Twin tattoo artists bring magic and myth to Salem
At the Salem Night Faire, witches, ghostly forest dwellers, and artisan craftspeople come together for four nights of magic and myth in Pioneer Village on Oct. 20-21 and 27-28.
“The [costumed] characters of the Faire look like they’re intertwined with nature,” said Matthew Murray, cofounder of the Salem Night Faire, an annual event that is part-performance, part-marketplace, and entirely a celebration of the macabre. “There are branches and berries and things growing off of them. ...They just seem like they’re in their natural habitat, I suppose.”
Murray founded the Salem Night
Faire six years ago with his identical twin brother, Ryan. The two — both with long, dark hair and matching beards, almost indistinguishable save for their tattoos (although they do have one matching tattoo) — are the owners of the Black Veil Shoppe of Drear & Wonder, a Salem tattoo parlor and metaphysical supply and art shop.
The Black Veil — located on Boston Street, just over a mile walk from downtown Salem— is theatrically decorated and sells crystals, ritual candles, and original art prints, displayed among vinecovered walls and masked mannequins draped in gold and black robes. The back rooms are roped off with private tattooing stations, though visitors are welcome to browse and take photos of the shop without an appointment. While tattooing and running their shop is their full-time gig, the brothers look forward to putting on the Salem Night Faire every October.
“We used to go there [Pioneer Village] when we were kids,” said Ryan. “It’s very nostalgic to us.” The living history museum is located within a forest that attempts to re-create 1630 Salem — the scene might feel nostalgic to many since it’s featured in the film “Hocus Pocus.”
In addition to goods for purchase, performances, and other revelries, this year, the Murray brothers will present fireside ghost stories.
“You’ll be sitting there by the fire listening to a story, and then you’ll see a witch in the woods tucked away,” added Matthew.
The Faire begins at nightfall and features a number of local and regional artists and vendors, including Rhode Island jewelry shop OldMoon Metals, Salem clothing company Creeping Death Designs, and Massachusetts-based plushyseller Done by Donielle among many others. Some artists are traveling long distances to take part in the Faire, like artist Bill Crisafi, who is based in Chicago. Salem-based breweries East Regiment Beer Company and Far From The Tree Cider will serve alcohol for 21+ guests.
While attendees walk through the village, they’ll also find the infamous mute fortune teller who has become the face of the Salem Night Faire. The fortune teller can be recognized by his giant grin, but his lips, painted black, don’t move when he predicts your future. Instead, he extends his dirt-covered fingers to hand out short poems on small scraps of paper.
“They’re not pleasant, really,” Ryan said with a smile. “They’re either morose or dark or unfortunate little sentences.”
Some of these creatures, though, are elaborately dressed in the creations of Ashley Rose Couture, a Salem-born fashion designer specializing in macabre, avant-garde styles. Her designs — often made with tulle, lace, and beads and inspired by dark parts of history like the Salem witch trials — will be displayed by models.
For a finishing touch, Ryan and Matthew hand-carve about 40 jack-o-lanterns to scatter around the forest floor. “We’ll do it the night before. We’ll each do 20 and the next day, our hands are like this,” Matthew said as he held up his fingers, cramped up like claws.
But the pumpkins, witches, and unearthed creatures of the night are not only what the Murrays indulge in for the Salem Night Faire. These spirits and symbols reflect their collective art style as tattoo artists who only work with black and gray ink.
“Everything that we do art-wise is reminiscent of the history of Salem, Massachusetts, and New England Old World folklore,” said Ryan.
“Grimm’s fairy tales, too,” Matthew, who attended Massachusetts College of Art and Design, added.
Ryan explained that he and his brother “grew up on ‘Beetlejuice’ and ‘Alice in Wonderland,’” drawn to “anything that was kind of a strange and unusual story.”
“When we were kids,” he said, “we kind of always gravitated towards the darker side of things.”
While the tattoo requests and designs may change, the twins always find a way to incorporate a black widow spider, their joint signature. According to Ryan and Matthew, their eight-legged addition “forever seals a bond,” weaving their artwork into one web.
“It’s always been that way,” said Ryan. “We’ve always lived . . . and worked together, so I think our form of expressing ourselves just manifests in the same way.”