According to Thai filmmaker Parkpoom Wongpoom, Halloween isn’t a big deal in his country. “It isn’t popular,” says the 41-year-old Bangkok native who made his name in horror, including his 2004 phantasm-in-the-photo debut Shutter (which he co-helmed with Banjong Pisanthanakun).

Masters of horror: Parkpoom Wongpoom and Gunn Purijitpanya, the creators of Curse of the Naga.

“It’s only celebrated in pubs and bars.” So how does he satisfy his lust for the macabre? His friend and fellow scare-merchant Gunn Purijitpanya (Body, 4bia), also 41, would make their way to our island for the annual fright fiesta Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Singapore.

“We’ve been here every year since the second edition in 2012,” Parkpoom tells 8 DAYS. And this year, the duo are back without fail for their terror pilgrimage — except this time one of the haunted house attractions is created by them. Called Curse of the Naga, the maze sees thrill-seekers trapped in an abandoned village with the eponymous malevolent serpentine spectre.

Says Gunn: “We thought long and hard about how we can portray Thailand’s culture and horror narratives to Southeast Asia and the world, and eventually drew inspiration from the Naga which is known not only in Thailand but in other parts of Asia.”

Here, we ask the directors to pick their favourite HHN attractions this year, and because it’s the 15th anniversary of Shutter, we also get Parkpoom to share his memories of making that classic shocker.

On writing a script for a haunted house attraction…

The process isn’t any different from writing a movie, say Parkpoom and Gunn, who were contacted by USS to create an original haunted house maze. “We used all the elements from a movie — the jump scares, the screams — and put them into the haunted house,” adds Parkpoom who studied the HHN mazes at Universal Orlando and how they were made on YouTube. “We have to make the guests feel as if they are in a movie; every room must have a jump scare,” says Gunn, “In a movie, however, you can’t scare the audience in every scene.”

On turning Curse of the Naga into a movie…

“Our friend at [a production company] said to us, ‘Why don’t you make the haunted house as a movie? What a waste!’”says Gunn, who teamed up with Parkpoom on the 2008 anthology horror 4bia. “But Curse of the Naga is a property that belongs to USS. But it would be quite interesting if we can turn it into a movie. Because the sight of the snake monster will be something to behold onscreen.”

On their favourite HHN attractions this year…

Parkpoom and Gunn single out Hell Block 9 (“we love the performances and the energy of the cast”), Spirit Dolls (“ we love the creepy feeling of being in the company of so many dolls, not knowing which ones will move”), The Chalet Hauntings (“we like the scare tactics and concealment in the house, and the light effects”) , and Twisted Clown University (“we had lots of fun with the colours and surprises”). Of course, they like Curse of the Naga the most.

On what really scares them these days…

In the real world, there’s something way scarier than ghouls and zombies. “When I start my day by logging on to Facebook and read the news stories about the evil things people have done,” says Parkpoom. And for Gunn? It's the comment section”.

On making Shutter 15 years ago…

“Looking back, because it was my first movie, I didn't have any hesitation; I was willing to try anything,” says Parkpoom. “If were to make this movie today, I would second-guess myself, ‘Will this work? Will that work?’’ Back in 2004, I would do anything I think is scary.” And for a while Shutter’s success was an albatross over his neck. “It was only after my second movie [2007’s Alone] that I felt [liberated]. Because before that, I had been trying to repeat the success of Shutter by making the same movie. To be successful, I have to do something new, and find new ways to scare the audience.”

On the Hollywood remake of Shutter…

“I really hated it,” says Parkpoom, with a laugh. Parkpoom says his involvement with the 2008 redux, directed by Masayuki Ochiai (Infection) and starring Joshua Jackson and Rachael Taylor, was limited to e-mail correspondences. “We only saw the final draft of the script,” he adds. “We believed in Hollywood and we let them do their version.” But he was very disappointed when he caught the movie with an audience. “It’s not scary at all!”