Cosplay Confessions is a series we do to spotlight and get to understand the wonderful members of our cosplay community (and beyond!). Time to be scared because this month we have South Jersey Jason!!

HOW DID YOU GET INTO COSPLAY?

For years I only dressed up at Halloween when giving out candy. I started going to horror conventions back in 2013 and I would look at all the cosplayers and how much fun they were having. All of their costumes looked so great and very detailed. In 2018, I was asked to be a judge for the costume contest Level Up Entertainment was having for Halloween Comic Fest. They knew that I had a Jason Vorhees costume that I had put together and thought it would be appropriate for the event. At the time, I did not have any photos, social media, or even a name for them to promote me with. I went out to the woods, my wife took some pictures in my part 4 costume. I came up with the name and created a Facebook page. That was how South Jersey Jason was created.

WHY DO YOU LIKE COSPLAYING?

Cosplay is a way to escape from reality and the stress of my day job. Friday the 13th is my favorite horror franchise and there is no greater feeling than getting into character and interacting with horror fans especially Friday the 13th horror fans. When I do photoshoots, I have visions of how I want the pictures to be. I like to tell a story with my pictures. In addition, since I started cosplaying I have met many great people in the world of cosplay. Being a Jason Vorhees cosplayer has opened up many doors for me in the Friday the 13th community that I never dreamed of.

WHAT HAVE BEEN YOUR FAVORITE CHARACTER(S) TO COSPLAY?

Before I started cosplaying as Jason Vorhees, I would dress up as Michael Myers. I don’t have the build for Michael as he is tall and lean. I have a build for Jason however I am not the height. The average height of the stunt actors who portrayed Jason are 6'5. It's all about how you carry yourself and the character. I put lifts in my shoes to give me a few inches however when you are at a con or another event all day, your feet begin to hurt. So far in my collection, I have the following: "The Final Chapter"(part 4) "The New Blood" (part 7) "The New Blood Lives" (which is a cross between pt 6 and 7 if the film stuck with continuity. This costume was the first of its kind that I am aware of) I have a new costume in the works as we speak which will be another first of its kind that I know of. I have one more planned after that for this year. Next year I am going to do a concept costume however I am going old school and I am bringing back sack head Jason.

HOW DO YOU PUT TOGETHER YOUR COSTUMES?

Unfortunately, I do not have the creative talent to make my costumes. My first Jason costume was from "The Final Chapter". A pretty easy design. I found my clothing at Good Will. The hood came from Dark Side Studios and I found an inexpensive hockey mask from a guy on social media. In the spring of 2019, I wanted to try and find a near screen accurate costume that would not hurt my wallet. I went on Etsy and searched for various costumes. I came across "The New Blood" costume designed by James Ingram of J3 Jason Costumes. The pictures were very detailed. I reached out to him and must have asked him a million questions as I was still new to the cosplay scene. James was very responsive and answered all of my questions. I put my order in for the costume, which included the compression clothing, the outer clothing, all the latex material, hood, and chain in May. I believe the costume arrived towards the end of June. James recommended his friend James Rand to make the hockey mask. Since I debuted that costume, I wore it at various events such as the Zombie Walk in Asbury Park, Trail of Terror haunted attraction, the Mays Landing Halloween parade, NJ Horror Con and Halloween Comic Fest. I am very active with my costumes on social media not only to display my pictures but I also make sure I tag everyone who played a role in designing it to help give them more business.

WAS HAS BEEN SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE CONVENTIONS/EVENTS TO COSPLAY AT?

Halloween Comic Fest 2019 was great as I was the featured guest and the promotional material was Friday the 13th themed. We shot a campy video in the store for my social media. I have only cosplayed at 1 horror convention so far and that was NJ Horror Con. I have been to Blairstown, NJ where the original film was made. The museum also played a part in jump-starting my cosplay. The curator of the town’s historical museum opened a Friday the 13th museum back in September 2019. It's located right across the street from the famous arches as seen at the beginning of the original movie. They had a 3-day event to celebrate the Grand Opening and I was promoted as a guest. Since I met Jeanette Iurato, the curator of the museum, we have become very good friends and I am now a volunteer for the museum. I also like going to the events the Underground store in Smithville has. My first event there was photos with Zombie and Santa and more recently we did photos with Zombie Easter Bunny. The Underground has also become another home of SJJ. I am booked at all of their events for the rest of the year. Two of the events, I will be doing photo fundraisers for The Blairstown Museum and Special Olympic's of NJ Area 8.

WHAT IS ONE OF YOUR FAVORITE COSPLAY STORIES?

When I was at Blairstown for the opening of the museum, I had a table set up with merchandise I was selling. I was in costume at my table. A fan came up to my table and asked me "which movie I was in?". I thanked them very much as that is one of the nicest compliments you can give to a cosplayer. I pointed across the street at Ari Lehman who was the very first person to play Jason Vorhees and CJ Graham who played Jason in part 6. I told them that is who you want to meet! The next morning, Ari arrived at the museum and I was wearing my part 7 costume for the first time and he came up to me and said: "that is a great costume".

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE CHALLENGES YOU'VE HAD TO OVERCOME BEING A COSPLAYER?

Well, unfortunately, you will have a select few that try to bring you down as a cosplayer. They will talk about you on other fan pages. This happened to me pretty early on when I started. This was the same time when I met Joe Gallow of Gallow goes to Hell on FB and 13 Gallows Lane on Instagram. He is a cosplayer that I followed long before I started. He was the first person to give me advice on who to use for clothing, mask's and taking photos. He said don’t let them get to you. The only reason they are saying bad things is that they're jealous.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE SOMEONE IF THEY WERE INTERESTED IN GETTING INTO COSPLAY?

If you want to get into cosplay and are not quite sure where to begin. Join FaceBook groups for that particular genre or character. You will find many people that will give you great advice and tips. If you want to cosplay at a convention, choose one that is on the smaller side to get used to being in costume for a long period. Stay hydrated while at the conventions. They are normally hot and if you figure in what you are wearing, it will be hotter.

WHAT CHARACTER WOULD YOU LOVE TO TACKLE SOMEDAY?

Since I am solely a Jason Vorhees cosplayer, any new costume or idea that James Ingram comes to me with. He is a great visionary and his work speaks for itself.

WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR BIGGEST COSPLAY ACHIEVEMENT?

I would have to say using my cosplay for fundraisers. I work for a Non Profit and I know the challenges they face with keeping the lights on. Since I started incorporating fundraisers into my cosplay, I have raised money and needed items for a local animal shelter. I partnered with the Blairstown Museum and another local small business for the Toys for Tot's program. As mentioned before I have plans to do fundraisers for the Blairstown Museum and Special Olympics of NJ.

Another achievement would be that J3 Jason Costumes is now a sponsor of South Jersey Jason.

WHERE CAN PEOPLE FIND YOU?

I can be found at SouthJerseyJason.com On my website, I write blogs in relation to the Friday the 13th community. I recently started my own Cosplayer spotlight which has been a big hit. You can also find links to the current fan films that are available on YouTube or are in the process of being released at a future date. I can be found on both FaceBook and Instagram @SouthJerseyJason I am also a Friday the 13th contributor for HorrorwithSir.Sturdy podcast.

I would like to mention everyone that has played a role in helping with my costumes in addition to J3 Jason Costumes. @horrorfxdesigns created my utility belt, sheath, dart pouch and machete for my 6/7 costume. @KurseKustomWeathering created my hockey mask. I recently commissioned @LipStickLegion is creating my new hockey mask for the current costume that is in the works. I would also like to give a huge shout out Nathan and the drunk uncle from @CampBloodRadio podcast. They first had me on the show back in September as a community spotlight interview. Since then we have

become good friends and Nathan has been another help with advice with my costumes.
If you are a fan of the franchise and would like to spend a couple of days in town where the movie was filmed, I highly suggest you visit the Blairstown Museum and the Friday the 13th Museum. On Friday the 13th's, they offer very affordable trolley tours to all the filming locations. While in town you can stop on by the Blairstown Diner which was also featured in the movie where Steve Christy had his last meal.