Despite its name and the tendency to equate something ghost related with horror, Ghost Host, Ghost House is anything but a horror drama. Rather I found it to be a rather bittersweet story focusing on the importance of family, of cherishing the time we have left, and learning to accept death as another part of life and not letting grief consume us. It is certainly a flawed drama. There are aspects that don't make sense or aren't explained well, plenty of plot holes, both leads are newer and there were times where that was obvious, and the pacing is oddly simultaneously too fast and too slow. For me though, the heart of the drama and what they were trying to convey is what led me to rate it higher at an 8. Taking my emotional response out of the equation and rating just based of story, characters, acting, etc., I would rate it between a 6.5 and a 7.

The story, while not bad, in some ways didn't make sense to me. Kawin's whole fascination with ghosts stems from the death of his best friend and former crush. He's the ghost that Kawin wants to see and yet we never see him trying to summon Jake other than when the twins offer to help and then he gives that chance to Pluem. I wanted more background there. Did he want to see a ghost to prove that it was possible and that he might someday see Jake? Or did the whole thing start with him trying to see Jake and he just developed a fascination with ghosts and ghost stories as a result? The ghost hunting aspect though was relatively quickly shelved once Kawin found out that his own family was ghosts and then the story turned to their final days. And frankly I think his family is the star of the drama. I really enjoyed all their characters and their interactions; they were the highlight for me, the romance was secondary.

I said the pacing was simultaneously too fast and too slow. As a whole, the pacing was too fast. Things happened very quickly, the romance between Kawin and Pluem being a big one, in my opinion. There was very little build up between them meeting and sleeping together for the first time. It didn't feel like they'd had a chance to properly get to know each other and I would have liked to see them interacting more before things progressed to that level. The too slow comes in that scenes just dragged. A lot of that was the dialogue and the long pauses that were just unnatural. But some scenes were also just dragged out longer than was necessary.

The acting was overall good. The two standouts for me though, were Guide as See-Foon and Natty as See-Nam. Guide especially was fantastic. For this being his first role, I was so impressed with his skills. His ability to convey so much emotion with just his eyes and subtle expressions was amazing to watch. He's definitely someone to keep an eye on. Natty was much to same. I felt like she had a more subtle acting style that I really liked and I think fit the character. She was great to watch and she's another one to keep watching. Tod and Boy both did well as the leads. Their chemistry together was overall pretty good and I felt like they played off of each other well. There were definitely times where I felt they could use more energy. Some scenes just felt a bit lackluster. And they could both stand to add a bit more nuance to their expressions. But for both being newer, I think they did pretty well.

The biggest problem with this drama though is the staggering number of plot holes and unanswered questions. There was just so much left unexplained. I think background is key when it comes to any drama or any character and that was so completely lacking here. I feel like a fair number of questions would have been answered if everything had a solid background. Even a basic question like if Kawin's mother ever found out her sister, brother-in-law, niece and nephew were all dead is never answered. I am also going to nitpick here and say that Kawin in no way seemed like someone who grew up in the US. This is no fault of the actor, I will say that, this is the production's fault for not making changes to fit with his ability, but his English wasn't strong enough and he had a strong Thai accent. It just didn't quite work.

On the plus side, you have a drama that is relatively trope free which is refreshing as well as product placement free as far as I can recall. If there are any, its minimal and not as constantly in your face as some dramas. It also depicts an overall healthy relationship. Kawin and Pluem make the effort to communicate with each other even when its tough, aside from episode 7 which was just ridiculous. I don't know why they felt the need to throw in more drama but it was stupid and didn't fit with the characters, in my opinion, so I'm ignoring it. I also appreciated that consent played such a role in Pluem and Kawin's relationship. Yes, Pluem teased Kawin, but he never pushed things too far and when things started getting serious, he always made sure Kawin was okay with where things were going. More Thai dramas should take note of that.

This is not an amazing drama technically. Like I said, it has a lot of flaws, it could have been better with a little more effort and thought, but I think it is good enough to warrant watching it at least once. This is one drama where the romance definitely took the backseat and I was more interested and pulled in by Kawin's family. Their love for each other and for Kawin was incredibly touching and the actors did an amazing job bringing their character's to life and really making me care about them. So, come for the romance, and stay for the family. They're both good.