When there is a diagnosis of an illness that must be cured, even buckwheat jelly becomes a bitter medicine. Stories are much the same. The moment my time becomes ours, a stack of reading material becomes a shared experience. The more one tries to classify things, the more endlessly tenuous the grounds for doing so become. Is Goblin a failed fairy tale, or one so entertaining that it could make someone dream of becoming a writer? They say evil spirits must be driven away even by scattering glutinous rice, but then again, looking at Auntie’s smile, one cannot tell. And yet the terrifying horde of goblins could not feel more welcome. (KIM Hyeonmok)