Novel melds hum-drum of life in Korea with macabre disaster that envelops all that touch its surface By Daniel J. Springer The cover of "The New Seoul Park Jelly Massacre" by Cho Yeeun / Courtesy of Honford Star In a very realistic twist on the adage “be careful what you wish for,” Cho Yeeun has created a very dark and twisty novella about an inexplicable and almost baffling massacre at a place called New Seoul Park. If you think of famous theme parks in Korea, you’re probably thinking of the same one as everyone else, and the similarities between the real and fictional parks cannot be denied.
This would be pretty obvious to any reader before even opening up "The New Seoul Park Jelly Massacre," translated into English by Jung Yewon and published by Honford Star. The setup to this macabre fantasy is that a mysterious man is going around New Seoul Park handing out jelly candies. The sinister vendor promises something that almost anyone would go for.
That is, the jellies will create an unbreakable bond with your loved ones, and you’ll be together forever. What happens next as people eat and enjoy these off-brand pink jellies is a horrific disaster that would beggar belief for any investigator or news reader in any society. Everyone at the park melts and dies.
This is by no means a spoiler to the story, for that is not where it lies — so fear not, fair reader. Cho here weaves the story through the first-person perspective of several victims and onlookers to the massacre.