A mom who is covered in tattoos has revealed why she won't be attending any Halloween parties this year.
Melissa Sloan, a 46-year-old mother of seven from Wales, boasts over 800 tattoos acquired over two decades.
Melissa's inked visage has rendered her an outcast in her community which has meant they she has to forego some seasonal celebrations.
This Halloween season is no different, as Melissa continues to find herself conspicuously absent from guest lists. Although she'd love to be part of a spooktacular bash, Melissa has yet to receive her first Halloween party invitation.
Speaking to the Daily Star, Melissa said: "People say I don’t need a costume because I’m scary enough. They don’t know the inside of me, bless them. I just take no notice of them as there’s nothing I can do, nothing I can do. I just carry on with the tattoos, more tattoos."
Despite the relentless trolling about her appearance, Melissa remains resilient in her quest to attend Halloween parties. She has even contemplated creative costume ideas, including wearing a Freddy Krueger mask to mask her "scary" face.
Melissa believes that dressing up as the antagonist from A Nightmare on Elm Street would improve her chances of being invited and accepted into a Halloween party. Alternatively, she has considered donning a Leatherface outfit from Texas Chainsaw Massacre as being less intimidating than her "prison-style" inked face.
"I would dress up as Freddy Krueger because you can’t see me underneath," Melissa explained. "I’ll have a red and grey jumper with a mask – can’t see me then, can you! I’d also dress up as the guy from Chainsaw massacre, the one with the saw. I don’t know what people would say, but they would stand and stare probably."
However, Halloween parties aren't the only challenge Melissa faces, as Christmas can be a particularly difficult time for her as well.
As reported by the Star, her children's school enforces a policy that compels her to stand outside to watch their annual nativity play. This exclusionary measure leaves her feeling ostracized and marginalized during the holiday season.
"No Christmas parties, and when I go to my child's school, I don't get invited," Melissa revealed. "They said once for me to go to the back garden and look through the class window they told me to do so."
As a result, she no longer attends her children's school events, placing the responsibility of parental duties squarely on her husband, Luke. She explained: "I feel so jealous as I can't go there and to the Christmas fayre as I know what they're [teachers and parents] like towards me. I wait at home by myself for my family to return."
She also says that she is barred from the local pubs, though despite pubs not explicitly attributing her exclusion to her tattoos, Melissa believes that her inked face is the root cause of her being denied entry to these establishments.
