7 Kdramas Like The Guest With Folklore and Exorcisms

Written by Huzaifa

Start with Revenant for Korean folklore and possession, Priest for Catholic exorcisms, or The Cursed for dangerous rituals and occult investigation. Those are my first three picks for anyone searching for kdramas like The Guest. The other four below match different parts of its appeal, with some clear differences in tone.

Because finding another drama with a ghost is easy. Finding another drama that makes an ordinary person, an unfamiliar room and a half-understood ritual feel equally threatening? Much harder.

This 2026 watchlist ranks seven completed series by how usefully they answer that craving. Expect premise spoilers and an honest horror comparison, but no finale reveals.

Kdramas like The Guest: the quick watchlist

The order reflects my recommendation for a The Guest fan, rather than an objective scare score. The final two are deliberate changes of intensity.

What are you actually trying to replace after The Guest?

For me, the useful comparison has three parts: a supernatural threat with rules, people investigating harm that has already happened, and a partnership that becomes worth protecting.

The Guest brings a psychic, a Catholic priest and a detective into the same fight. Their different ways of understanding danger make the team interesting before you even get to the possessions. Nobody arrives with the complete answer.

That emotional side still comes up in fan discussions. In an October 2026 r/kdramas post, a viewer praised both the oppressive atmosphere and the way the damaged trio gradually became the story’s emotional centre. Another discussion from June compared its gritty horror with Revenant while singling out the characters’ growing bond. Those are individual reactions, but they explain why “another scary show” can feel like an incomplete recommendation.

So these Korean dramas like The Guest each get a specific reason to be here—and a clear account of what they do differently.

1. Revenant — the strongest match for folklore and dread

My first pick for most viewers.

Kim Tae-ri plays Gu San-yeong, a young woman whose life becomes entangled with an evil spirit. Oh Jung-se plays folklore professor Yeom Hae-sang, whose ability to see spirits gives him access to dangers other people cannot recognise.

The hook is how folklore becomes a method of investigation. Objects, names and local histories help the characters work out what they are dealing with. You have to understand the haunting before you can hope to stop it.

That makes Revenant especially satisfying if your favourite part of The Guest was trying to connect an apparently isolated incident to something older. Even the early episodes’ strange tree shadow and investigation at Baekchagol Village turn places into clues. The setting matters to the mystery.

Among kdramas like The Guest, this is the one I would recommend for sustained unease before anything else. However, expect a different partnership and less emphasis on Catholic ritual. Hae-sang is a folklorist, not a priest.

Viewing route: Check the official Disney+ listing for Revenant; Hulu also carries a US listing. Availability depends on your country.

2. Priest — choose this if the exorcisms were the point

If Choi Yoon’s side of The Guest is what you want more of, move Priest to the top.

Yeon Woo-jin plays young priest Oh Soo-min, alongside Park Yong-woo’s senior priest Moon Ki-sun and Jung Yu-mi’s doctor Ham Eun-ho. Their work converges around supernatural events at a Catholic hospital.

The setting gives the conflict a practical edge: the person in danger is also a patient. The doctor and the exorcists want to protect people, but they disagree about what is happening and what intervention could help. That friction is a stronger reason to watch than the simple promise of another frightening face.

There is also a useful distinction straight from the production’s launch coverage. Director Kim Jong-hyun described The Guest as combining Korean shamanism with exorcism, while positioning Priest closer to Western exorcism stories.

I would therefore pick this for Catholic possession horror before picking it for Korean folklore. Its family attachments and medical drama also matter; treating it as sixteen hours of uninterrupted ritual horror sets the wrong expectation.

3. The Cursed — when personal information becomes dangerous

The Cursed has the most immediately nasty premise on this list: a teenage girl can inflict a deadly curse using a person’s name in Chinese characters, a photograph and a belonging.

Jung Ji-so plays Baek So-jin, who crosses paths with Uhm Ji-won’s reporter Im Jin-hee during an investigation involving the IT company Forest. Journalism and occult power end up working in an uneasy partnership.

What earns this its place is the way the curse gives ordinary information physical consequences. A name or photograph stops being background detail. It becomes something the characters have to obtain, guard or fear.

That is a different kind of suspense from waiting for a possessed person to attack. It makes the investigation itself dangerous, which is exactly the sort of specific supernatural mechanism I want from horror recommendations after The Guest.

The moral discomfort helps, too. Having access to a terrible power does not make using it a clean solution.

Watch-order note: Start with the twelve-episode 2020 series. The Cursed: Dead Man’s Prey is the 2021 follow-up film, not an alternative title for the drama.

4. Island — the exorcism pick with bigger action

Island assembles a very different supernatural trio: Kim Nam-gil’s Van, Lee Da-hee’s Won Mi-ho and Cha Eun-woo’s priest Johan. Jeju becomes the setting for demons, an ancient conflict and a battle that reaches beyond any single possession.

The third episode offers a good example of its appeal. A student seeks help through a ritual at Benjulle’s sacred tree, pulling the story into a local supernatural threat. The folklore is involved in what the characters do, rather than sitting behind them as scenery.

Johan supplies the Catholic exorcism connection, while Van pushes the show toward physical combat and dark fantasy. That combination makes Island a useful bridge between occult horror and monster action.

My reservation is about scale. If the frightening thing about The Guest was how close its evil felt to everyday life, Island’s larger battles may feel less intimate. Choose it when you want mythology, a protective team and action alongside the rituals.

Its twelve episodes were released in two parts. Prime Video lists the series, though local availability and catalogue grouping can vary.

5. Possessed — for viewers who can handle a tonal turn

Possessed pairs Song Sae-byeok’s detective Kang Pil-sung with Go Joon-hee’s psychic Hong Seo-jung. Their casework moves into supernatural territory involving the spirit of a serial killer.

The obvious connection is the investigation. Police methods still matter, but a threat that can act through possession creates problems that identifying an ordinary suspect cannot solve.

That is the attraction. The warning is the tone.

Early humour and the leads’ contrasting personalities can make this look like a more comfortable supernatural procedural than it becomes. The story grows considerably bleaker. I would not recommend it as a relaxing follow-up simply because the opening has comic moments.

This is my most conditional choice among these kdramas like The Guest. It suits someone who wants a murderous spirit and an increasingly punishing fight. It is a less reliable pick for someone mainly chasing the reassurance of a team holding together under pressure.

Netflix has an official title page for the series; check your local catalogue before planning the binge.

6. Sell Your Haunted House — exorcisms with room for grief

Jang Na-ra plays Hong Ji-ah, an exorcist and real-estate agent who clears haunted properties. Jung Yong-hwa plays Oh In-beom, a conman whose involvement becomes rather more complicated than pretending ghosts exist.

Yes, the business is called Daebak Real Estate. An excellent name, obviously.

The stronger reason to watch is Ji-ah’s personal contradiction. She can deal with other people’s haunted spaces, yet her own mother’s lingering spirit remains an unresolved problem. Professional competence does not protect her from grief.

That gives the episodic hauntings an emotional connection to the central story. A property has a history; a spirit has a reason for being there. Clearing the building means dealing with more than an unwanted supernatural tenant.

I would put this in your horror viewing guide as the breather option that still delivers actual exorcism work. It has frightening material, but its humour and attention to the dead make it a gentler recommendation than The Guest.

Viki lists sixteen episodes. Check regional access before subscribing.

7. The Haunted Palace — folklore with a romantic centre

This is the pick for someone who wants to keep the spirits and change the mood.

Bona, credited as Kim Ji-yeon, plays Yeo-ri, a woman with a shamanic gift she resists accepting. Yook Sungjae plays Yoon Gap, whose body becomes possessed by the imugi Gang Cheol. Their story leads into a palace troubled by vengeful spirits.

The interesting overlap with The Guest is that possession forces characters to reconsider the person in front of them. Recognising a face does not mean understanding who is occupying that body. Here, that uncertainty also complicates romantic attachment.

However, The Haunted Palace gives romance and comedy a substantial place beside the supernatural mystery. I would recommend it for shamanic fantasy and palace hauntings, with that expectation firmly established.

Viki lists all sixteen episodes. If this warmer direction appeals, my guide to supernatural romance Kdramas also covers My Demon and Tale of the Nine-Tailed for your next change of pace.

Which one should you start tonight?

My starting order is Revenant, then Priest, then The Cursed. Together, they cover folklore investigation, Catholic exorcism and the danger of ritual power without asking you to make a huge jump away from the original appeal.

Move Island up if you want action. Choose Possessed when you can tolerate a much bleaker turn. Keep Sell Your Haunted House and The Haunted Palace for nights when supernatural storytelling matters more than sustained fear.

The best kdramas like The Guest understand that a haunting changes the living, too. A ritual can be frightening on its own. It means more when you care who has to perform it—and who they are trying to bring back.

What are you trying to replace most: the exorcisms, the folklore mystery, or Hwa-pyung, Yoon and Gil-young’s bond?