The Dark Side of Seoul Podcast

Latest episodes

• Ghost Science

  October 19, 2026 · 45 min

  Can a place remember? In this episode, Shawn answers a listener question from his Seoul ghost walk and explains stone tape theory, the idea that ghosts may be imprinted memories rather than the souls of the dead. He applies it to two…

• Slaves, Bastards, and Bureaucrats | The Fall of Joseon, Part 19 (1801-1803)

  October 11, 2026 · 41 min

  King Jeongjo is barely in the ground and his entire reform project is already under threat. This episode covers 1801–1803: the regency of Queen Dowager Jeongsun, two significant but fatally incomplete reform measures, and the beginning of…

• The History of Korean Horror

  October 3, 2026 · 1 hr 46 min

  Joe and Shawn are joined by Justin Kyle, co-host of the weekly horror film podcast Straight Chilling, for a decade-by-decade guide to Korean horror cinema. Starting from a lost 1924 silent film made under Japanese occupation and running…

• The Problem with Korean Ghosts

  September 13, 2026 · 40 min

  Why do ghosts conveniently conform to the culture of the people seeing them? Korean folklore gives us the cheonyeo gwishin, Western traditions have their own recognizable specters, and decades of movies have taught us that ghosts should be…

• The Museum That Won't Tell You Its Own Story

  September 3, 2026 · 34 min

  Joe visited a brand-new free museum in Seoul's Insadong neighborhood built on a six-year archaeological excavation. The dig exposed a layer of the city from the late 1590s, right before the Japanese invasions reduced large parts of Seoul…

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