The Sweet Home reading guide in one line: start with the prologue, read straight through to the final chapter, and you're done. Sweet Home (스위트홈) by Carnby Kim and Youngchan Hwang finished in 2020, it has no side volumes or alternate orders, and the Netflix show doesn't change what's on the page. If you want our verdict first, the Sweet Home review covers whether it's worth reading.
Reviewing
Sweet Home
Carnby Kim and Youngchan Hwang
The webtoon follows Hyun Cha, a teenage recluse who loses his family, moves into the run-down Green Home apartments and finds people around him turning into monsters shaped by their deepest desires. Netflix fans know him as Cha Hyun-su.
Sweet Home reading guide: the run at a glance
| Story / art | Carnby Kim / Youngchan Hwang |
| Korean run | Naver Webtoon, prologue on October 12, 2017; final chapter on July 2, 2020 |
| Length | Prologue + 140 chapters (141 entries; AniList counts 141) |
| English | WEBTOON, Prologue to Ep. 140; started January 15, 2018, epilogue posted September 29, 2020 |
| On WEBTOON's website | Prologue to Ep. 14; the rest is in the WEBTOON app |
| Status | Completed |
| Netflix | Three seasons: December 2020, December 2023, July 2024 |
| Prequel | Shotgun Boy (69 chapters, completed) |
On WEBTOON, Sweet Home shows 272.4 million views and 3.5 million subscribers, so you won't be the first to binge it.
Step-by-Step
- Read the prologue first. It's listed separately from Ep. 1, and it's the whole setup: Hyun at his monitor, the family trip he refuses to join, and the phone call that leaves him alone. The monsters haven't arrived yet; this is the "before".
- Read Ep. 1 to Ep. 14 on the website. That's what WEBTOON's site shows, enough to know whether the tone works for you.
- Move to the WEBTOON app for the rest. The site's list stops at Ep. 14 with a "Read more episodes on the app!" banner.
- Read to the end, Ep. 140. On Naver the last chapter is titled "그후 그들은" ("After that, they..."), and one reader on r/webtoons pointed out that it "is told without any dialogue". Don't skim it.
- Then decide on the extras. Shotgun Boy and Bastard are below. Neither is required.
Screenshot: WEBTOON, Sweet Home Prologue.
A content note before you start
The prologue doesn't ease you in. Its closing captions introduce Hyun as "a social recluse with a history of self-harm," and the family car crash happens in the prologue itself. If that's a hard topic for you right now, know it's the starting point, not a late twist.
Screenshot: WEBTOON, Sweet Home Prologue.
Netflix vs the webtoon
Treat them as two stories that share a start. The Netflix series changed things from the very first season, adding a new character, Seo Yi-kyeong (Lee Si-young), who doesn't exist in the webtoon. Director Lee Eung-bok told the Korea Herald, "I knew roughly how the webtoon ended because the author tipped me off. I thought it would be better for the ending of the drama to differ a bit from the webtoon." Season 2 arrived in December 2023, billed in Korean press as a new story beyond the webtoon, and Season 3 closed the show in July 2024.
In one r/webtoons thread from readers who'd done both, most sided with the comic. "They changed the serie to make a second season adding extra chatacters. To me, it didn't work," one r/webtoons reader wrote. Another, kinder take: "definitely not exactly like the webtoon and some major/minor changes. It couldve been better and it couldve been worse."
So if you've watched the show, you haven't read the ending. Start from the prologue anyway.
Shotgun Boy and Bastard: optional extras
Shotgun Boy is the prequel, written by Carnby Kim and drawn by Hongpil, with Hwang as editorial supervisor. WEBTOON's pitch: a bullying victim named Gyuhwan "stumbles upon a shotgun and just enough shells for his classmates" while the school is under attack by creatures. It's 69 chapters and finished. It launched on Naver in 2021, after Sweet Home ended, so read it second.
Bastard is the first Kim and Hwang collaboration (2014 to 2016) and has nothing to do with monsters: "There is a serial killer in my house!" is WEBTOON's whole tagline. Our Bastard reading guide covers it.
Our take: finish Sweet Home first, then pick by what hooked you. If it was the writing, go to Bastard; if it was the outbreak, go to Shotgun Boy.
How we checked this: on October 19, 2026 we read the Sweet Home Prologue on WEBTOON's English site, and checked the WEBTOON list page and episode list, Naver Webtoon's full episode list, AniList, Wikipedia's pages on the webtoon and the Netflix series, the Korea Herald interview with Lee Eung-bok, and r/webtoons threads. We haven't reread Ep. 1 to 140 for this update, so we don't describe later chapters beyond their titles. Header image: WEBTOON's Sweet Home series art. Last reviewed: October 19, 2026.
Related Reading
- Sweet Home Review: our verdict on the webtoon and why we'd pick it over the show.
- Sweet Home Character Guide: the Green Home survivors, with their English names.
- Manhwa Like Sweet Home: survival horror to read once you're done.
- Bastard Reading Guide: the earlier Kim and Hwang thriller.
- Best Horror Manhwa: the wider horror list.
- Where to Read Manhwa Legally: the official apps and sites.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to read Shotgun Boy before Sweet Home?
No. Shotgun Boy is a prequel by the same writer, drawn by a different artist, and it launched in Korea after Sweet Home had already ended. Read Sweet Home first and pick Shotgun Boy up afterwards if you want more of the outbreak.
Does the Sweet Home webtoon end like the Netflix show?
No. Director Lee Eung-bok said he knew roughly how the webtoon ended and chose to make the drama's ending differ a bit, and Season 2 was billed in Korea as a new story beyond the webtoon.
