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The joys of being in the horror business
The word âhorrorâ might be perceived as the ultimate nightmare, but not for those who have a penchant for all things scary
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he word 'horror' might be perceived as the ultimate nightmare, but not for those who have a penchant for all things scary.
Two communities in Jakarta, Kompi Zombie and Jakk.Inc, have found that through their hobby they can make friends and earn some extra income, all while having fun with horror.
In 2009, Eric Kairupan created the Facebook fanpage Komunitas Penggemar Film Zombie (Zombie Movie Lovers Community) or Kompi Zombie. The goal was simply to interact with fellow netizens that like zombie movies as much as he does.
After a month, Eric and his wife, Yonna Kairupan, found that many netizens shared their hobby.
'We got more than 1000 members in a month, and one of the most unexpected things is that 48 percent of them are women' said Yonna.
Kompi Zombie gained more popularity after the 2011 Urban Fest held in Ancol, North Jakarta.
'We got media attention following our Zombie Walk at the 2011 Urban Fest. From that moment, we've been getting opportunities to join more events. One of the most amazing things was being chosen as the official partner of Fox International Channel to promote The Walking Dead series.'
Six years into its existence, Kompi Zombie now also includes 10,000 offline members.
'Our members come from different backgrounds; students, employees, even medical doctors. As long as they have the same interest in zombie movies as we do, anyone can join our community. We also have a workshop, where we teach zombie gestures, makeup techniques and a special zombie manicure-pedicure.'
Another horror fan community is Jeritan Anda Kepuasan Kami (Your Scream is Our Pleasure) or Jakk.Inc, which brings together ghost character performers and specializes in haunted house decorating.
'So far, there are no other communities in Jakarta providing the same service. I think that is what makes our community quite special,' said Iskandar 'Ismud' Muda, one of the front men of Jakk.Inc.
Ismud said that in 2010, the community emerged from a small group of high school and college students from Japanese clubs at various schools. Some of the members found they shared an interest in horror, and hence the community was born.
This once-small community soon became quite popular within the niche of horror film aficionados. For the past three years, Jakk.Inc has participated in more than 30 big events around Jakarta and Bekasi.
State high school SMAN 2 in Bekasi was one of the clients that used Jakk.Inc's services to decorate a haunted house for their Japanese club event.
'We contacted Jakk.Inc was because we had heard many great reviews regarding their ability to decorate houses. We can say that they're doing an amazing job indeed. Our haunted house event was fully booked,' said Aldo, a member of Jakuen club.
Besides the demand to create fresh ideas for every performance, both communities have to deal with financial issues.
'Because we don't collect any fees from members, clients' fees have become our main financial source. The Makeup team already have their basic stuff and that helps a lot,' said Yonna.
As for Jakk.Inc, Ismud stated that creativity could help solve funding problems.
'We don't have a big budget, so we have to be careful about spending our money on costumes and property. For example, if we want to make an impressive costume with a low budget, we will shop for clothes at Pasar Senen, then do some modifying. Luckily, we have a very creative team.'
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The writer is an intern at The Jakarta Post
