The business of Halloween

Whether it's tales about Pulau Tekong's campsites, the Old Changi Hospital or Lim Chu Kang's cemeteries, Singaporeans have always enjoyed a good spooky story.

So it isn't at all surprising for our country, where trick-or-treating has never been a local tradition, that creative entrepreneurs are turning Halloween into a big money- spinner.

Over the years, options for people to be scared into parting with their money in the name of fun have gone beyond ghoul-themed pub-crawls and elaborate costume parties - which are still highly popular in Asian cities such as Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur.

Singapore, on the other hand, is fast following in the footsteps of other cosmopolitan Asian cities such as Hong Kong where its tourist attractions in the dazzling forms of Disneyland, Ocean Park and Madame Tussauds have been throwing large-scale Halloween spectacles and events. The local scene here has since diversified into haunted houses, theme park fright nights and most recently, a sold-out zombie marathon.

Rising attendance and popularity of such events can be attributed to globalisation and social media, among many other factors.

One running hit for the past four years has been *Scape's Museum of Horrors, which gets more crowded each year, according to Marcus Chee, director of programming and finance at the youth-oriented space. "The barrier of nationality is coming down," he says. "Certain holidays are no longer just a US or UK holiday, just like how English football has become so big in Singapore. There has been a convergence of certain celebratory festivals and Halloween is one of them."

Cosmopolitan culture

Concurring with him is Andrew Ing, the chief operations officer of The Lo & Behold Group. The White Rabbit restaurant, which it operates, also has a popular annual Halloween- themed party. "Singapore is a highly cosmopolitan culture with new influences coming in all the time. You could argue that Valentine's Day didn't start out as a "traditional" festival either, but now it's so deeply entrenched. It's a process of constant cultural evolution," says Mr Ing.

But Zouk's head of marketing and events, Timothy Chia, believes that Halloween has caught on simply because it is a huge event celebrated worldwide, and Singapore being a multicultural society already consists of a large population of expatriates who celebrate it. Zouk has been celebrating Halloween for over two decades, with their first party dating back to 1991. At each of those events, they would see a full house of close to 4,000 attendees, as opposed to the typical 2,800 to 3,500 on an average night.

"It's great that such a diverse range of event organisers are jumping on the bandwagon and offering really different and original Halloween experiences," Mr Chia says. The Silver Scream party Zouk is throwing this year will cost close to $100,000 and the emphasis is on ensuring that the people who attend have a good time, rather than be scared out of their wits, Mr Chia maintains.

Those who prefer the latter should head to Universal Studios Singapore instead. Due to the growing popularity of its previous two Halloween Horror Nights, the upcoming one will now run for more days, longer hours and cover a larger area.

The event's executive producer Andrea Teo reveals that last year's attendance was twice that of its debut in 2011, and she hopes for a 50 per cent increase this year, especially since the run has been extended to 10 nights - up from last year's seven. It will also run from 7pm to 1am, and there will be three haunted houses and three scare zones, up from just one each when it first started.

"Haunted houses" are indoor trails dressed up according to horror-related themes. This year's Songs of Death is inspired by Peking Opera, and will feature actors donning Chinese opera masks and long dark-haired wigs commonly associated with female Asian ghosts.

"Scare zones", on the other hand, are a little less intense. The Convention of Curses, for instance, is an ancient Egyptian-themed area outside the Revenge of the Mummy ride that Ms Teo describes as "tongue-in-cheek" and for people to take a breather.

Universal Studios' Halloween Horror Nights will also be facing some competiton from the nearby Sentosa Spooktacular. Now in its fifth year, the event is pulling out all the stops and has engaged Thai cinema production studio GMM Tai Hub Co Ltd (GTH) to help produce this year's scare-fest.

The budget for 2012 was over half a million dollars, and this year, Sentosa has invested about 60 per cent more. Events director Jimmy Wong, who has organised Spooktacular for the last five years, reveals the money spent has tripled since its inception in 2009.

Like Universal Studio's Halloween Horror Nights, Sentosa's Spooktacular has also seen visitor numbers growing steadily. It had over 3,000 attendees when it first started in 2009 but that has grown to 11,000 last year. About 12,000 to 15,000 visitors are expected at the forthcoming one and already two nights have sold out so far.

Sentosa's tie-up with GTH, a major player in the Thai horror movie industry, is also an indication that they are serious about living up to Spooktacular's tagline of being "Asia's scariest fun".

The Thai studio is creating trails based on five of their most popular films - Shutter, Body, Dorm, Pee Mak and Coming Soon. Ticketholders are also required to complete a relevant mission; for example, they would have to piece a body back together in the Body trail, and burn a photograph in the Shutter trail in order to "set the spirit free".

"We are providing our guests who have seen the movies a chance to experience the physical form, and I don't think that dimension has been emulated anywhere else," says Mr Wong.

High production values

Local comedian and writer Suffian Hakim, 27, is all for it because a simple "Boo!" isn't enough for avid horror fans like himself. Instead, he wants something genuinely scary with a well thought out storyline and high production values. "Simple jump-scares are cheap and easy. Taking the mind for a supernatural ride, not so. I'm looking to live the horror," he explains.

The growing interest in such themed attractions has also spurred boutique firms like Chat Chat Media, a local media company that organises events and produces online TV and radio shows, to invest a five-figure sum in their own Halloween mission-based haunted house, Cursed Studios.

Through just word-of-mouth on social media, bloggers and other forms of guerrilla marketing, they have managed to sell out their preview night and are confident that their event idea coupled with the sheer popularity of the holiday will be enough to move tickets.

Despite the stiff competiton coming from different-sized players, Sentosa's Mr Wong is unfazed. "Obviously, if other people are jumping onto this particular bandwagon, it means they have realised that there is a demand. We can't stop them. We just have to continue to be better than them."

While the fright industry seems to be growing now, it begs the question of whether or not Halloween is just a passing fad that will eventually follow the footsteps of doughnuts and bubble tea and fade out after hitting its peak as the public gradually loses interest.

"As in all businesses, when supply exceeds demand… then survival of the fittest will have to kick in. If it takes place every day, then I don't think it's sustainable. But it's a once-a-year kind of activity within a stipulated time, so people will anticipate it," says Mr Wong.

Mr Chee of *Scape also thinks Halloween is here to stay in Singapore. "Children grow up so there's always new young people; you will have generation after generation," he explains. "It's been around in the US for a long time, and people are still doing it with the same enthusiasm, and the business is still a lucrative business. I don't think people will ever be bored of it."

rachloi@sph.com.sg

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