Hell is Other People from Line Webtoon is popular with its unique drawings and terrifying story.

I've seen this webtoon for the first time since it was first introduced, and what excited curiosity in the first place was the thumbnail image of the webtoon.

The thumbnail of Hell is Other People was a middle-aged woman with big and round eyes and perm hair. She appeared somehow grotesque and creepy.

Sure enough, that expectation about the webtoon was right on target. It included a hideous story as much as a horror story with ghosts or monsters.

The main character of Hell is Other People is Yoon Jong-woo, a 25-year-old young man who just comes from the countryside and lands an internship at a company of his university senior. 

After he graduated from university, Jong-woo can’t get a job. He has a hard time staying at home, feeling like walking on the eggshell. One day, he gets in touch with his university senior, Jae-ho who runs a small business in Seoul. Jong-woo comes to Seoul, starting to work in his company.

Because Jae-ho offers a job, Jong-woo comes to Seoul. But, he doesn’t have any savings, or can’t ask his family for money, either. Then, he finds a goshiwon (an accommodation with very small rooms usually for students who focus on preparation for exams) to live in. He has to strive to find out this goshiwon, the cheapest housing in Seoul where rent is expensive. The place is shabby and unappealing, but it seems cozy and nice to him with the relief of getting a job and a new start in a new city. 

The owner of this goshiwon is a middle-aged woman with round eyes also from the thumbnail of the webtoon. She looks like a chatty and ordinary woman in the middle age, but she somehow creeps out with a scary appearance.

When Jong-woo first arrives in the goshiwon, she hands in a key of room #202 and tells him one precaution; the third floor was previously for females but now is vacant so that he must not enter. It’s an underplot in the webtoon. It appealed nothing special at first, and the third-floor space indeed appears as an important place in this webtoon later.

Meanwhile, Jong-woo looks around the goshiwon and meets some residents who have lived here earlier. Including Ahn Hee-joong who looks like a gangster, Jong-woo runs into residents who live in room #204, #206, and #203 the next door to his room #202 in order. He’s overwhelmed by their bizarre vibe.

On the second day after Jong-woo moved in the goshiwon, Hee-joong uses violence against a resident who lives in room #206. Later, Jong-woo hears from the owner that Hee-joong immediately left the goshiwon after the fight. 

The excitement of living in Seoul didn’t last long. Jong-woo suffers from a very demanding chief, Byeong-min on his first day at work, and he returns the goshiwon, and becomes more sensitive. He’s also constantly bothered by strange behaviors of goshiwon residents who live in room #204, #203, and #206.

One night, Jong-woo works late at night and takes the last bus to come back to the goshiwon. And he finds a man from room #206 dragging something in a big gunnysack to a by-corner. Jong-woo feels suspicious about dark stains in the gunnysack and oddly big size of it. The man from room #206 puts the gunnysack in a car, violently cursing and kicking. At that moment, a man from room #203 suddenly shows up and makes Jong-woo startled. At first, Jong-woo just thought goshiwon residents were strange, but he’s getting to feel frightened. And he realizes that he has changed gradually sensitive and strange, too.

Hell is Other People is derived from Jean-Paul Sartre's play, and when you read this webtoon, you’ll find that the title matches the situation.

Jong-woo doesn't change and go crazy because the goshiwon is dirty and small, or the environment is poor. He gradually turns into a different person because of residents who live in that goshiwon together and his college, Byeong-min who gives a hard time to him. His life itself turns into hell by others.

There are no horrifying existences other than humans (like ghosts or monsters) in the webtoon. Despite of it, this webtoon shows how humans, who are others but for yourself, can destroy you and turn your life into a hell. This presents creepy horror.

Except for the main character Jong-woo, a gangster Hee-joong who lived in room #205 and left, Seok-yoon who newly moves into room #205 later, Jong-woo’s colleagues at work, and Jong-woo’s girlfriend Ji-eun, the rest of goshiwon residents are called their room number without names in the webtoon. In particular, their appearances are not ordinary but bizarre so that it stirs some eccentric feeling itself.

This bizarreness of their appearances leads readers to create and call characters’ nicknames, unlikely the atmosphere of the horror webtoon. A man from room #206 is called ‘Kiwi’ since he looks like a fruit, kiwi. A man from room #203, who is a big part of the webtoon is called ‘Big eyes’ because his eyes are big. 

Hell is Other People has gained the popularity of the significant number of readers because the story was developed from its beginning that the following part was unpredictable. Since then, the webtoon laid an underplot about the identity of the goshiwon and goshiwon residents which made readers intrigued.

And now, the webtoon has disclosed occupations and each role of four residents, called ‘Goshiwon Avengers’ amongst readers. 

At first, the mysterious and horror situation and vibe were factors of its popularity, but the most intriguing part of this work is now the change of Jong-woo who is turning into a different person because of others.

It is often said that the owner of one’s life is oneself. However, when you read this webtoon and follow Jong-woo's appearance, a question arises at least once; 

Will it completely be me who lead my life?

Hell is Other People can’t be limited to a grotesque and horror story unfolded in the mysterious goshiwon because it contains deeper and more stories. If you haven’t read it yet, I recommend to read it.