, or truths each character must confront in order to move forward.

By splitting the male leads’ approaches into clearly distinguishable personalities—one grounded in civic determination, another in controlling ambition—the series could use the love triangle to structure plot momentum: each character may chase Yeo Ri for different reasons, while her curse gradually reveals deeper motivations behind the ghosts she sees.

What to watch before the July 18 debut

With “Spooky in Love” slated to premiere later this summer, the most immediate question is how the story will translate the posters’ symbolism into narrative stakes. Viewers will likely look for: whether Ma Gang Wook’s justice-oriented persistence becomes a genuine moral anchor, whether Kang Min Hwan’s possessiveness hides an explanatory backstory, and how Yeo Ri chooses—if she ever can—when “touch” equals danger.

The promotional materials also suggest that the series will treat the supernatural element as a mechanism for emotional pacing rather than mere spectacle. If the ghost visions occur at key moments of contact, the drama may time revelations to romantic escalation, turning affection into suspense and relationship progression into plot turns.

In the run-up to release day, tvN’s teaser strategy—especially the way it uses hand gestures to show power dynamics—may be a tell for how often the show intends to escalate the triangle’s intensity. Fans tuning in on July 18 at 9:10 p.m. KST will get the first full answer to whether “spooky” in this love story means uncertainty, haunting, or something even more personal.