Employees of Universal Studio in Japan play as zombies. Photo: VCG

The second season of Kingdom, Netflix's first original South Korean series, was released on the platform on Friday. The series has become a favorite of many Chinese who have had to stay at home amid the COVID-19 pandemic due to its zombie horror theme. 

The horror series is set during Korea's Joseon period, a few years after the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592-1598). Each season so far has only consisted of six episodes, but the award-winning director and scriptwriter, the movie-quality cast and the tight plot as well as season climax have made the show the next big South Korean horror work following Train to Busan, a film with a similar theme released in 2016.

Chinese netizens have given the series an 8.6/10 on Chinese media review site Douban.

The series depicts the story of Crown Prince Lee Chang, who becomes embroiled in a political conspiracy and is forced to embark upon a mission to investigate the spread of a mysterious plague that has beset the current emperor and the country's southern provinces.

Netizens were captured by the terrifying scenes depicting the lead characters fighting with zombies and praised it as "the best costume drama about zombies."

"I have stayed at home for more than one month and the thriller has relieved my stress and anxiety caused by a boring and simple life," one netizen commented on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo.

Many netizens agreed with this view and said that watching thrillers has become a good way for them to relax. 

"When I find myself completely terrified by the story, I totally forget about the pandemic," another wrote.