Every fandom has its lore. ENHYPEN has an entire universe.

What began as the vampire imagery woven through the K-pop group's 2020 debut has evolved into DARK MOON, a supernatural franchise spanning Webtoon, anime, music, and its own devoted online fandom. But ENHYPEN's commitment to storytelling doesn't stop there. As the group prepares to release THE SIN: BLISS on Aug. 21 — the latest chapter in its SIN universe, which unfolds through cinematic narration, interconnected teasers, and an overarching narrative — the line between music and world-building continues to blur.

At this year's San Diego Comic-Con, where superheroes, vampires, and sprawling fictional universes have long found a home, ENHYPEN's storytelling found a natural stage. Towering above the convention floor, a glowing crimson moon beckoned visitors to the DARK MOON booth, where fans and attendees learned about the story, posed for photos alongside life-size character illustrations, and gathered for a chance to see ENHYPEN in the flesh during an autograph signing.

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It was part promotional stop, part portal into a fictional world that has grown alongside the group for nearly five years.

Launched as a Webtoon in 2022, DARK MOON follows seven vampire boys inspired by ENHYPEN: Heli, Jaan, Jino, Solon, Jakah, Shion, and Noa. (Heli was originally based on former member EVAN.) At the mysterious Decelis Academy, they protect a transfer student named Sooha while navigating love, brotherhood, and questions of identity, themes that have anchored ENHYPEN's own music.

The story didn't stay on the page for long. It has since extended into sequel webtoons, an anime adaptation, soundtrack albums, and immersive fan experiences, cementing DARK MOON as one of K-pop's most ambitious multimedia storytelling projects.

Backstage at San Diego's House of Blues on Friday night, just hours after appearing at Comic-Con, ENHYPEN is preparing for DARK MOON BLOOD NIGHT, a special performance celebrating the franchise. Outside, hundreds of fans wait for the doors to open, many having spent the day exploring the DARK MOON booth on the convention floor before changing into vampire-inspired outfits and cosplay for the evening's concert. Inside, members Jungwon, Jay, Jake, Sunghoon, Sunoo, and Ni-ki are relaxed, laughing with one another as they prepare to take the stage.

It wasn't always this easy to embrace the fangs. "When we first debuted, the only vampire reference we really had was Twilight," Jay tells Mashable. "At first, it was quite weird. We were like, 'How could we do this?' There were a lot of challenges and a lot of big ideas. But now it has become really iconic for us."

Jay isn't wrong. Pop culture has a habit of falling back in love with vampires every generation.

Long before ENHYPEN built its own mythology, there were Anne Rice's brooding immortals, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, True Blood, and The Vampire Diaries. Then came Twilight, whose sun-sparkling Cullens transformed vampires into one of the defining internet fandoms of the late 2000s, inspiring fan fiction, Tumblr debates, and the Team Edward-versus-Team Jacob discourse that somehow still resurfaces online whenever Robert Pattinson decides to troll the internet.

That lineage made ENHYPEN's Comic-Con appearance feel particularly fitting. The group's panel, "Bite Me: Calling All Vampires," brought the members together with Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke and stars Peter Facinelli and Ashley Greene for a conversation about one of pop culture's most enduring monsters and why every generation seems to find a new way to fall in love with vampires.

"I believe we're the first K-pop group to ever come to Comic-Con," Jake says. "It feels very unique because it's like two different worlds of entertainment coming together. We're very happy about that."

World-building has become part of K-pop's creative DNA. Agencies don't just build groups; they build eras, concepts, and fictional universes for fans to unravel across music videos, comeback trailers, social media, and performances. Fans, in turn, freeze-frame every teaser, decode cryptic clues, and spend weeks stitching together elaborate theories from seemingly insignificant details. Few of those story worlds, however, have expanded as far beyond the music as DARK MOON, which now spans the Webtoon DARK MOON: THE BLOOD ALTAR, its sequel DARK MOON: TWO MOONS, the anime adaptation now streaming on Crunchyroll in North America, and companion releases like the MEMORABILIA soundtrack album.

For the members, one of the most surreal moments came when they first saw animated versions of themselves.

"I remember during one of our earliest meetings with the DARK MOON team, they explained how each character represented us," Jake recalls. "When we finally watched it, we were saying, 'Oh, that one really looks like someone. That one acts like someone.' We could really see the resemblance."

That likeness is hard to ignore backstage. Framed illustrations of the DARK MOON characters line the interview space like family portraits, each member sitting just a few feet from his fictional counterpart. At one point, Sunoo wanders over to Shion's portrait, studying it for a moment.

"He's very cute," he says.

Ni-ki laughs that his own character still resembles his "debut-era" self. Jay, meanwhile, can't resist teasing Sunoo, insisting that Shion is "more Sunoo than Sunoo" — or, as he puts it, maybe even "cuter" than the real thing.

"No, no, no," Sunoo fires back, laughing.

The expansion into animation also introduced ENHYPEN to an entirely new audience when the anime, titled Dark Moon: The Blood Altar Animation with Enhypen, premiered earlier this year. "We weren't that familiar with animation," Jake admits. "Then we realized there was this huge fanbase. Later, we heard that a lot of people actually became ENHYPEN fans through DARK MOON. That was really surprising for us, and exactly what we were hoping for."

That kind of crossover is intentional. "At HYBE NEB, we believe that a strong shared thematic vision is what connects all of our content and allows fans to experience a cohesive universe, regardless of where they first encounter our IP," Taeho Park, president of HYBE Next Entertainment Business, tells Mashable. "Our priority is ensuring that fans can connect with the same core themes and emotions, no matter how they enter the universe."

The storytelling doesn't end with DARK MOON. ENHYPEN's latest musical era has embraced increasingly immersive world-building, and THE SIN: BLISS doubles down with narrated tracks, in-universe websites, and a series of in-universe advertisements imagining what everyday life might look like in a society built for vampires. Think coffin-inspired mattresses, centuries-old banking, and real estate with guaranteed sunlight protection.

The group is also continuing a device introduced on THE SIN: VANISH, enlisting familiar voices to narrate the story. For THE SIN: BLISS, the Korean narration is delivered in part by MBC News Desk anchor Kim Soo-ji, whose recognizable voice lends the fictional broadcasts the authority of a real news report.

"We thought it was a great idea because it makes the album almost like it's from a third-person point of view," Jake says of introducing outside narrators. "If we did the narration ourselves, it would feel like us telling our own story. Now it's somebody else looking at us and what's happening to us."

Jay says bringing in professionals to narrate the album was "one of the best decisions" the group has made creatively, making the story feel more immersive.

Even when recording songs directly connected to DARK MOON — including fan favorites "One In A Billion," "CRIMINAL LOVE," and "Fatal Trouble" — Sunghoon says the group never treats them as separate from ENHYPEN's broader artistic identity.

"I actually like those tracks a lot because they fit the message DARK MOON represents," he says. "When we record music, I don't think I take different approaches, whether it is for DARK MOON or for ENHYPEN. We always try to give our best."

As the stories have grown more ambitious, so has the role fans play in interpreting them. K-pop fans have long dissected music videos for hidden clues, but Ni-ki sees DARK MOON as an opportunity to join that conversation rather than replace it.

"Before this, K-pop fans were already interpreting music videos," he says. "We thought, 'Why should the fans do all the work?' We would provide our own version of interpretation."

Rather than closing off those conversations, ENHYPEN sees the official narrative as another layer for fans to remix.

"Based on the version we offered, the fans reinterpret it in their own way," Ni-ki continues. "It's a nice cycle."

Before this, K-pop fans were already interpreting music videos... We thought, 'Why should the fans do all the work?' We would provide our own version of interpretation.

Jungwon says social media has only accelerated that process. "There are so many different surfaces where fans find not just DARK MOON but ENHYPEN as a team," he says. "It enables fans to become more immersed in what we do."

That collaborative approach is something HYBE increasingly sees as central to DARK MOON itself.

"We believe that fans are also an important part of completing DARK MOON's storytelling experience," Park says. "We want fans to do more than simply consume our story content... Looking ahead, we want to put even greater emphasis on active fan participation and the role of the community in enriching the overall storytelling experience."

The members witness creativity every day through theories, edits, artwork, and discussions that fans post online. And, yes, they're quick to admit they also save fan art when they come across it online.

"In many cases, the conclusion is open-ended," Sunghoon says. "It's open to interpretation. It depends on the person. It's more fun like that."

As for where DARK MOON could go next, the members have no shortage of ideas. Sunoo dreams of a live-action adaptation — though he'd happily leave the acting to someone else. Jake imagines a sprawling video game for the Nintendo Switch or PlayStation, the kind of fantasy RPG where players can spend dozens of hours exploring its world. Ni-ki wants to see the story stretched across an epic series of high-fantasy novels. Sunghoon pictures a DARK MOON takeover of Seoul's Lotte World theme park, complete with attractions inspired by the vampire universe. Jay, meanwhile, is already thinking on an even grander scale.

"A musical," he says without hesitation. After a beat, another idea arrives. "Or something at the Sphere in Las Vegas. Technology is really amazing these days."

The members laugh as they imagine those possibilities. But they're not exactly far-fetched. Five years ago, DARK MOON was just an idea taking shape alongside ENHYPEN's debut. Today, it's a living story that keeps finding new ways to exist across countless corners of the internet. If its journey has proven anything, it's that the next chapter could be almost anywhere.

Crystal Bell is the Digital Culture Editor at Mashable, where she leads coverage of the creator economy, internet culture, and digital life. Her work focuses on the people, platforms, and communities shaping modern entertainment, from YouTube creators and livestreamers to fandoms, social media trends, and the evolving relationship between technology and culture. She also oversees the Mashable 101, the publication's annual list recognizing the internet's most influential creators.

Previously, she was the entertainment director at MTV News, where she helped expand the brand's coverage of fan culture, K-pop, and the internet's most passionate communities. Her work has appeared in Teen Vogue, Rolling Stone, PAPER, NYLON, ELLE, Glamour, NME, W, The FADER, and elsewhere on the internet.

She's exceptionally fluent in fandom and will gladly make you a K-pop playlist and/or provide anime recommendations upon request. Crystal lives in New York City with her two black cats, Howl and Sophie.