Tattoo lovers get their long-awaited ink on Friday the 13th

Oct. 13—At Iron & Gold Tattoo on Monroe Street, Spokane residents stood in a line around the building just to get their Friday the 13th tattoo.

Jackson Burchette said he got out of class early and decided, "Why not?"

Burchette got to the shop before they opened because he predicted that they were going to be busy. The shop had promoted the Friday the 13th tattoos on its social media a week prior, and he was determined to get some ink.

Burchette doesn't have any tattoos, and he didn't exactly know what he wanted . Part of the thrill of Friday the 13th, he said, is "winging it."

"They have hundreds of designs," Burchette said. "I'll make something happen."

Friday the 13th is a "deal day" for some tattoo shops — some businesses have sheets of designs from which people select their tattoos for discounted prices.

The shop's line fluctuated throughout the day as artists took down names and recorded the type of tattoo each person wanted. When it was their time, they told the artist exactly where they wanted the ink and were led back behind the waiting area where 18 tattoo artists were diligently working.

Greg Spriggs, a co-owner of Iron & Gold Tattoo, has been tattooing for 22 years. He said normally, there are only eight artists in the shop. But to ramp up for Friday the 13th, he invited 10 other artists in from all over the country. Artists from California, Oregon and even Pennsylvania made the trip to Spokane to participate, Spriggs said.

Throughout the day, he saw a little over 50 people come and go, and was expecting even more. While people waited in line, they could go across the street and partake in some Friday the 13th specials at local vendor stations.

Iron & Gold Tattoo had multiple sheets of ink people could pick from — colorful faces, flowers, cartoons, Halloween-themed sketch designs, even a Friday the 13th rendition of Squidward from Spongebob Squarepants.

"They're pretty unique tattoos," Spriggs said. "And they're at a good price."