“The ‘Midnight Horror Stories’ from a PD of ‘PD Notebook’ has been running for 5 years thanks to our viewers.”
MBC's entertainment program ‘Midnight Horror Stories’ is set to return on June 29 at 11 PM, just in time for summer. This will be its fifth season.
PD Lim Chae-won, who is in charge of planning and directing ‘Midnight Horror Stories’, recently shared various stories related to the program in an interview with Maeil Business Star Today.
‘Midnight Horror Stories’ is the first storytelling challenge program in Korea that introduces eerie and scary stories collected from the public. The program started as a two-part pilot in January 2021 and has been airing in seasons for five years now.
PD Lim Chae-won reflected, “It’s already been 5 years. It seems like it has come this far by chance,” and added with a laugh, “As a PD from ‘PD Notebook’, I have also made documentaries. I often get asked why someone like me is making this kind of program.”
He continued, “During the production of ‘PD Notebook’, I received threats like ‘I will sue you’ and ‘I will kill you’. There were many moments that were psychologically tough and intimidating. The process of fact-checking was also very difficult and challenging. However, since horror stories are often fictional, there is no need to pursue facts, which makes me feel freer mentally. Because of ‘Midnight Horror Stories’, juniors in the current affairs and culture department say they are glad they don’t have to suffer from threats of lawsuits.”
PD Lim recalled the MBC strike that was noisy during the Park Geun-hye administration, stating that he planned ‘Midnight Horror Stories’ around that time.
“I participated in the strike every day. I think I was classified as an enthusiastic union member because I was caught on surveillance cameras. After that, I was assigned to the main control room, where I stayed up all night checking video broadcasts. There were times when it was boring, and I happened to read horror posts on online communities. Even though I don’t believe in ghosts, I was so scared in the night watchroom that I couldn’t sleep. I was impressed that just text could induce fear in people. I thought it would be fun to present such stories on air.”
It took a long time from planning to the pilot. “After returning to PD duties post-strike, I tried to pitch ‘Midnight Horror Stories’, but I thought it would be difficult to get approval at that time, so I waited until the management changed. When the call for project proposals opened, I submitted it, and it was immediately accepted for production. The main writer predicted success, saying there had never been a variety show that gathered Shin Dong-yup, Kim Sook, and Park Na-rae all at once. I was also excited about the possibilities,” he recalled.
It’s interesting that a program made by a current affairs and culture department PD is in the entertainment genre. The background of how ‘Midnight Horror Stories’ was produced in a different entertainment format from existing current affairs and culture programs is also intriguing.
PD Lim stated, “Recent cultural programs mostly deal with current affairs or political issues, which can be quite stiff. I felt a strong regret that there were no programs like ‘Zero Complaints’. ‘Midnight Horror Stories’ started in the culture department and added entertainment elements. I believe the program reflects the personality of the PD. Since I am unique, I had confidence that the program would also be unique. Scary stories that anyone can tell once have high accessibility and can lead to participation from many people.”
‘Midnight Horror Stories’ has been receiving great love, aligning with the recent trend of short-form content. There are as many as 131 videos on MBC's channel that have surpassed 1 million views, which is a measure of a ‘hit’ on YouTube. Some videos have even exceeded 4.66 million views.
PD Lim explained, “I thought new media would be strong from the planning stage. I have a lot of interest in communities and social media, and I am very curious about how people behave. Recently, people seem to be becoming more sporadic. They focus on short content, and I thought that’s where we need to survive. I don’t watch long videos.”
Despite the program's popularity, the broadcasting environment is not easy. “‘Midnight Horror Stories’ has no corporate sponsorship. There are various difficulties such as low budget, lack of infrastructure, and limitations of the broadcasting environment. Especially, attracting PPL (product placement) is crucial, but we have no proper know-how. Quality is important, but since investments are not being made, we have to tighten our belts,” he revealed.
“In fact, I’m not sure if we can promise the next season again. Each season is like a contract job. There’s never a guaranteed next season. The company doesn’t invest well, and with no PPL, it’s a double whammy. The juniors are struggling a lot. It’s a situation where we have to survive somehow… The participants are appearing with a lot of love for the program, receiving very little in appearance fees. I’m just grateful.”
Due to the lack of production costs, PD Lim even takes care of props himself. “The talismans and ghost jars are things I suggested. I thought it would be too bland to just put the title of the horror story as subtitles, so I wanted to write the title on the talisman. But if I commission this, it costs 100,000 to 150,000 won per piece. Since there are three episodes in one episode, it becomes burdensome,” he said.
He added, “The day before recording, I take a bath and pray for a safe recording, and then I put effort into writing. Until season 1, I even used high-quality silk thread and gold powder. When I write with a brush, my hand naturally trembles, making it look even creepier,” he explained.
“This has become a self-defeating situation. It takes a lot of effort to write a single talisman. It takes about 15 minutes to make one, and I get exhausted and collapse. But if I don’t finish, the writers in charge of that episode will be disappointed, saying ‘You didn’t write mine,’ so I desperately make six every two weeks.” (Continued in Interview②)
