A woman with more than 800 tattoos says Halloween is the one night a year where she doesn’t have to hide her face – because people already find her so terrifying.
Melissa Sloan has made headlines in the past for her elaborate ink, which attracts “stares, pointing and kids running away” when she is out in public.
Dubbed ‘Britain’s most tattooed mum’, she often smothers herself in make-up before leaving the house, for fear of “scaring” kids.
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But on Halloween, the 46-year-old is free to be herself and doesn’t bother with a costume when she takes her seven children trick-or-treating.
“I don’t need to dress up because of my face – people say I look scary enough,” Melissa, from Kidderminster, told What’s The Jam.
“I’ve had people say I look like a freak, or even a gang member.
“I just take the kids trick-or-treating as I am.
“My kids know I’m unique.
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“I just stay in the background.”
Last Halloween, Melissa even found that local children were “too scared” to come to her house for trick-or-treating.
She claimed: “When I open the door to give out sweets, kids sometimes run off.
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“Others won’t even bother trick-or-treating at my place at all.”
It’s nothing new for Melissa, who has been at the receiving end of plenty of criticism over the years thanks to her ink.
She said, “I wish I had never got them.
“I’m sick of people judging me.
“They look at me like I’m crazy and say I ruined my face.
“I think I was pretty before I got tattoos.
“Now, I’m spending a lot of money on makeup, like foundation, to cover them.
“I’d like to remove my face tattoos, but it would cost a lot of money.
“People get scared of me when I’m outside and at the shops, but when I have makeup on, they look at me differently.”
But while she faces judgment year-round, spooky season proves to be something of a relief for the mum.
She explained: “I like that people look different on Halloween – I feel more comfortable being myself.”
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