Over the years, cosplay has grown from a few dedicated fans with home made costumes to entire clubs and even cosplay stars who have meet and greets and autograph signings. Wading through all the over hyped models dressed like Wonder Woman or showing off store bought nonsense to gain Instagram followers, you come across those who do it with pure love, not only putting together screen accurate works of art but even staying in character. One such cosplayer is DJ Stallion whose love for Friday the 13th inspired him to go above and beyond, not just play Jason but the most brutal and fierce looking Jason from the entire franchise, Jason from Friday the 13th VII: The New Blood. After seeing this magic in action at Silver Scream Fest, I had to reach out and dig up some dirt on how this cosplay came to be.
DJ Stallion: I have always been a fan of the Friday the 13th films ever since the first one came out. But when Part 7 came out in 1988 and I saw Jason, I was like DAMN that's Bad-Ass.
KillDOzer: What did it take to put your incredible costume together? How long did it take and what details were crucial for you to get as accurate as possible?
DJ: I have always dressed up as Jason, even as a little kid back in 1986-87-88. I would get whatever hockey mask was at the Halloween store at the time. I would also fix them up to match the movie as much as possible. I started really getting my costume together in 2011. It look a lot of research, money to find the right FX Artist with the most accurate Jason parts. I am still doing final touches to my costume to this day, I want to be movie accurate.
KillDozer: Are you a fan of Friday the 13th VII or more a fan of the Jason from that installment?
DJ: I am a fan of the Friday The 13th franchise. I choose to play the roll of Part 7, because to me, it has the best look and overall detail.
KillDozer: Have you ever been to an event where you regretted going in cosplay?
DJ: Not at all.
KillDozer: Do you cosplay as any other characters?
DJ: I have only cosplay as Jason at cons, but I do have a really accurate Michael Myers costume too.
KillDozer: When did you start appearing places as Jason?
DJ: When Friday The 13th Part 2 came out in 1981, I started dressing up as Jason for Halloween. When the hockey mask came about in Part 3, that was when I got my first hockey mask. I also worked in a haunted house as Jason back in 1987-88-89-90 & so on.
KillDozer: What reactions do you receive from people who are not into horror or aren't part of the horror community?
DJ: When I go to Cons, I walk around without costume at first to scope out the scenes. Then I go change into Jason & once I'm Jason, I stay in character. I can't even walk into the doors of a convention without getting about 10-20 photo ops. When I walk in, I see a lot of eyes getting very big. Then they ask for a picture and I just stand there and look. They ask expecting me to answer with my voice, lol. I always have a friend who is the translator. He's the one who answers for me, because I don't want to break character. I also had a lot of people tell me I'm way too accurate and others seem to be too scared to get near me.
KillDozer: Do cosplayers get along or is there friendly competition between horror cosplayers and, let's say, anime cos players?
DJ: I've never seen a problem at Cons with Cosplayers having any sort of problem with each other. When I go, there is a small chance that I run into another Jason, but if I do it's usually a little kid wearing a hockey mask from Target or something, lol. But I do see like 50 different Spiderman's or Batman's. I'm sure they have some sort of inside beef or competition.
KillDozer: What is your favorite part about playing Jason?
DJ: I like staying in character & seeing the reactions of people when I walk by or up to them. I even had a few grown adults cry in fear and I had to walk away so they would not have a panic attack. This is also at a Con where there are 1000's of Cosplayers. I'm not sure why they are so scared of Jason... LOL
KillDozer: Where can we go to follow you and see where you are appearing next?
DJ: I am on Instagram and Twitter at CosplayJasonF13. I usually post where I will be next. By day I am actually a full-time DJ, I own my company & I DJ about 10-15 times per month. I only can really attend a Con on a Sunday.
KillDozer: Okay, here are some quick fun questions: if you could choose one "super hero" power to use against Jason in an attack (like the final girl from Friday the 13th part VII), what would it be?
DJ: I would use The Power of Cloning, then Jason would have to fight Jason.
KillDozer: Do you have a natural grudge against Freddy?
DJ: Yes, Freddy is a bitch who plays with little kids. lol
KillDozer: What is your favorite piece of movie memorabilia that you own?
DJ: I own about 20 hockey masks, 10 under masks, along with my full costume. I also have about 5 machetes, and one of them is signed By Linda Blair, which is a funny story. I was dressed up as Jason at Haunted House Fair Grounds Event. She was there singing autographs. She grabbed my ass, then signed my machete. lol
KillDozer: Does every actual Friday the 13th feel like a holiday that you must celebrate?
DJ: Not all the time, only if they drop a new Friday the 13th movie on that day. Or if there happens to be a Con to go to that day and weekend. Those are the best.
Don't forget to follow DJ on Instagram and Twitter, and say hi the next time you see The New Blood Jason walking through a convention. He probably won't bite...
-KillDozer
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