While not classified as a horror, there are a few times that The Glory can definitely be seen as one, and an effective one at that.
- How intense and horrifying the bullying Dong-eun went through was. We are not spared the awful details when Dong-eun is held down and burned with a curling iron that has left her with permanent scars that are even seen in Dong-eun's adulthood. Not to mention the sexual harassment she went through from the male bullies. On top of this, she is not the first person they have been subjected to this treatment, and once Dong-Eun drops out of school, they find another victim to torture.
- The fact that the writer of the drama, Kim Eun-sook, actually based a good amount of the bullying scenes on real bullying incidents in Korea as she interviewed and spoke to previous victims of bullying in order to capture the scenes well is also pretty terrifying. The curling iron scene was inspired by an actual real bullying event
which makes it more ghastly.
- The fact that the writer of the drama, Kim Eun-sook, actually based a good amount of the bullying scenes on real bullying incidents in Korea as she interviewed and spoke to previous victims of bullying in order to capture the scenes well is also pretty terrifying. The curling iron scene was inspired by an actual real bullying event
- Just the fact that people like Yeon-jin and her group exist in real life, and actual people are being hurt like Dong-eun. And not just hurt, but even blamed or have no justice given to them while their perpetrators live on scot-free.
- Speaking of Yeon-jin, just how unhinged she is. Clearly, there is something very wrong with her as she holds no regard for almost anyone else except her husband and daughter. She doesn't see herself as wrong in any way, and when she finds out Dong-eun has a board that displays every plan and observation she has? Yeon-jin says she regrets it...she regrets not killing Dong-eun.
- There are a few times where Dong-eun looks a bit unsettling, namely when she tells Yeon-Jin that she's her dream, all with a smile on her face.
- Sa-ra's drug high in the church where she hallucinates talking to a snake who turns into Myeong-Oh. While it sounds ridiculous, the camera shots on her maddened eyes, mouth, and the dark lighting of the scene makes everything look very unsettling.
- Yeon-Jin’s mother Young-Ae consistently attended a Korean Shaman for decades, who was proven to be a quack who took money to match up young women to rich old men and had no hesitation in helping Young-Ae kill Hyeon-Nam’s husband. When the shaman was caught by Dong-Eun, Dong-Eun blackmailed her into scaring Yeon-Jin with specific details of the conversation that lead to Sohee’s death. The shaman then drops the pretense and addresses something unseen by the door, claiming it’s dead and needs to move on, “smells rotten”, is burnt all over its body, and its skull was crushed in and then the Shaman begins to suffocate, clawing at the sky while choking out “SHE’S HERE!” before dying from Beoljeon, God’s deadliest punishment in Korean Shamanism. Yeon-Jin, who didn’t believe in Shamanism as much as her mother, and Dong-Eun, who lost all faith due to her past experiences, just watched as the shaman incurred the wrath of the real Sohee and of God.
