# Sweet Home (스위트홈) (webtoon)

**Sweet Home** (스위트홈) is a South Korean horror webtoon written by Kim Carnby (김칸비) and illustrated by Hwang Young-chan (황영찬), serialized on Naver Webtoon from October 12, 2017 to July 2, 2020 in 141 episodes.<sup>[1](https://m.comic.naver.com/webtoon/list?titleId=701081)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[2](https://bessatsu.com/en/articles/sweet-home/)</sup> Its premise is that people begin transforming into monsters shaped by their own deepest desires, and the story follows the reclusive teenager Cha Hyun-su and the other residents of the Green Home apartment building as they try to survive.<sup>[3](https://on.com2us.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/2021%E1%84%82%E1%85%A7%E1%86%AB5%E1%84%8B%E1%85%AF%E1%86%AF_%E1%84%80%E1%85%A6%E1%84%8B%E1%85%B5%E1%86%B7%E1%84%87%E1%85%B5%E1%86%AF%E1%84%8F%E1%85%A5%E1%86%B7%E1%84%90%E1%85%AE%E1%84%89%E1%85%B3%E1%84%82%E1%85%B2%E1%84%89%E1%85%B3.pdf)</sup> It became one of Naver's flagship horror titles, recorded about 1.2 billion cumulative global views, and was adapted into a Netflix series that premiered in December 2020.<sup>[4](https://www.fnnews.com/news/202101070805444127)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[5](https://www.yes24.com/product/goods/101891144?ReviewYn=Y)</sup>

| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Creators | Story by Kim Carnby (김칸비), art by Hwang Young-chan (황영찬)<sup>[1](https://m.comic.naver.com/webtoon/list?titleId=701081)</sup> |
| Serialization | Naver Webtoon, October 12, 2017 to July 2, 2020; 141 episodes, completed<sup>[1](https://m.comic.naver.com/webtoon/list?titleId=701081)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[6](https://www.gq.com.tw/entertainment/article/sweet-home-netflix-%E7%B6%B2%E9%A3%9B-%E4%B8%96%E7%95%8C%E8%A7%80)</sup> |
| Premise | People turn into monsters embodying their desires; Cha Hyun-su and Green Home residents fight to survive<sup>[3](https://on.com2us.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/2021%E1%84%82%E1%85%A7%E1%86%AB5%E1%84%8B%E1%85%AF%E1%86%AF_%E1%84%80%E1%85%A6%E1%84%8B%E1%85%B5%E1%86%B7%E1%84%87%E1%85%B5%E1%86%AF%E1%84%8F%E1%85%A5%E1%86%B7%E1%84%90%E1%85%AE%E1%84%89%E1%85%B3%E1%84%82%E1%85%B2%E1%84%89%E1%85%B3.pdf)</sup> |
| Global reach | About 1.2 billion cumulative views worldwide<sup>[4](https://www.fnnews.com/news/202101070805444127)</sup> |
| Netflix adaptation | Premiered December 2020 and reached first place in eight countries<sup>[5](https://www.yes24.com/product/goods/101891144?ReviewYn=Y)</sup> |
| Print edition | 12 volumes published in Korean by Wisdom House<sup>[5](https://www.yes24.com/product/goods/101891144?ReviewYn=Y)</sup> |
| Prequel | *Shotgun Boy* (엽총소년), by Kim Carnby with artist Hongpil, began on Naver Webtoon on February 22, 2021<sup>[7](https://www.yoda.wiki/wiki/Sweet_Home_%28webtoon%29)</sup> |

## Story and premise

The series opens with Cha Hyun-su, a boy who has despaired of the world and isolated himself; after losing his family, he moves into the run-down Green Home apartment building, and shortly afterward people around the world begin to "monsterize" (괴물화) according to their desires.<sup>[3](https://on.com2us.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/2021%E1%84%82%E1%85%A7%E1%86%AB5%E1%84%8B%E1%85%AF%E1%86%AF_%E1%84%80%E1%85%A6%E1%84%8B%E1%85%B5%E1%86%B7%E1%84%87%E1%85%B5%E1%86%AF%E1%84%8F%E1%85%A5%E1%86%B7%E1%84%90%E1%85%AE%E1%84%89%E1%85%B3%E1%84%82%E1%85%B2%E1%84%89%E1%85%B3.pdf)</sup> The residents trapped inside are caught between the monsters outside and their own distrust of one another.<sup>[2](https://bessatsu.com/en/articles/sweet-home/)</sup> Kim Carnby described the monsters as "lumps of desire," reflections of another side of ordinary people, and said he originally conceived the story around a cannibal party inside an officetel but had to change the setting because of age-rating restrictions on the subject matter.<sup>[8](https://news.nate.com/view/20201230n02018)</sup>

Reviewers have identified the desire-driven transformation mechanic as the work's central idea: each monster grows out of a specific human craving, so the horror doubles as a psychological fable, and Hyun-su's arc from wanting to die to fighting to live gives the survival plot its emotional weight.<sup>[9](https://nextpanel.org/reviews/is-sweet-home-worth-reading)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[10](https://www.chapterbrief.net/blog/sweet-home-review)</sup> The early apartment-under-siege stretch is widely praised as tight, claustrophobic survival horror, while the later chapters widen into a messier story involving factions beyond the building, a shift some readers find dilutes the focus of the opening arcs.<sup>[9](https://nextpanel.org/reviews/is-sweet-home-worth-reading)</sup>

## Publication

Sweet Home ran as a paid Friday webtoon on Naver from October 12, 2017, with the final episode posted on July 2, 2020, for a total of 141 episodes.<sup>[1](https://m.comic.naver.com/webtoon/list?titleId=701081)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[6](https://www.gq.com.tw/entertainment/article/sweet-home-netflix-%E7%B6%B2%E9%A3%9B-%E4%B8%96%E7%95%8C%E8%A7%80)</sup> It was the follow-up collaboration between the same two creators after the thriller webtoon *Bastard* (후레자식), and throughout its run it held a top position among Naver's Friday webtoons.<sup>[5](https://www.yes24.com/product/goods/101891144?ReviewYn=Y)</sup> The Korean print edition, published by Wisdom House, collects the series in 12 volumes.<sup>[5](https://www.yes24.com/product/goods/101891144?ReviewYn=Y)</sup>

The webtoon is also available in translation on the global WEBTOON platform, where the English edition shows about 272.4 million views and 3.5 million likes.<sup>[11](https://www.webtoons.com/en/thriller/sweethome/list?title_no=1285)</sup> A French print edition has been published by Ki-oon.<sup>[12](https://www.manga-news.com/index.php/manga/critique/Sweet-Home/vol-1)</sup> In 2020 the series received the Today's Our Comics Award (오늘의 우리만화상), a Korean award recognizing a work's craft.<sup>[3](https://on.com2us.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/2021%E1%84%82%E1%85%A7%E1%86%AB5%E1%84%8B%E1%85%AF%E1%86%AF_%E1%84%80%E1%85%A6%E1%84%8B%E1%85%B5%E1%86%B7%E1%84%87%E1%85%B5%E1%86%AF%E1%84%8F%E1%85%A5%E1%86%B7%E1%84%90%E1%85%AE%E1%84%89%E1%85%B3%E1%84%82%E1%85%B2%E1%84%89%E1%85%B3.pdf)</sup>

## Creators

Kim Carnby writes the story; his self-description on WEBTOON notes that he creates comics in the thriller genre, and his other works with credited collaborators include *Bastard*, *PIGPEN*, and *Shotgun Boy*.<sup>[11](https://www.webtoons.com/en/thriller/sweethome/list?title_no=1285)</sup> Hwang Young-chan, the illustrator, is a Korean webcomic artist who has collaborated with Carnby Kim on *Bastard* and *COPYCAT* as well as Sweet Home.<sup>[11](https://www.webtoons.com/en/thriller/sweethome/list?title_no=1285)</sup> Kim credited Hwang's familiar, approachable art style as one factor in the webtoon's popularity.<sup>[8](https://news.nate.com/view/20201230n02018)</sup> Both creators are graduates of Chungkang College of Cultural Industries, whose alumni works adapted for streaming platforms are cited by the school as examples of webtoon IP reaching global audiences.<sup>[13](https://www.ck.ac.kr/wp-content/themes/ck/pdf/2025_CK_VISION.pdf)</sup>

## Adaptations and franchise

Even before the webtoon ended, [Studio Dragon](https://www.edgepedia.org/studio-dragon) was reported in mid-2020 to be producing a drama based on it for release as a Netflix original in the second half of 2020.<sup>[14](https://file.alphasquare.co.kr/media/pdfs/company-report/DB20200624%EB%AF%B8%EB%94%94%EC%96%B4.pdf)</sup> The Netflix series premiered in December 2020 and reached first place in eight countries within days of release.<sup>[5](https://www.yes24.com/product/goods/101891144?ReviewYn=Y)</sup> Naver had founded the subsidiary Studio N in 2018 to produce video adaptations of its webtoons and web novels, and Studio N's participation in *Sweet Home* made it a large-scale project with a production cost of about 3 billion won per episode.<sup>[15](https://www.si.re.kr/sites/default/files/2020-PR-40.pdf)</sup> The drama ran for three seasons through 2024 and diverges from the webtoon after the first season, which follows the source's first arc closely; the webtoon's story concludes within Green Home, while the series widened its stage to the world outside.<sup>[2](https://bessatsu.com/en/articles/sweet-home/)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[6](https://www.gq.com.tw/entertainment/article/sweet-home-netflix-%E7%B6%B2%E9%A3%9B-%E4%B8%96%E7%95%8C%E8%A7%80)</sup>

The success of the drama re-expanded interest in the webtoon IP.<sup>[15](https://www.si.re.kr/sites/default/files/2020-PR-40.pdf)</sup> A prequel webtoon, *Shotgun Boy* (엽총소년), written by Kim Carnby with art by Hongpil, began serialization on Naver Webtoon on February 22, 2021.<sup>[7](https://www.yoda.wiki/wiki/Sweet_Home_%28webtoon%29)</sup> The IP also extended to games: the mobile game *Heir of Light* ran a Sweet Home collaboration update, and the idle game *Sweet Home: Fragments of Desire*, developed by the Daegu-based studio 3F FACTORY on the Sweet Home IP, ended service on September 9 after about two years.<sup>[3](https://on.com2us.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/2021%E1%84%82%E1%85%A7%E1%86%AB5%E1%84%8B%E1%85%AF%E1%86%AF_%E1%84%80%E1%85%A6%E1%84%8B%E1%85%B5%E1%86%B7%E1%84%87%E1%85%B5%E1%86%AF%E1%84%8F%E1%85%A5%E1%86%B7%E1%84%90%E1%85%AE%E1%84%89%E1%85%B3%E1%84%82%E1%85%B2%E1%84%89%E1%85%B3.pdf)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[16](https://www.nbntv.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=3021277)</sup>

## Reception and significance

Sweet Home is frequently cited as a leading example of the Korean-style creature genre. Commentary on the Netflix adaptation credited the webtoon's narrative with opening a new chapter for domestic creature horror, and the series was noted as the first Korean series to enter the top 10 on the U.S. Netflix chart.<sup>[8](https://news.nate.com/view/20201230n02018)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[17](https://welcon.kocca.kr/cmm/fms/FileDown.do?atchFileId=FILE_6b4548e9-94c5-401f-9567-2770328aca84&fileSn=2&preview=Y)</sup> Academic work on transnational Korean television treats Sweet Home alongside *Hellbound* and *All of Us Are Dead* as a webtoon-based drama that reconfigured monster and zombie genres for a global audience, and finds that webtoons played a significant role in the transnationalization of the K-drama genre.<sup>[18](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/15274764241265040)</sup> Among readers, the series holds strong aggregate scores, with community ratings of 8.2 on AniList and 7.0 on MangaUpdates, and the completed 141-episode run is often recommended to viewers of the drama who want the original ending.<sup>[9](https://nextpanel.org/reviews/is-sweet-home-worth-reading)</sup>

## References

1. [스위트홈 :: 네이버 웹툰 (official episode list)](https://m.comic.naver.com/webtoon/list?titleId=701081)
2. [Sweet Home, the 141-episode Naver webtoon behind three seasons of Netflix's monster apartment, Bessatsu](https://bessatsu.com/en/articles/sweet-home/)
3. [GAME • Marketing Story, Com2uS (May 2021), Sweet Home collaboration and work summary](https://on.com2us.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/2021%E1%84%82%E1%85%A7%E1%86%AB5%E1%84%8B%E1%85%AF%E1%86%AF_%E1%84%80%E1%85%A6%E1%84%8B%E1%85%B5%E1%86%B7%E1%84%87%E1%85%B5%E1%86%AF%E1%84%8F%E1%85%A5%E1%86%B7%E1%84%90%E1%85%AE%E1%84%89%E1%85%B3%E1%84%82%E1%85%B2%E1%84%89%E1%85%B3.pdf)
4. [넷플릭스서 전 세계 홀린 '스위트홈'…네이버웹툰 선견지명 통했다, 파이낸셜뉴스](https://www.fnnews.com/news/202101070805444127)
5. [스위트 홈 1~12권 세트 | 김칸비 | 위즈덤하우스, 예스24](https://www.yes24.com/product/goods/101891144?ReviewYn=Y)
6. [Netflix《Sweet Home》世界觀比較與未來劇情發展分析, GQ Taiwan](https://www.gq.com.tw/entertainment/article/sweet-home-netflix-%E7%B6%B2%E9%A3%9B-%E4%B8%96%E7%95%8C%E8%A7%80)
7. [스위트 홈(웹툰), 요다위키](https://www.yoda.wiki/wiki/Sweet_Home_%28webtoon%29)
8. ["작품 속 괴물은 '욕망덩어리' 우리들의 또다른 모습", 네이트 뉴스](https://news.nate.com/view/20201230n02018)
9. [Is Sweet Home Worth Reading? — Carnby Kim Review, Next Panel](https://nextpanel.org/reviews/is-sweet-home-worth-reading)
10. [Sweet Home Manhwa Review: Why the Webtoon Beats Netflix, ChapterBrief](https://www.chapterbrief.net/blog/sweet-home-review)
11. [Sweet Home | WEBTOON (English official page)](https://www.webtoons.com/en/thriller/sweethome/list?title_no=1285)
12. [Critique Vol.1 Sweet Home, Manga news](https://www.manga-news.com/index.php/manga/critique/Sweet-Home/vol-1)
13. [2025 CK VISION, 청강문화산업대학교](https://www.ck.ac.kr/wp-content/themes/ck/pdf/2025_CK_VISION.pdf)
14. [하나 둘 뛰어들기 시작한 19금의 세계; Dragon과 Jcon, 알파스퀘어 미디어 리포트 (2020)](https://file.alphasquare.co.kr/media/pdfs/company-report/DB20200624%EB%AF%B8%EB%94%94%EC%96%B4.pdf)
15. [김수진, 서울연구원 시민경제연구실 보고서 (2020-PR-40)](https://www.si.re.kr/sites/default/files/2020-PR-40.pdf)
16. [웹툰의 한계인가...스위트홈 욕망의 파편, 700일 앞두고 떠나, 내외경제TV](https://www.nbntv.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=3021277)
17. [KOCCA Welcon report on Sweet Home's Netflix performance](https://welcon.kocca.kr/cmm/fms/FileDown.do?atchFileId=FILE_6b4548e9-94c5-401f-9567-2770328aca84&fileSn=2&preview=Y)
18. [Genre in Transnational Television: A Case of Netflix Originals Korean Dramas, Television & New Media](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/15274764241265040)

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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Literature and written works › Creative written works and worlds › Comics and sequential art › Comic strips and webcomics*

*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 19, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Sep 19, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*

*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*

License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license