James Shares His Love of The Nightmare Before Christmas

I saw The Nightmare Before Christmas when it first came out in theaters and it instantly became one of my favorite movies.

I am certainly not alone in this sentiment.

I had always wanted a Nightmare tattoo, as many may agree, the artistic style of the film lends itself splendidly to a tattoo motif. The appeal is widespread, as evidenced by the popularity of the characters Jack Skellington and his girlfriend Sally in ink.

The style was most likely seen by the most people on the left arm of Daisy de la Hoya, one of the contestants on VH1's Rock of Love 2 "reality" show (and the subsequent spin-off, "Daisy of Love").

Nonetheless, despite the popularity of these tattoos, I will still happily post them here, when I find them, and they are offered. See these previous examples.

Several weeks ago, by the James A. Farley Post Office on 31st Street in Manhattan, I met James, who had this Nightmare sleeve:




James has liked the movie since he was young (which made me feel old) and is a huge fan. He has seven tattoos, but this piece, which was inked in five sittings, is the centerpiece of his collection.


The was inked at Whatever Tattoo in Manhattan. Work from Whatever has appeared previously on Tattoosday here.

Say what you want about the "trendiness" of Nightmare Before Christmas tattoos, but I think that their popularity stems not only from the love of the film, but the macabre side of traditional "dark" tattoos, softened by the warmth of a film that many associate with youth and innocence.

Thanks to James for sharing his tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Ricky & Jessica's Matching Nightmarish Tattoos

I met Jessica and Ricky outside of Penn Station during the last week of April.

I had spotted one of Ricky's four tattoos on his right bicep:


This is, of course, a tattoo based on the great film A Nightmare Before Christmas, with the character Jack Skellington in the foreground and his girlfriend Sally in the background, standing on the recognizable Tim Burton hill.


What's particularly cool about the leering Jack tattoo is that it was inked at the same time as Ricky's girlfriend Jessica's piece:


This tattoo, one of eleven that Jessica sports, is on her right ankle. The design is similar, with the hill in the background, only the roles are reversed.

In the foreground is Sally, and Jack stands in the background.

The two tattoos, a matching set, were customized for the couple that sports them by Sean at Spanky's Tattoo Studio in Camden, New Jersey.

As a fan of The Nightmare Before Christmas, I totally appreciate the representation of the two main characters in ink, and the romantic in me loves the fact that Jessica and Ricky expressed their relationship in this fashion (Full disclosure: my wife and I have matching Jack and Sally coffee mugs).

A Nightmare Before Christmas tattoo has appeared on the blog previously here.

Thanks to Ricky and Jessica for sharing their tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Abbey Nex Contemplates Transforming an Iconic Tattoo Image

Just a brief note...despite the Tattooed Poets Project for National Poetry Month, I still plan on spotting ink on the streets of New York, and posting it here.

This is one of those posts....

Back on April 1, I spotted a very distinct-looking individual at the Amtrak terminal in Penn Station. It's a great inkspotting locale, as people are usually standing (or sitting) around, waiting. Those folks are more amenable to chatting about their tattoos than their counterparts who are rushing for the train, or are running back from lunch.

I mention that he was distinct looking, because he stood out in the normally conservative Amtrak crowd. He looked the part: performing under the name Abbey Nex, the gentleman was headed back to Baltimore after a tour of Europe with his band, Psyclon Nine. He primarily plays bass for the band, although Psyclon Nine's MySpace page credits him with broken mirrors and scabbed knees, as well. The band is classified as metal/black metal/industrial.

Abbey Nex has ten tattoos in all, but we decided to share the one that I saw first, an old Jack Skellington piece that his friend Emily did about 8 years ago on his inner left forearm:


Nightmare Before Christmas tattoos are among the more popular movie-themed pieces in our society, primarily because the stop-action animation classic has such a huge following, but also because the main characters make such great designs for big tattoo pieces. He also has one of Jack's girlfriend Sally on his inner right bicep.

Abbey admits that he has come to regret this piece a bit, having outgrown it to some extent. However, he plans to alter it to bring it more in line with his aesthetic sensibilities. The plan is to leave the majority of the tattoo intact, but to replace Jack's trademark head with a less childish,
more macabre and elongated animal skull. The piece directly above the Skellington tattoo is an elaborate bat skeleton.

I want to thank Abbey Nex for sharing his tattoo with us here on Tattoosday, and for giving me a pen, liberated from the Four Seasons Hotel in Dublin, since I ventured out lacking a writing instrument to scribble my notes.

Here's a video of the band's song "Parasitic":