Horror Variety With Seventeen

 INTRODUCTION

Welcome, dear reader, to the Spooky month of October, which is known for the chilly weather but also ghosts, demons, slasher horror, and other grisly things. I know that many people don’t celebrate the spooky month of the year, but I also know that many people do. Since I am a big chicken, many people that know me think that I avoid anything horror-related, but the opposite is the truth! I am scared, but that doesn’t mean that I avoid the horror genre. You may be asking, why am I doing this to myself? And well, I got no answer to that. There is simply something about getting my heart racing.

Just a tiny disclaimer: I truly watch "weak" horrors only, since hardcore horrors are too scary for me. With western horror movies, for me, the super scary one was probably Paranormal Activity, which for true horror fans is like a bland soup.

But enough of my rambling!

In this article, which will celebrate the beginning of the Spooky month, we are going to look into a horror themed variety show designed by the popular k-pop group, Seventeen.

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WHO IS SEVENTEEN?  

Honestly, you don’t really need in-depth knowledge about this group. I, myself, don't know them very well, and I still had huge fun while watching their stuff!

So, Seventeen is a South Korean K-pop group that debuted in 2015 and consists of 13 members. They are known for their unique compositions, as all the members play a big part in their discography.

Their biggest hits are Pretty U, Hot, and Mansae.   

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HORROR VARIETY

Seventeen is known for having a well-known and well-beloved YouTube channel called Seventeen (what a shocker, I know). On this channel they post all kinds of content, but mostly, they have fun game content, where the members are put into different situations or game plays. In this article, since it is Spooky season, I am going to talk about their horror specials, which captured my heart.

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#1 THE TAG

"The Tag" is a very light-hearted and incredibly funny two-episode horror special where Seventeen members are divided into groups, and they have to enter a "creepy" building, where they are completely locked in. The mission? Obtain keys, unlock the lock, and escape the building. The problem? The building is not haunted by ghosts but by a bunch of serial killers who are in need of new victims.

I think the unique part of the whole special is that each Seventeen member is uniquely different, thus some teams were incredibly entertaining to watch. While some members are tough, and instead of escaping from the killers, they actually played with them, other members ran close to Usain Bolt’s record.

Some members succeeded in escaping, while others were caught and "captured" by the cute serial killers.

BONUS—While this creepy building didn’t have ghosts, one member claimed to see a female ghost…

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#2 EGO

"Ego" is another two-episode horror special, but this time, Seventeen deviated from the previous horror special, which was light-hearted and funny. In this special, with incredible direction and script, Seventeen members find themselves waking up in a white room, in white clothes and beside beds full of mannequins. At first, it indeed looks like a scene from a horror movie, and once the members slowly start to explore their location, they realize that indeed, they might say that they are in a horror movie.

While exploring the eerie and bloody building, the members slowly obtain clues from one another to solve the biggest mystery of all: how to escape the building, but also how to save themselves from the horrific doctor that is on his way to kill them all.

Honestly, once I finished the special, my jaw hit the floor, mainly because the quality of the whole special was incredibly high. The production level could be compared to actual movies, and honestly, I would love to see a movie with such a theme. The production, the acting, the conclusion…!

I loved how it kept me up on my toes, and with each "new day" the members experienced, I was more and more anxious and wanted to solve the mystery.

If you enjoy bloody mysteries over haunted buildings, then this special was made for you!

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#3 GRUDGE

Seventeen is back with another horror special, and this time, we are exploring an eerie neighborhood that hides devastating secrets. The members are slowly walking, the glances of the locals piercing through them, until they finally see a weird house that is calling them.

Honestly, I can’t tell you much about this special because I don’t want to spoil you too much, but what really surprised me about this special is that it was somehow only half-scripted, thus resulting in very comical interventions from some members. I didn’t know I liked such a thing until witnessing it!

What I loved about this special was definitely the members exploring the haunted house, but also interactions with the actors that were paid to be…creepy. Not many people acknowledge the horror side actors, who play the possessed, but Seventeen is such an amazing group of people that not only care about each other, but they also care about the staff members.

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#4 TRAP

I swear that this group and the production staff know how to get all kinds of horror fans. You know, some horror fans only watch ghost stuff or slasher stuff, and Seventeen is here to please all fans, okay?

Buckle up, because this two-episode special is focused on something that was immensely popular in South Korea. No, not ghosts, nine-tailed foxes, or demons. This time the members have to fight actual zombies and even blend well in their environment.

While the episode starts off as an innocent game of hide-and-seek, it slowly turns into a nightmare when the members realize that they aren’t the only ones in the abandoned hospital that they were locked in.

Honestly, I was very scared while watching this special, as it was set in a hospital, and automatically I thought that a ghost would pop out of some patient’s rooms. If I were there, I would immediately start crying because how can someone survive and actually play in such an environment?!

Anyway, once I got rid of the fear, I actually had fun with the zombies, because who would have thought that zombies could be such nice…people? Corpses? Beings?

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#5 CHRISTMAS IN AUGUST

Do you remember what I said previously? About how Seventeen do content for various types of horror-loving people? Well, this time, the members, who are dressed in cute Santa Claus costumes, are placed in an empty room, with a computer in the middle. There is no one popping out of any corner or from under the table. There is no secret mission that the members should solve. Also, they don’t have to find hidden clues or keys in order to escape the room.

In this uniquely named special, the Seventeen members have to simply sit down and complete a video game, which of course isn’t anything cute or funny. No, the members have to complete the game without getting themselves murdered by the spooky game.

You know, sometimes we don’t need to actively participate in creepy situations in order to get scared. Sometimes, to get scared, we only need to play a scary video game, and this is exactly what happened in this special!

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OUTRO

We have reached the end of our entry to spooky season, and I have to say that I am very pleased! I got to extensively write about horror stuff, without getting scared, for once! I mean, the fact that I have probably watched the stuff before helped with the fear, but let’s not talk about that!

I truly hope that I have given you a reason to dive into Seventeen’s horror variety and that you will give them a chance. Nowadays, there aren’t many’official" variety shows that have horror specials, so the group doing this is incredibly awesome, and I am very thankful. Now it got me thinking if for this year Seventeen will once again prepare something special or not.

With this, I bid you a nice goodbye and see you next weekend, with another spooky article!