Longtime tattoo artist Richie Vomit and his spouse, Heidi, weren’t fairly certain what to anticipate once they took a significant leap by shifting from Sioux Metropolis, Iowa to the Pittsburgh space.
However since settling in Verona in Might and opening up a tattoo store/horror movie and popular culture memorabilia retailer in Oakmont known as The Monster Mart, they couldn’t be happier with their resolution.
Positioned on the higher Allegheny River Boulevard in Oakmont, The Monster Mart first served as a house base for Richie’s long-standing tattoo enterprise.
He has been doing ink for greater than 20 years and has developed a popularity for creating among the greatest character tattoos within the sport. He has finished that through the use of his love of flicks, music, horror and popular culture to domesticate a portfolio that features tattoos of everybody from Willy Wonka (the Gene Wilder model) to director John Waters, punk/heavy steel singer Glenn Danzig and the Bride of Frankenstein.
The tattoo store takes up the underside flooring of Richie and Heidi’s two-story location, whereas the highest flooring homes the memorabilia a part of the enterprise.
With Halloween simply across the nook, Richie carries a big selection of masks of well-known Hollywood monsters together with an enormous cache of collectible figurines, full-size statues, horror-themed T-shirts, indicators and decorations. The delivery of the memorabilia store is the end result of a four-decade love affair with the horror style.
“I’ve been amassing horror since earlier than I used to be tattooing, and I’ve at all times wished a retailer,” Riche stated. “I’ve been into horror for the reason that ‘80s. My dad was into horror. My brother, who was 12 years older than me, when VCRs got here out, he obtained one straight away and we’d exit and hire films. We went to Blockbuster as soon as per week, and I might go straight to the horror part.”
As well as, Richie and Heidi additionally use their immense horror assortment to frequent conventions, which offers them with one other enterprise alternative. They are often discovered at Metal Metropolis Con, which begins Dec. 10 on the Monroeville Conference Middle.
Additionally they arrange a sales space at Dwelling Useless Weekend in July in Monroeville and at Hearsemania on the Moundsville, W.Va., Fall Weird in September.
They provide on-line ordering from their web site TheMonsterMart.com, with choices for delivery or in-store pickup. With the Halloween season underway, Richie and Heidi are placing collectively a window scene for the storefront based mostly on the film “Halloween 3”, full with life-sized figures and music from the film.
Thus far, Richie and Heidi have obtained constructive suggestions from guests to the shop.
“All people’s been so welcoming and supportive,” Richie stated. “The primary day right here, we had clients. Everybody is available in and loves it right here. … I simply need to thank everybody for his or her help. This has been a dream come true. I’ve the good job on the earth.”
However Richie’s creativity and love of horror doesn’t finish along with his retailer. He has a lot greater plans. On Oct. 5, he’ll be attending the Tom Savini Particular Make-up Results program within the Pittsburgh space, the place he’ll study to make his personal masks and particular results.
“I’d like to start out my very own enterprise making masks and film props, and I need to base it out of Pittsburgh,” Richie stated. “I additionally need to make films and direct.”
Richie and Heidi have already directed and produced two impartial horror movies: “Farmlands” in 2006 and “Machete Mamas” in 2007, however Richie believes attending the Savini College will assist him increase upon his already formidable inventive expertise. He even has some plans to make use of what he learns within the programs to finally open a haunted home that can function animatronics and a horror-themed experience.
“I’m an artist,” he stated, “so I at all times have 1,000,000 concepts working by way of my head always.”
For now, although, Richie and Heidi are merely having fun with being within the Pittsburgh space, he stated.
“We love Pittsburgh. We’re so glad to be right here,” he stated. It’s not simply the zombie capital of the world (“Evening of the Dwelling Useless”); for my part, it’s the horror capital.”
Richie and Heidi’s store is situated at 802 Allegheny River Blvd. in Oakmont. Attain them on-line at TheMonsterMart.com or by cellphone at 412-912-6825.
Darren Yuvan is a Trib Complete Media contributing author.
