Is Delusion Worth Reading? Review & Where to Read

Quick facts
Format	Webtoon, 60 chapters, 3 volumes
Run	2019–2020 · completed
Community score	AniList 7.4
Where to read	WEBTOON — official

Overview

It's 1935 in Gyeongseong, and struggling artist Iho Yun has been commissioned for an unusual job: paint a portrait of the reclusive Madam Jeonghwa Song, someone rumored to be elderly but who turns out, when Iho finally lays eyes on her, to be a young woman. Tucked among his predecessor's supplies is an ominous warning: don't finish the portrait. No artist who has taken this commission before him has left Madam Song's house alive or sane, and Iho has to figure out what she's hiding before finishing his work seals his fate.

What unfolds is a slow-building historical mystery with vampirism at its center, built around the tension between an artist trying to capture the truth of his subject and a subject with every reason to keep that truth hidden.

What it does well

The art is a genuine standout — a painterly, richly detailed style that's especially fitting for a story literally about the act of portraiture, and it gives the story's biggest reveals real visual impact rather than just narrating them. The central mystery around Madam Song is paced with real discipline: details trickle out steadily enough to keep the reader guessing without the story over-explaining its own twists.

The 1935 Gyeongseong setting also earns its place rather than functioning as decoration — the historical period shapes the isolation of its characters and the stakes of what Madam Song is trying to hide. And at a tight 60 chapters, the story commits to a length that suits its mystery rather than stretching it past its natural conclusion.

Where it falls short

The most consistent criticism, even from readers who love the series, is that the opening volume is genuinely slow — multiple readers specifically call out the first stretch of chapters as the hardest part to get through before the story's real hooks take hold. Once the central mystery is fully revealed, the story also loses some of its impact on a second read, since so much of its power depends on not knowing what Madam Song actually is.

The compressed length, while a strength for pacing, means some side characters and period details get less room to develop than the central dynamic between Iho and Madam Song. And the atmosphere-first approach that makes the mystery so effective will read as too restrained for anyone hoping for more overt action along the way.

Verdict

Delusion is a beautifully drawn, patiently constructed historical horror-mystery that rewards readers willing to sit through a slow opening volume. Once it gets going, it's one of the more distinctive vampire stories in the format — worth the patience it asks for.