Arturo Gomez Molina
Assistant Editor
October brings fright, blood curdling screams and Halloween candy. This year’s was especially creepy because it marked the return of Friday the 13th.
Classic Tattoo shop in Upland celebrated the spooky occasion by offering a themed all-day flash tattoo event.
Flash tattoo designs are typically no bigger than four inches and are specifically designed in advance and provided by the tattoo shop.
“I’m really into horror movies and horror-type things, so I thought it was a perfect event to come to,” Natali Mendez of Los Angeles said.
Mendez, 22, and her friend Liz Rosas, 22, visited Classic Tattoo together on Friday to get their second tattoos.
“I’m not sure what I want yet,” Mendez said. “But I’m thinking of getting the half-crescent moon or a skull.”
Rosas said she has always wanted to ink a coffin or a spider and hoped to get it on her arm.
Classic Tattoo is owned by Upland resident Kayle LeoGrande.
LeoGrande has managed the tattoo shop since 2005, and has since renovated it to its current classy and stylish look.
The interior is painted in a deep red with a black trim all along the shop.
The walls are decorated with paintings and small classic-style sculptures from the floor to the ceiling, and they provide giant rotating panels filled with hundreds of tattoo ideas for incoming guests.
Classic Tattoo shop opened its doors at noon Friday and were immediately rushed with clients waiting to get Halloween themed flash tattoos.
“I have already done six tattoos today,” tattoo artist Anthony Torok said. “I do flash tattoos almost every day, but today people get to choose from a special batch the shop is offering.”
Some of Torok’s tattoo pieces included a picture of Betty Boop, a sparrow and a heart with an arrow through it.
Torok said he has been a tattoo artist for almost four years and specializes in American traditional style, which focuses on bold, black outlines and limited color palettes.
Tattoo enthusiasts continued to flow in and out of the shop throughout the day and into the dark hours of the evening, with a waiting list of 42 people at the day’s high point.
“There are only about three more people in front of us so we’re getting close,” said Victor Vasquez of Upland, who was there with his wife Liliana Vasquez.
The couple got married April 12 and were getting their wedding date tattooed on them.
“We specifically came for the Friday the 13th event,” Liliana Vasquez said. “We thought it would be fun and something special to remember.”
Victor Vasquez said he planned to get the date tattooed on his lower right bicep and Liliana Vasquez would get it inked on one of her wrists.
Classic Tattoo celebrated its 25th anniversary this year and plans to have more events in the upcoming months.
Arturo Gomez Molina can be contacted at arturo.gomezmolina@laverne.edu.
