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Choi Won-so, a MythSource painting
Korean

Choi Won-so

01Identity

Choi Won-so in Korean tradition

The account introduces Choi Won-so as a captain of the guard who shared a prison with the narrator. In conversation, Choi told how he had once moved with his father and the rest of the family into a vacant house in Seoul. A woman he recognised from a scholar friend's household appeared by lamplight, drew him toward the gate, and vanished. Further disturbances followed. A large, hostile figure seized Choi and threw him repeatedly through the air while a group nearby called for him not to be hurt. One member of the group eventually led the attacker away. Choi's father found him the next morning, and the family left the house. The story does not establish the apparition's identity beyond its own goblin framing.

SourceKorean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies (Im Bang / James S. Gale, 1913): XXVIII — An Encounter with a Hobgoblin (EPUB text block 0)· Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies (Im Bang / James S. Gale, 1913): XXVIII — An Encounter with a Hobgoblin (EPUB text block 1)· Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies (Im Bang / James S. Gale, 1913): XXVIII — An Encounter with a Hobgoblin (EPUB text block 2)· Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies (Im Bang / James S. Gale, 1913): XXVIII — An Encounter with a Hobgoblin (EPUB text block 3)· Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies (Im Bang / James S. Gale, 1913): XXVIII — An Encounter with a Hobgoblin (EPUB text block 4)· Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies (Im Bang / James S. Gale, 1913): XXVIII — An Encounter with a Hobgoblin (EPUB text block 5)· Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies (Im Bang / James S. Gale, 1913): XXVIII — An Encounter with a Hobgoblin (EPUB text block 6)· Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies (Im Bang / James S. Gale, 1913): XXVIII — An Encounter with a Hobgoblin (EPUB text block 7)· Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies (Im Bang / James S. Gale, 1913): XXVIII — An Encounter with a Hobgoblin (EPUB text block 8)· Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies (Im Bang / James S. Gale, 1913): XXVIII — An Encounter with a Hobgoblin (EPUB text block 9)· Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies (Im Bang / James S. Gale, 1913): XXVIII — An Encounter with a Hobgoblin (EPUB text block 10)

Top questions

The quick answers

02The myths

The myths of Choi Won-so

1 myth, with sources recorded for each.

Choi Won-so and the Haunted House

During a prison conversation, Captain Choi Won-so told the narrator about a house his family had taken in Seoul. His father and the rest of the family occupied the inner rooms while Choi slept in front. One night a woman appeared by his lamp. Choi recognised her from a scholar friend's household and tried to approach her, but she moved backwards beyond his reach. At the gate she vanished. She returned the next night and disappeared in the same way.

Several nights later, sounds came from above the ceiling. A curtain dropped across the room, then a fire of coals descended and filled the space with heat. At dawn the disturbance stopped and the room was clear. The following night a large man entered and dragged Choi into the courtyard. After a struggle, the man lifted Choi, carried him to the highest terrace, and threw him down, leaving him stunned. A group in the garden called for the attacker not to hurt him, but the man flung Choi high into the air and hurled him across distant provinces. He did this several times before one of the group took him by the hand and led him away. Choi lay motionless until morning, when his father found him and arranged for him to be cared for. The family then left the haunted house and did not return.

Choi Won-so and the Haunted House, a MythSource painting of the scene