What do you think?
A Plagued Sea
First the flood
Next the sickness
Last the change
Visionary Korean author Kim Bo-young unleashes a Lovecraftian nightmare of infection, transformation, and abomination.
“[Kim Bo-young's] fiction is a breathtaking piece of a cinematic art.” ―Bong Joon-ho, Academy Award-winning director of Parasite
While waiting for a train to Haewon, an isolated Korean seaside village, bodyguard Mu-young gets a disaster alert on her phone. TVs throughout the station report breaking news of a massive earthquake on the eastern coast. Despite the danger, Mu-young boards the train with her niece: she’d rather face the earthquake than leave the girl in her mother’s care. That choice haunts her for the rest of her life.
Three years later, Haewon Village is home to horrors. The earthquake unleashed an ancient plague that transforms its victims into fishy monsters, and the government’s lockdown has cut off any hope for help. Mu-young’s niece is dead, and all that’s left for her is to hunt villagers who break isolation. When an officious bureaucrat from Seoul arrives in the village, he stirs up even deeper trouble. Will Mu-young survive? Does she even deserve to?
Next the sickness
Last the change
Visionary Korean author Kim Bo-young unleashes a Lovecraftian nightmare of infection, transformation, and abomination.
“[Kim Bo-young's] fiction is a breathtaking piece of a cinematic art.” ―Bong Joon-ho, Academy Award-winning director of Parasite
While waiting for a train to Haewon, an isolated Korean seaside village, bodyguard Mu-young gets a disaster alert on her phone. TVs throughout the station report breaking news of a massive earthquake on the eastern coast. Despite the danger, Mu-young boards the train with her niece: she’d rather face the earthquake than leave the girl in her mother’s care. That choice haunts her for the rest of her life.
Three years later, Haewon Village is home to horrors. The earthquake unleashed an ancient plague that transforms its victims into fishy monsters, and the government’s lockdown has cut off any hope for help. Mu-young’s niece is dead, and all that’s left for her is to hunt villagers who break isolation. When an officious bureaucrat from Seoul arrives in the village, he stirs up even deeper trouble. Will Mu-young survive? Does she even deserve to?
98 pages, Hardcover
First published May 30, 2020
About the author
Kim Bo-young
14 books182 followersKim Bo-young (Korean: 김보영; born 1975) is a South Korean science fiction writer based in Gangwon Province, South Korea. In addition to her novels and short story collections, she has worked as a script advisor for Bong Joon-ho's Snowpiercer in 2013.[1] She is the first Korean science fiction author to be published by HarperCollins.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 544 reviews
June 21, 2026
Highly recommended for anyone who likes atmospheric horror. Beautiful language fuels our creeping dread that some inevitable nightmare is waiting for us at the end of the story.
A Plagued Sea is adapted from Lovecraft’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth but don’t worry, you don’t need to have read it! However there’s plenty of references if you’ve read the original. I particularly liked that the bigotry from the original is still present but it’s more complicated to sort through. Anyone who enjoys the Cthulhu mythos has plenty to dive into!
Kim changes the original story’s POV from a complete outsider, to Mu-young, a sight seeing visitor who’s been quarantined with the village. While she’s not a part of the community, she still has been abandoned by the government and lives with the constant threat of becoming ill.
Mu-young has taken it on herself to patrol the village at night, ensuring the sick do not mix with those who are still well and endanger them. She’s so disgusted over the disfigurement that accompanies the disease that she uses extreme & unnecessary force against the ill. Complicating this is her trauma. She brought her niece with her to sightsee and now she’s died of the disease. Mu-young’s guilt manifests through violence and it isn’t until she finds closure that she understands her own ablism.
A Plagued Sea is adapted from Lovecraft’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth but don’t worry, you don’t need to have read it! However there’s plenty of references if you’ve read the original. I particularly liked that the bigotry from the original is still present but it’s more complicated to sort through. Anyone who enjoys the Cthulhu mythos has plenty to dive into!
Kim changes the original story’s POV from a complete outsider, to Mu-young, a sight seeing visitor who’s been quarantined with the village. While she’s not a part of the community, she still has been abandoned by the government and lives with the constant threat of becoming ill.
Mu-young has taken it on herself to patrol the village at night, ensuring the sick do not mix with those who are still well and endanger them. She’s so disgusted over the disfigurement that accompanies the disease that she uses extreme & unnecessary force against the ill. Complicating this is her trauma. She brought her niece with her to sightsee and now she’s died of the disease. Mu-young’s guilt manifests through violence and it isn’t until she finds closure that she understands her own ablism.
September 3, 2026
an auntie and her niece are traveling to meet the rest of the family, when an earthquake erupts and a state of emergency is declared, yet the two decide to take a train to their seaside vacation, and this novella is us learning the ramifications of that choice, the truth of what happened that night, which may involve a disease, and maybe some other secrets along the way.
this is a lovecraftian inspired tale, and the story really starts three years later, with our main character still at the isolated seaside town where no real enforcement is present. and she soon meets an infection resources researcher, while this town has been desperately waiting for a vaccine. i don’t want to say much more, just because this is so short, but this is a very atmospherically frightening tale that talks a lot about people in power and the choices they make for poor communities who they deem not as worthy of help, maybe because of where they are located, maybe because they look different than themselves. which is especially haunting when those same people in power are the ones making the choices that are causing climate change acceleration.
trigger + content warnings: earthquake, disease (plague), viruses, quarantine, talk of lockdowns, cancer mention, loss of young child (niece), insects, mold, death, blood, medical experimentation, captivity, online harassment
blog | instagram | youtube | wishlist | spotify | amazon
this is a lovecraftian inspired tale, and the story really starts three years later, with our main character still at the isolated seaside town where no real enforcement is present. and she soon meets an infection resources researcher, while this town has been desperately waiting for a vaccine. i don’t want to say much more, just because this is so short, but this is a very atmospherically frightening tale that talks a lot about people in power and the choices they make for poor communities who they deem not as worthy of help, maybe because of where they are located, maybe because they look different than themselves. which is especially haunting when those same people in power are the ones making the choices that are causing climate change acceleration.
trigger + content warnings: earthquake, disease (plague), viruses, quarantine, talk of lockdowns, cancer mention, loss of young child (niece), insects, mold, death, blood, medical experimentation, captivity, online harassment
blog | instagram | youtube | wishlist | spotify | amazon
October 2, 2026
The setting kind of reminded me of the fishing hamlet from Bloodborne, which was a pleasant surprise! Overall, I enjoyed it- it’s intense, and the world building was solid, but I do feel like tonally it jumped around a bit too much, especially in the end. More like 3.5 ⭐️
Read
July 1, 2026Well, that was dissappointing. I expected horror, but it was not scary at all. The plot dragged and dragged, and it just didn't do anything to me.
The writing is so bland. There are no emotions whatsoever. There are no feeling described, and if the main character has ever felt fear, I'd have no idea.
The writing is so bland. There are no emotions whatsoever. There are no feeling described, and if the main character has ever felt fear, I'd have no idea.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Review in the June 2026 issue of Library Journal
Three Words That Describe This Book: Lovecraft retelling, immersive fear, sea soaked horror
Draft Review: What if Lovecraft’s “The Shadow Over Innsmouth” (1931) took place in an isolated, Korean, seaside town in 2020 where Muyong (our narrator) has been trapped for three years? During a holiday with her young niece, an earthquake revealed a volcanic island thrust from the seafloor and a strange disease started spreading, killing some and turning the infected survivors into fish-like creatures. The government has closed the town off from the rest of the world. But when a professor of infectious disease enters town, the truth of what has really been going on and who is responsible for it starts to emerge and the revelations are terrifying and violent. Bo-young’s novella casts a spotlight on the horrific ways humans have always treated the victims of disease (eg. leprosy, AIDS, COVID-19) while she also grapples with Lovecraft’s version of cosmic fear, of facing a monster that is so evil and cares so little for the insignificance of humanity, that they stand helpless against it. But in her version, hopeless does not equal powerless.
Verdict: Not only a stellar example of the enduring power of Lovecraftian Horror across time and place, but also a direct assault on the racism and misogyny of its creator as seen in titles like House of Bone and Rain by Gabino Iglesias, The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle, and Winter Tide by Ruthann Emrys.
An excellent example of the enduring power of Lovecraftian Horror: Facing a horror that is full of malice, does not care one bit about the insignificant humans, and the narrator knows they are completely powerless. How do you respond?
Being helpless but not powerless-- the author discusses wrangling with this distinction as she wrote in the author's note.
She also makes some of the quiet parts of The Shadow Over Innsmouth-- loud. I appreciated that as will many in a modern audience. I am getting ahead of myself though.
Stellar retelling of the Lovecraft novella The Shadow Over Innsmouth but set in a seaside town in Korea. It has a the same themes-- the town has been isolated because of an earthquake and an ensuing infection of the people who were there after. For the last 3 years everyone in the town has been forced into a quarantine.
We have 2 outsider perspectives here-- one, our narrator Muyoung Seo has been on the ground since the quarantine- a trapped tourist, but as a trained security guard she has spent those three years enforcing the quarantine for the limited police force. She is an outsider with some inside friends. She has lost her niece to the infection.
The other, a visiting professor of infectious disease-- he is more the traditional Lovecraft narrator here. We only hear his POV in 2 letters. One at the start of the novella and one at the end.
Otherwise, readers are following Muyoung as she is figuring out what is going on-- really-- the professor visiting-- the first visitor in the town in 3 years is seen through her eyes and relayed to us.
As the villager turn to attack the professor-- they also turn a little on Muyoung as well. But because Muyoung has some personal connections to the infected humans she makes different choices.
I don't think any of this is a spoiler because the story this is all based on is 95 years old.
Both are led to make different choices as they learn the truth. And the idea of is all of this true or is it in their heads and they are going mad in different ways-- it's all here. And here the human horrors of prejudice are not shared by the author-- rather she is speaking out against that and instilling a lot of sympathy for the infected villagers for being treated badly for something that is no fault of theirs.
The professor is an excellent addition to the novella. It connects it to the source material very firmly, while still allowing a new version to emerge. Without him, those 2 letters, and his visit thru Muyoung's eyes, this is not a 5 star read.
Readers will clearly draw connections to this story and COVID-19 quarantines and how people are treated when sick, how those who get an illness are often blamed that they deserved it. Also how quarantines are unfairly placed. I thought about AIDS victims as well because there is a lot of talk here about the village not being worth finding a cure, they should just stay isolated forever or even worse, be killed.
A lot packed into this one sitting read. So thankful Tor Nightfire got it translated into English.
Level of Victor LaValle's The Ballad of Black Tom of Lovercfrat literal retelling. It is hard to do well. To capture the cosmic fear, the monsters, the original racism and turn its on its head, and to make a 1931 story resonate so clearly today. Almost 100 years later.
Other Lovecraft retellings by people Lovecraft himself would have hated that are at this level-- House of Bone and Rain by Gabino Iglesias and Winter Tide by Ruthann Emrys-- those connect more directly to The Shadow Over Innsmouth specifically.
Three Words That Describe This Book: Lovecraft retelling, immersive fear, sea soaked horror
Draft Review: What if Lovecraft’s “The Shadow Over Innsmouth” (1931) took place in an isolated, Korean, seaside town in 2020 where Muyong (our narrator) has been trapped for three years? During a holiday with her young niece, an earthquake revealed a volcanic island thrust from the seafloor and a strange disease started spreading, killing some and turning the infected survivors into fish-like creatures. The government has closed the town off from the rest of the world. But when a professor of infectious disease enters town, the truth of what has really been going on and who is responsible for it starts to emerge and the revelations are terrifying and violent. Bo-young’s novella casts a spotlight on the horrific ways humans have always treated the victims of disease (eg. leprosy, AIDS, COVID-19) while she also grapples with Lovecraft’s version of cosmic fear, of facing a monster that is so evil and cares so little for the insignificance of humanity, that they stand helpless against it. But in her version, hopeless does not equal powerless.
Verdict: Not only a stellar example of the enduring power of Lovecraftian Horror across time and place, but also a direct assault on the racism and misogyny of its creator as seen in titles like House of Bone and Rain by Gabino Iglesias, The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle, and Winter Tide by Ruthann Emrys.
An excellent example of the enduring power of Lovecraftian Horror: Facing a horror that is full of malice, does not care one bit about the insignificant humans, and the narrator knows they are completely powerless. How do you respond?
Being helpless but not powerless-- the author discusses wrangling with this distinction as she wrote in the author's note.
She also makes some of the quiet parts of The Shadow Over Innsmouth-- loud. I appreciated that as will many in a modern audience. I am getting ahead of myself though.
Stellar retelling of the Lovecraft novella The Shadow Over Innsmouth but set in a seaside town in Korea. It has a the same themes-- the town has been isolated because of an earthquake and an ensuing infection of the people who were there after. For the last 3 years everyone in the town has been forced into a quarantine.
We have 2 outsider perspectives here-- one, our narrator Muyoung Seo has been on the ground since the quarantine- a trapped tourist, but as a trained security guard she has spent those three years enforcing the quarantine for the limited police force. She is an outsider with some inside friends. She has lost her niece to the infection.
The other, a visiting professor of infectious disease-- he is more the traditional Lovecraft narrator here. We only hear his POV in 2 letters. One at the start of the novella and one at the end.
Otherwise, readers are following Muyoung as she is figuring out what is going on-- really-- the professor visiting-- the first visitor in the town in 3 years is seen through her eyes and relayed to us.
As the villager turn to attack the professor-- they also turn a little on Muyoung as well. But because Muyoung has some personal connections to the infected humans she makes different choices.
I don't think any of this is a spoiler because the story this is all based on is 95 years old.
Both are led to make different choices as they learn the truth. And the idea of is all of this true or is it in their heads and they are going mad in different ways-- it's all here. And here the human horrors of prejudice are not shared by the author-- rather she is speaking out against that and instilling a lot of sympathy for the infected villagers for being treated badly for something that is no fault of theirs.
The professor is an excellent addition to the novella. It connects it to the source material very firmly, while still allowing a new version to emerge. Without him, those 2 letters, and his visit thru Muyoung's eyes, this is not a 5 star read.
Readers will clearly draw connections to this story and COVID-19 quarantines and how people are treated when sick, how those who get an illness are often blamed that they deserved it. Also how quarantines are unfairly placed. I thought about AIDS victims as well because there is a lot of talk here about the village not being worth finding a cure, they should just stay isolated forever or even worse, be killed.
A lot packed into this one sitting read. So thankful Tor Nightfire got it translated into English.
Level of Victor LaValle's The Ballad of Black Tom of Lovercfrat literal retelling. It is hard to do well. To capture the cosmic fear, the monsters, the original racism and turn its on its head, and to make a 1931 story resonate so clearly today. Almost 100 years later.
Other Lovecraft retellings by people Lovecraft himself would have hated that are at this level-- House of Bone and Rain by Gabino Iglesias and Winter Tide by Ruthann Emrys-- those connect more directly to The Shadow Over Innsmouth specifically.
September 26, 2026
The atmosphere, fear, and cosmic/deity-style Lovecraftian setting here are intoxicating. I could smell and feel the slimy fish and molding sea water jumping off the pages. Not only is this translation superb; but the stunned words of mere humans encountering what is seemingly impossible to comprehend are so well done here by Korean writer Kim Bo-Young that I hate to even try to describe them as I could never do justice. I truly hope more of the Korean works put together for this Lovecraftian project back in 2020 will be translated. I will be hunting down as many of them as I can; plus finding more of Bo-Young’s translated works. If any of them are half as impressive as A Plagued Sea I know I want to experience these stories.
The (moderately creepy) real-life twist here is that A Plagued Sea was first conceived before COVID-19 and the first lockdown. Published in May of 2020 in Korean, yet reading it 6 years later in this English translation, I could feel the lockdown fear emanating from the page. The concern, scientific choice (with some paranoia added in) that caused the world to come to a standstill, cleared Times Square, grounded planes, and left cruise ships stranded at ports with thousands of people on board. How bizarre that Bo-Young was writing this in the middle of all those events also transpiring in reality. A parallel that is too stark to miss and served to enhance the horror for me here.
More important is how relevant, even six years later, this story still is today. As the world’s politics have shifted significantly, towards supporting the original prejudice-based story being rewritten here, and published in English, the core language of the orange man who (arguably, gleefully) today has led so many to re-prescribe to the ideals of racism and prejudice of all kinds to be appropriate if not required in society. A Plagued Sea brings us around to the understanding that it’s merely fear that creates these segregations and thoughts. The parallels of societies’ fear that we might lose something we can’t even describe are deliberately and brilliantly laid out on the page in this short story.
Bo-Young ripped my heart out with their emotional climax and reminded me that we need not fear what we do not understand, but instead look for the love and good in the differences. And thus I adore the narrative here that it’s okay if things change. Even if they seem cosmically difficult to understand that doesn’t mean that change is inherently wrong. That our own fear is what feeds racism and prejudice and serves no purpose except to create discord and fighting when, often, none is needed. There can be a place for everyone in which no one is better than another.
There is so much more that could be said about these mere 100 pages and the narrative here. Just like when I first read Lovecrafts Call of Cthulhu and Innsmouth stories I feel the fear turning into hatred on the page and emanating from the story. If only we could learn, as a species, to accept one another as we are and co-exist. So much unnecessary sadness and loss could be avoided. Yet, so many believe otherwise which is sad. Thankfully Bo-Young has flipped the narrative to make this a story about love instead of hate. For that I am truly grateful.
I believe A Plagued Sea will stick with me. I’ll be seeking out a copy for my print library that I can loan to others to see what their takeaway is from 100 pages of intellectual writing that challenges what is horrific. In many ways it feels like The Plagued Sea was written to lecture us on how we ever allowed Lovecraft to spur his awful prejudice as a legacy in literature. This kind of twist and rework is perfect for the 21st century, and exactly the kind of work that North America needs right now. A reminder that acceptance of everyone, regardless of how monstrous they might appear, will result in less loss and tears. Our world is better when we work together and don’t fight one another. I’m truly glad to see this cosmic horror ideal flipped in narrative to expose the hatred below that shows that fear should not drive hate, it should drive curiosity and a desire for life to be better, for everyone.
Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.
The (moderately creepy) real-life twist here is that A Plagued Sea was first conceived before COVID-19 and the first lockdown. Published in May of 2020 in Korean, yet reading it 6 years later in this English translation, I could feel the lockdown fear emanating from the page. The concern, scientific choice (with some paranoia added in) that caused the world to come to a standstill, cleared Times Square, grounded planes, and left cruise ships stranded at ports with thousands of people on board. How bizarre that Bo-Young was writing this in the middle of all those events also transpiring in reality. A parallel that is too stark to miss and served to enhance the horror for me here.
More important is how relevant, even six years later, this story still is today. As the world’s politics have shifted significantly, towards supporting the original prejudice-based story being rewritten here, and published in English, the core language of the orange man who (arguably, gleefully) today has led so many to re-prescribe to the ideals of racism and prejudice of all kinds to be appropriate if not required in society. A Plagued Sea brings us around to the understanding that it’s merely fear that creates these segregations and thoughts. The parallels of societies’ fear that we might lose something we can’t even describe are deliberately and brilliantly laid out on the page in this short story.
Bo-Young ripped my heart out with their emotional climax and reminded me that we need not fear what we do not understand, but instead look for the love and good in the differences. And thus I adore the narrative here that it’s okay if things change. Even if they seem cosmically difficult to understand that doesn’t mean that change is inherently wrong. That our own fear is what feeds racism and prejudice and serves no purpose except to create discord and fighting when, often, none is needed. There can be a place for everyone in which no one is better than another.
There is so much more that could be said about these mere 100 pages and the narrative here. Just like when I first read Lovecrafts Call of Cthulhu and Innsmouth stories I feel the fear turning into hatred on the page and emanating from the story. If only we could learn, as a species, to accept one another as we are and co-exist. So much unnecessary sadness and loss could be avoided. Yet, so many believe otherwise which is sad. Thankfully Bo-Young has flipped the narrative to make this a story about love instead of hate. For that I am truly grateful.
I believe A Plagued Sea will stick with me. I’ll be seeking out a copy for my print library that I can loan to others to see what their takeaway is from 100 pages of intellectual writing that challenges what is horrific. In many ways it feels like The Plagued Sea was written to lecture us on how we ever allowed Lovecraft to spur his awful prejudice as a legacy in literature. This kind of twist and rework is perfect for the 21st century, and exactly the kind of work that North America needs right now. A reminder that acceptance of everyone, regardless of how monstrous they might appear, will result in less loss and tears. Our world is better when we work together and don’t fight one another. I’m truly glad to see this cosmic horror ideal flipped in narrative to expose the hatred below that shows that fear should not drive hate, it should drive curiosity and a desire for life to be better, for everyone.
Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
4.0 Stars
This was a wonderfully atmospheric lovecraftian horror novella. I am always looking to read more translated horror and I was pleased to find one that I enjoyed so much.
Obviously, I'm not reading the original writing but I felt that the translated version was quite pleasant to read.
It was a fairly short story but it matter to leave a good impact. I would recommend to readers as long as they don't mind a shorter page count.
Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
This was a wonderfully atmospheric lovecraftian horror novella. I am always looking to read more translated horror and I was pleased to find one that I enjoyed so much.
Obviously, I'm not reading the original writing but I felt that the translated version was quite pleasant to read.
It was a fairly short story but it matter to leave a good impact. I would recommend to readers as long as they don't mind a shorter page count.
Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
Want to Read
September 21, 2025Translated cosmic horror...novella...she is meant for me i fear
June 27, 2026
Un omaggio esplicito a Lovecraft, come dichiarato anche dalla stessa autrice nella postfazione al punto da definire il suo romanzo una “riscrittura” del mito di Chthulhu.
Per una buona metà, “Il mare infetto” è più hollywoodiano che horror cosmico, complice anche un’impostazione più aderente all’action che all’evocazione. Dà il meglio di sè nelle ultime 30-40 pagine, in cui si entra veramente nel vivo e iniziano pure i brividi sulla schiena.
In definitiva: esercizio di stile, puro intrattenimento.
Mi ha molto divertito però.
Me lo sono goduto felice durante un viaggio in treno.
Per una buona metà, “Il mare infetto” è più hollywoodiano che horror cosmico, complice anche un’impostazione più aderente all’action che all’evocazione. Dà il meglio di sè nelle ultime 30-40 pagine, in cui si entra veramente nel vivo e iniziano pure i brividi sulla schiena.
In definitiva: esercizio di stile, puro intrattenimento.
Mi ha molto divertito però.
Me lo sono goduto felice durante un viaggio in treno.
September 17, 2025
Thank you to Honford Star and NetGalley for the free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review
I rarely read horror, and I don’t know much about Lovecraft, but I am a huge fan of Kim Bo-Young, and talk up her books all the time. So when I heard that she was releasing a horror novella in English, my interest was piqued. And while I don’t know if I’d recommend it for a reader’s first experience with KBY (that would be I'm Waiting for You and Other Stories), I found myself satisfied once again with how Kim weaves timeless human debates about love, fear, and xenophobia into a fairly straightforward story concept.
Although Kim says herself that this story had its origins before Covid, the atmosphere of A PLAGUED SEA gains greater relevance in light of how poorly society responded to the pandemic. Three years after the plague is discovered, the seaside village of Haewon remains quarantined, isolated from the rest of the country. Resources and funds are slim for the villagers and the one hospital that is able to care for the infected. Little progress in researching the disease has been made in the ensuing years because, once the rest of the country realized that it wasn’t spreading beyond the village, finding a cure became less of a priority. After all, why bother finding a cure for only a handful of people when it is much more expedient to just cut them off from the world indefinitely?
And so, with that, things become less black and white, and that’s where the story becomes endlessly fascinating for me. Are the infected villagers whose disease has progressed so far that the hospital locks them up in a closed ward for years to be feared or pitied? What about the gruesome creatures that come out of the sea? Do they deserve to be loved and taken care of as well, or scapegoated because of their looks? Who deserves our regard more: the unblemished, uninfected abusive husband, or the sea creature who treats others well?
And suddenly, the story becomes not just a horror tale, but an interesting examination of societal attitudes towards “others,” whether they be immigrants or outcasts with different looks or behaviors. No one exemplifies this better than Woojin, the starry-eyed researcher from the city who flouts all rules and barges into the village, urban male privilege on display, demands the treatment he expects to receive as an honored guest, and reacts poorly when things don’t go as he expects. OoooOOOOooooHHHHhhh.
A PLAGUED SEA reminds me most of Violet Kupersmith’s Build Your House Around My Body—another book I loved, in which the atmospheric setting provides fertile ground for exploring interesting themes. Its novella length is perhaps too short to provide better character development for the MC, who acts like a blank vehicle that moves around the village to interact with the far more interesting side characters. Still, I can’t stop thinking about this, and am impressed all over again by Kim Bo-Young’s ability to tell any story in a thought-provoking, reflective, and propulsive way.
[January 2026]
My god-tier favorite sci-fi author has a new book coming out in English--brb, just going to be insufferable and reread the synopsis endlessly until Summer 2026!!
I rarely read horror, and I don’t know much about Lovecraft, but I am a huge fan of Kim Bo-Young, and talk up her books all the time. So when I heard that she was releasing a horror novella in English, my interest was piqued. And while I don’t know if I’d recommend it for a reader’s first experience with KBY (that would be I'm Waiting for You and Other Stories), I found myself satisfied once again with how Kim weaves timeless human debates about love, fear, and xenophobia into a fairly straightforward story concept.
Although Kim says herself that this story had its origins before Covid, the atmosphere of A PLAGUED SEA gains greater relevance in light of how poorly society responded to the pandemic. Three years after the plague is discovered, the seaside village of Haewon remains quarantined, isolated from the rest of the country. Resources and funds are slim for the villagers and the one hospital that is able to care for the infected. Little progress in researching the disease has been made in the ensuing years because, once the rest of the country realized that it wasn’t spreading beyond the village, finding a cure became less of a priority. After all, why bother finding a cure for only a handful of people when it is much more expedient to just cut them off from the world indefinitely?
And so, with that, things become less black and white, and that’s where the story becomes endlessly fascinating for me. Are the infected villagers whose disease has progressed so far that the hospital locks them up in a closed ward for years to be feared or pitied? What about the gruesome creatures that come out of the sea? Do they deserve to be loved and taken care of as well, or scapegoated because of their looks? Who deserves our regard more: the unblemished, uninfected abusive husband, or the sea creature who treats others well?
And suddenly, the story becomes not just a horror tale, but an interesting examination of societal attitudes towards “others,” whether they be immigrants or outcasts with different looks or behaviors. No one exemplifies this better than Woojin, the starry-eyed researcher from the city who flouts all rules and barges into the village, urban male privilege on display, demands the treatment he expects to receive as an honored guest, and reacts poorly when things don’t go as he expects. OoooOOOOooooHHHHhhh.
A PLAGUED SEA reminds me most of Violet Kupersmith’s Build Your House Around My Body—another book I loved, in which the atmospheric setting provides fertile ground for exploring interesting themes. Its novella length is perhaps too short to provide better character development for the MC, who acts like a blank vehicle that moves around the village to interact with the far more interesting side characters. Still, I can’t stop thinking about this, and am impressed all over again by Kim Bo-Young’s ability to tell any story in a thought-provoking, reflective, and propulsive way.
[January 2026]
My god-tier favorite sci-fi author has a new book coming out in English--brb, just going to be insufferable and reread the synopsis endlessly until Summer 2026!!
January 21, 2026
A decent action horror book, but devoid of any type of psychology. It's completely empty of feelings or emotions. You should read it if you like Lovecraft's works, especially Innsmouth and Cthulhu.
—
Un libro horror action decente, ma privo di qualsiasi tipo di psicologia. È completamente vuoto di sentimenti ed emozioni. Dovreste leggerlo se vi piacciono i lavori di Lovecraft, specialmente Innsmouth e Cthulhu.
—
Un libro horror action decente, ma privo di qualsiasi tipo di psicologia. È completamente vuoto di sentimenti ed emozioni. Dovreste leggerlo se vi piacciono i lavori di Lovecraft, specialmente Innsmouth e Cthulhu.
August 17, 2026
Even though this book ended up being slightly surface level to me, it was honestly quite fun! i do wish that it was a little bit longer so we could fully explore things like the setting off this book, it was kind of glossed over/only described in the same 3-ish ways.
To me, personally, this isn't the type of horror that genuinely makes me genuinely scared throughout the book but it does feel generally very eerie and like something going on is very wrong which i definitely appreciated!
I'm not sure if it's a case of the translation but sometimes the wording felt strangely too casual for what was happening within the book? it kind of dampened how scary the situations were meant to be in my opinion.
i really did enjoy the narrator though! they verbally portrayed the character in the exact way i wouldve expected and that helped me to get more immersed in the storyline of this book! i would love to check out more of their work in the future :)
thank you to netgalley and macmillan audio for providing me with an alc of this audiobook for an honest and voluntary review in return.
To me, personally, this isn't the type of horror that genuinely makes me genuinely scared throughout the book but it does feel generally very eerie and like something going on is very wrong which i definitely appreciated!
I'm not sure if it's a case of the translation but sometimes the wording felt strangely too casual for what was happening within the book? it kind of dampened how scary the situations were meant to be in my opinion.
i really did enjoy the narrator though! they verbally portrayed the character in the exact way i wouldve expected and that helped me to get more immersed in the storyline of this book! i would love to check out more of their work in the future :)
thank you to netgalley and macmillan audio for providing me with an alc of this audiobook for an honest and voluntary review in return.
![Profile Image for laurel [the suspected bibliophile].](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/users/1645808644i/7494844._UX200_CR0,6,200,200_.jpg)
August 27, 2026
A short novella about a Cthulhu-type monster plaguing a seaside town.
It was short and leaned heavily into the fishy gore of everything. A lot felt like an allegory to climate change—and how a community adapts, or doesn't, to that change. Many references to the horrifying histories of leper colonies (particularly with how the victims were treated as subhuman), how communities are tied to greater systems that all have to work at all levels for a society to function and support those at the tippy top of the hierarchy, and how people respond to grief.
Anywho, I enjoyed it. Sure, I wish parts could have gone a little deeper and been explored further, but what I got was just enough.
I received an ARC from the publisher
It was short and leaned heavily into the fishy gore of everything. A lot felt like an allegory to climate change—and how a community adapts, or doesn't, to that change. Many references to the horrifying histories of leper colonies (particularly with how the victims were treated as subhuman), how communities are tied to greater systems that all have to work at all levels for a society to function and support those at the tippy top of the hierarchy, and how people respond to grief.
Anywho, I enjoyed it. Sure, I wish parts could have gone a little deeper and been explored further, but what I got was just enough.
I received an ARC from the publisher
August 11, 2026
Loved the Cthulhu and Lovecraft mythos reimagined in this story.
It was eerie and atmospheric. Weird and unsettling.
The characters were a little lacklustre though and I felt like I barely knew them, their minds, thoughts, motivations, etc.
Compared to the apocalyptic subject matter, they felt flat. The ending on the newly formed island was darkly exciting, but ended too soon.
It’s a short tale, so even if you feel the same way I do, it’s unique and worth the time to read.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author/translator, and Honford Star for a copy!
It was eerie and atmospheric. Weird and unsettling.
The characters were a little lacklustre though and I felt like I barely knew them, their minds, thoughts, motivations, etc.
Compared to the apocalyptic subject matter, they felt flat. The ending on the newly formed island was darkly exciting, but ended too soon.
It’s a short tale, so even if you feel the same way I do, it’s unique and worth the time to read.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author/translator, and Honford Star for a copy!
August 4, 2026
What a great novella. The translator did a fantastic job. You really feel that sense of doom and trepidation. The bleakness of the situation really comes through. I’ve read a lot of gothic horror recently and this book really has that same type of atmosphere.
Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for the arc.
Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for the arc.
arcs-review-copies-tbr
June 15, 202615/6/26: omg I got approved for the ARC this book sounds so interesting!! I am really excited to read it. Hope i can get to it last week of June.
July 6, 2026
Thank you Nightfire for my free ARC of A Plagued Sea by Kim Bo-Young — out August 11!
» READ IF YOU «
🐟 would do anything for your loved ones
🌊 crave a claustrophobic, quarantined setting
😭 love a gut-punch ending that doesn't explain everything
Translated from Korean by Sophie Bowman 🇰🇷
» SYNOPSIS «
Mu-young boards a train to an isolated seaside village with her young niece, just as news breaks of a massive earthquake off the coast. Three years later, the village is unrecognizable—an ancient plague unleashed by the quake has begun infecting villagers, and a government lockdown has sealed the town off from any hope of help. Mu-young follows the rules, until an outsider arrives and unravels everything she thought she understood about the village and its inhabitants.
» REVIEW «
This one is all atmosphere, and I mean that as a compliment. The village feels truly suffocating—the roads are crumbling, abandoned cars are covered in weeds, the village is slowly being reclaimed by nature while the people are forced to seclude themselves indoors. Sound familiar? Well don’t worry, it’s not very COVID-evocative in the actual story. Kim Bo-Young builds dystopian dread through the mundane horror of quarantine bureaucracy as much as through body horror itself.
I won't lie to you and tell you that I tracked every plot point perfectly—it's a dense, short book that moves fast and trusts you to keep up with its Lovecraft vibe. But that didn't get in the way of feeling this one, because the darn ending wrecked me. It's not tidy, and it doesn't hand you every answer, but the emotional gut-punch was perfectly placed for me—oof.
» RATING «
🐟 I’m Suffocating 🐟
» READ-A-LIKES «
• Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield
• A Luminous Republic by Andrés Barba
• The Shape of Water (movie)
• The Deep by Rivers Solomon
» READ IF YOU «
🐟 would do anything for your loved ones
🌊 crave a claustrophobic, quarantined setting
😭 love a gut-punch ending that doesn't explain everything
Translated from Korean by Sophie Bowman 🇰🇷
» SYNOPSIS «
Mu-young boards a train to an isolated seaside village with her young niece, just as news breaks of a massive earthquake off the coast. Three years later, the village is unrecognizable—an ancient plague unleashed by the quake has begun infecting villagers, and a government lockdown has sealed the town off from any hope of help. Mu-young follows the rules, until an outsider arrives and unravels everything she thought she understood about the village and its inhabitants.
» REVIEW «
This one is all atmosphere, and I mean that as a compliment. The village feels truly suffocating—the roads are crumbling, abandoned cars are covered in weeds, the village is slowly being reclaimed by nature while the people are forced to seclude themselves indoors. Sound familiar? Well don’t worry, it’s not very COVID-evocative in the actual story. Kim Bo-Young builds dystopian dread through the mundane horror of quarantine bureaucracy as much as through body horror itself.
I won't lie to you and tell you that I tracked every plot point perfectly—it's a dense, short book that moves fast and trusts you to keep up with its Lovecraft vibe. But that didn't get in the way of feeling this one, because the darn ending wrecked me. It's not tidy, and it doesn't hand you every answer, but the emotional gut-punch was perfectly placed for me—oof.
» RATING «
🐟 I’m Suffocating 🐟
» READ-A-LIKES «
• Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield
• A Luminous Republic by Andrés Barba
• The Shape of Water (movie)
• The Deep by Rivers Solomon
June 24, 2026
This was underwhelming in many ways.
On one hand, I liked the premise, with the monster-creating disease and the impossibility of retaining one's humanity amid the horrors of bodily mutation and near anarchy. But the characters were unlikeable in every way, and I didn't particularly sympathise with them or enjoy following them through the story. The plot also let me down; it didn't hook me the way I thought it would, and I was expecting way more body horror considering that’s how it’s marketed. The hype behind the writer was another reason I picked up this book, seeing how she's apparently very famous in Korea for her science fiction, but I didn't find this novella to be one of her notable works at all. I may consider giving her books another try in the future, but I won't be picking this one up again.
2.5 stars rounded up.
Thanks to NetGalley and Honford Star for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.
On one hand, I liked the premise, with the monster-creating disease and the impossibility of retaining one's humanity amid the horrors of bodily mutation and near anarchy. But the characters were unlikeable in every way, and I didn't particularly sympathise with them or enjoy following them through the story. The plot also let me down; it didn't hook me the way I thought it would, and I was expecting way more body horror considering that’s how it’s marketed. The hype behind the writer was another reason I picked up this book, seeing how she's apparently very famous in Korea for her science fiction, but I didn't find this novella to be one of her notable works at all. I may consider giving her books another try in the future, but I won't be picking this one up again.
2.5 stars rounded up.
Thanks to NetGalley and Honford Star for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.
August 6, 2026
I really enjoyed the creepy amphibian-humanoid creature vibes of the story. The descriptions of the transformation of the humans into the sea-like creatures was gory and gross which is what I wanted from this.
I liked the back- story of the characters too. There was some sadness in their life stories but that is what made them more real to me as a reader.
**ARC provided by the publisher in exchange of an honest review. **
I liked the back- story of the characters too. There was some sadness in their life stories but that is what made them more real to me as a reader.
**ARC provided by the publisher in exchange of an honest review. **
September 18, 2026
Perhaps the best out of the Lovecraftian stories that Honford Star put out, which you can read about in my full review at the Korea Times here. Evokes the same level of that fleshy paranoia that shocks and stirs from Lovecraft himself in the obsessive ways we wonder and wonder on about his Cthulhu.
June 10, 2026
Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC of A Plagued Sea!
Here's the thing, I hate to compare books, and honestly this is not a true comparison, its readers advisory, and as a librarian, I'm pretty fantastic at that. If you liked Providence Girls but wanted less romance, this is for you. If you liked Into the Drowning Deep but wanted less gore, this is for you. And if you loved either of those books (both of which have a special place in my heart and on my bookshelf at home) then you will love this book! (And if you love this book but haven't read the others, look at you, you now have two books to add to your TBR! How exciting for you!)
I was drawn to this book because I have been really enjoying Asian Horror a lot lately. Combine that new interest with my tried and true love for Aquatic Horror and I was salivating waiting to get my hands on this!
Kim Bo-young does an incredible job of world building and getting you to emotionally attach to characters in such a short book length. To have a full backstory of how and why the plague happened, what changes occur to a person physically, how the plague has affected the society, and also be emotionally attached to at least two if not three characters, all within 112 pages is astounding and wild. There are some 400+ page books that cant manage that.
If this book even slightly peaks your interest, give it a try. You will not be disappointed.
Here's the thing, I hate to compare books, and honestly this is not a true comparison, its readers advisory, and as a librarian, I'm pretty fantastic at that. If you liked Providence Girls but wanted less romance, this is for you. If you liked Into the Drowning Deep but wanted less gore, this is for you. And if you loved either of those books (both of which have a special place in my heart and on my bookshelf at home) then you will love this book! (And if you love this book but haven't read the others, look at you, you now have two books to add to your TBR! How exciting for you!)
I was drawn to this book because I have been really enjoying Asian Horror a lot lately. Combine that new interest with my tried and true love for Aquatic Horror and I was salivating waiting to get my hands on this!
Kim Bo-young does an incredible job of world building and getting you to emotionally attach to characters in such a short book length. To have a full backstory of how and why the plague happened, what changes occur to a person physically, how the plague has affected the society, and also be emotionally attached to at least two if not three characters, all within 112 pages is astounding and wild. There are some 400+ page books that cant manage that.
If this book even slightly peaks your interest, give it a try. You will not be disappointed.
July 10, 2026
This book had such an amazing premise. Reading the synopsis I was instantly hooked and immediately hit request here on Netgalley.
However, I was saddened to learn that the novella was not my personal cup of tea. I think my biggest complaint overall for A Plagued Sea was the lack of emotion. The writing felt very direct and never really hit on the emotional points like I expected based on the loss experienced within the 100+ pages of this novella.
As a plus, I did love the descriptions of the sea disease and how it came about! I also loved the isolation of the characters
However, I was saddened to learn that the novella was not my personal cup of tea. I think my biggest complaint overall for A Plagued Sea was the lack of emotion. The writing felt very direct and never really hit on the emotional points like I expected based on the loss experienced within the 100+ pages of this novella.
As a plus, I did love the descriptions of the sea disease and how it came about! I also loved the isolation of the characters
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
When Haewon Village, a quaint and isolated Korean seaside village is overwhelmed by the resulting tidal wave from an earthquake, vacationers Muyoung and her little niece are quarantined there. A nasty outbreak of a mysterious disease has resulted, leaving the residents slowly (or quickly) exhibiting physical transformations: splotchy spots, bulging eyes, protruding lower jaw. In short, they seem to have that Innsmouth-look.
I thought Kim Bo-young does a fantastic job in this novella of taking a cult classic of the Mythos and giving it a twist (which of course, I won’t reveal, because, spoilers! I felt emotionally connected to the characters, and in fact, I wished the story would have been longer. Kudos to the author, and my thanks to her, the publisher, and NetGalley for this opportunity of an early read.
I thought Kim Bo-young does a fantastic job in this novella of taking a cult classic of the Mythos and giving it a twist (which of course, I won’t reveal, because, spoilers! I felt emotionally connected to the characters, and in fact, I wished the story would have been longer. Kudos to the author, and my thanks to her, the publisher, and NetGalley for this opportunity of an early read.
August 13, 2026
This is an excellent Lovecraftian horror novella with a modern touch. The isolated village setting by the ocean created a strong atmosphere of unease. The imagery, especially in the second half of the story, was fantastic and I liked how the story stayed true to cosmic horror. Of course, we also have the modern elements with the virus and the isolation it requires, drawing comparisons to COVID-19 and leprosy. Overall, I really enjoyed this and thought the length was perfect for the story that was told.
Read
October 6, 2026amazing balance of dread, horror, and just a tad bit of melancholy. kim bo-young remains one of the most subversive SFF writers around. i enjoyed this so much! just when you thought you understand how a lovecraftian cosmic horror operates in a story about a plagued fishing village, kim bo-young makes sure you didn't see the ending coming. beautiful conclusion to the story that leaves you pondering on ableism, government neglect in the name of outbreak containment, and what it means to create a community with each other!
November 23, 2025
Strano, a tratti molto inquietante.
Un mix ben riuscito tra horror e fantascienza, una narrazione fluida.
Mi è piaciuto molto. Unica pecca, avrei voluto fosse più lungo.
Un mix ben riuscito tra horror e fantascienza, una narrazione fluida.
Mi è piaciuto molto. Unica pecca, avrei voluto fosse più lungo.
Did Not Finish
October 2, 2026DNF @ 46%
well, that was just plain boring.
well, that was just plain boring.
August 19, 2026
This review is for an ARC copy received from the publisher through NetGalley.
While waiting for a train with her young niece, Muyoung receives emergency alerts that an underwater earthquake is threatening the Haewon region, the very place they're headed. Regardless, they still head out only to be trapped there. Three years later and Haewon is isolated, the earthquake having unleashed a new island off the coast, flooding that wreaked havoc on the area, and a strange disease afflicting many of the inhabitants. With her niece having succumbed to the illness, Muyoung now serves as a sort of marshal, enforcing the isolation rules on the infected. But something is about to happen with the locals that will turn her already topsy-turvy world even further upside down.
Heavily inspired by H.P. Lovecraft's "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" with touches of "The Call of Cthulhu," this was Lovecraftian horror at its finest. Full of cosmic horror despair and Cthluhu-esque madness, the South Korean setting works perfectly and gives a new perspective to Lovecraftian literature. In the parlance of our times, this was a real banger of a cosmic horror story..
While waiting for a train with her young niece, Muyoung receives emergency alerts that an underwater earthquake is threatening the Haewon region, the very place they're headed. Regardless, they still head out only to be trapped there. Three years later and Haewon is isolated, the earthquake having unleashed a new island off the coast, flooding that wreaked havoc on the area, and a strange disease afflicting many of the inhabitants. With her niece having succumbed to the illness, Muyoung now serves as a sort of marshal, enforcing the isolation rules on the infected. But something is about to happen with the locals that will turn her already topsy-turvy world even further upside down.
Heavily inspired by H.P. Lovecraft's "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" with touches of "The Call of Cthulhu," this was Lovecraftian horror at its finest. Full of cosmic horror despair and Cthluhu-esque madness, the South Korean setting works perfectly and gives a new perspective to Lovecraftian literature. In the parlance of our times, this was a real banger of a cosmic horror story..
January 8, 2026
Yun-hui ha proprio detto "tra un uomo (mio marito) e un orso (letteralmente il mostro della palude) scelgo l'orso" e buon per lei.
July 18, 2026
I really enjoyed Kim Bo-Young’s exploration of the Cthulhu mythos in this novella! There is always something so unsettling about cosmic horror and when it hits in this story I was very creeped out. I liked the journey of this story, starting with the earthquake that then leads to an outbreak and seeing how the government handles it and also how the people affected are living their day to day lives. The imagery of the infected people was excellent and the horror was very in your face and visceral. While I’m ultimately satisfied with this story I would I also love a longer book to spend more time with the characters and get even more horror. I definitely recommend this for lovers of cosmic horror!
**thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this for review
**thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this for review
Displaying 1 - 30 of 544 reviews