Getting your first tattoo can be a scary experience, and so can watching a horror film. Why not combine the two into a three-day festival? When you do, you have the First Annual Chattanooga Full Moon Tattoo and Horror festival, held March 11-13 at the Chattanooga Marriott.
Tattoo artists came from Pelham, Ala.; Pasadena, Texas; Memphis, Tenn.; Stuart, Fla., and many other tattoo studios to join in the three-day long festivities. These included live tattooing that was judged in the categories of best small color, best back piece, best cover-up and best tribal, to name a few.
Sponsored by North Shore Tattoo Co., Hill City Pizza, King Pin Tattoo Supply, Fusion Tattoo Ink and H2Ocean, the event had the needles buzzing as visitors made that decision to finally get ink done or for many to get an addition to a collection of tattoos they already owned.
There were seminars such as “Fine Lines” by Rachel Telles, where attendees learned the finer points of creating beautiful script lettering. The “Black and Gray Realism” seminar covered how to create realistic images in black and grey on skin, and “Tattoo Business in
Today’s Economy” covered all areas related to running a tattoo shop such as taxes, payroll, banking, employees and other areas to know.
This event was unlike any art show to come to the area because most of the art was moving around on the skin of those who had gotten the tattoo. The books that all the vendors had set out of their artwork on skin gave good ideas for those unsure of where to take their tattoo design, and it also provided a laugh at just how creative people can be. One of my favorite tattoos from a book was a tattoo of Wolverine riding a “My Little Pony.” Another strange, but fascinating, one was a full size tattoo of a squirrel crawling up a lady’s back.
What was amazing to me was the true artistry that could make the unappealing side of getting a tattoo fade away. For those who have heard stories or had friends who got tattoos that they were soon wishing to be without, the category of best cover-up during this event showcases true skill with tattoo tools as these artists turned something like a blotchy ex-boyfriend’s name into a beautiful flower piece.
The horror part of the festival was a scream as well. Saturday, Scream Queens Tiffany Shepis and Stacey Dixson led a panel titled, “So You Want to be an Actress.” There was also a best zombie contest that was judged by zombie actors Sonya Thompson and Larry Mainland from the TNT series, “The Walking Dead.”
Then there were the horror celebrities that attended this event and made fans pleasantly squirm to be in the company of these movie stars. Turning the corner to come face to face with creepy horror actor Michael Berryman from “The Hills Have Eyes,” “One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest,” “Weird Science” and “The Devil’s Rejects” was a shocking experience. Since Boris Karloff and Vincent Price, there hasn’t been an actor that naturally looked like the perfect horror monster until Berryman.
Yet, as a bit of a surprise, this tall and creepy face from the movies was a friendly guy who clapped his arm around fans during the pictures they took and quoted lines from his movies to make us all geek out. Horror legend Berryman also has an upcoming film he wants all his fans to know about called, “Below Zero” that will also star Edward Furlong. Sounds “cool.”
For those horror fans who are familiar with the movies “House of 1,000 Corpses,” “The Devil’s Rejects,” “Halloween,” “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Pt. 2,” “Army of Darkness” and “REPO-The Genetic Opera,” Bill Moseley was there and very much more well-shaven than his character Otis is in “House of 1,000 Corpses.”
It was great to interact with an actor like Moseley on a human level, away from the silver screen. Moseley said that his 23-year-old daughter enjoys his films and the work her father does, but his 12-year-old daughter will have to wait a few years to see some of his films before she can give her opinion. Moseley also delivered the signature line “Run, rabbit, run!” from “House of 1,000 Corpses” during our talk. It was a surreal moment indeed.
The Full Moon Festival is new to Chattanooga, but the 10th annual Nashville Full Moon Tattoo-Horror and Film Festival will return May 13 to 15 at the Nashville Airport Marriott. It will feature celebrities Malcolm McDowell, Sid Haig, William Forsythe and over 80 of the nation’s top tattoo artists. If you can’t wait till October for a dose of horror, these two events are certainly festivals to keep in mind.
Email Erica Tuggle at reporter@hamiltoncountyherald.com.