Thirteen Denver Tattoo Shops With Flash Deals for Friday the 13th

Set your alarms and grab your moisturizer of choice: Another Friday the 13th is upon us, and that means flash deals at Denver tattoo shops.

The Mile High City has long been a tatt town of note, with hundreds of artists ready to turn your epidermis into art any day of the week, but Friday the 13th is something special, when lines of first-timers and pro-level art addicts alike descend on shops for deals, fun, camaraderie and that special sting of "ink therapy."

Below is a list of shops that comprise both the "sure things" and "rising stars" of the scene, as well as from across the area, Longmont to Colorado Springs, with a special emphasis on Denver's finest. As always, be sure to read the fine print on the specials (payment guidelines, sign-up protocol, placement rules), head to the ATM for a few crisp bills to serve as a cash tip, and don't be afraid to call up a shop and chat about how it does business and what it's known for. But don't worry: Any of the shops on this list would be a great place to start your body-art journey.

Here are thirteen Denver-area locations offering flash deals:

Colorado Mountain Kava Company
615 Ken Pratt Boulevard, Longmont
740-833-6864
If you're looking for a shop to support on Friday the 13th that could definitely use it, Black Kraken is at the top of the list. The small Longmont studio is a family affair, owned and operated by Mick and Natasha Minyard; it has also been broken into and robbed twice this year, as well as held up at gunpoint earlier this summer. After rallying with help from the community and crowdfunding, Black Kraken is hosting a flash day at Colorado Mountain Kava, a Longmont tea, kava and late-night destination. The event has reserved spots from noon to 5:30 p.m. as well as walk-in availability from 5:30 p.m. until 2 a.m. Reserved spots go for $20 (which also serves as a tattoo deposit, and flash is arms and legs only, with color, black and grey options).

Fortune Cookie Tattoo
329 14th Street
393-893-4003
Fortune Cookie is one of a small handful of tatt shacks located right in the heart of Denver. Tucked under the skyline's shadow and just a stone's throw from museums, hotels and the convention center, it has several sheets of the wildest, funkiest flash in town for Friday the 13th: There are cute kittie popsicles, MF Doom masks, Wolverine, Deadpool and Maurice Sendak's wild things...as well as raunchier designs, including what we're pretty sure is a vibrator wearing a top hat. Flash ranges from $60 to $130; the shop will also be running a $31 piercing special.

Frisco Tattoo
2900 Valmont Road, Unit F1, Boulder
720-726-2116
Need some F13 ink a little farther up the Front Range? Boulder's Frisco Tattoo has got you covered — or at least, it would like to. The shop is offering $31 flash from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m., arms and legs only, walk-ins only. Artists Jibaro, Justin Delaney Williams and Julia Williams will be working from a crisp sheet of classic flash designs, with plenty of seasonal and themed staples, including rabbit's feet, broken mirrors and black cats. Our favorite? A cutie-pie sheet ghost puffing on a doobie.

Humble Art Tattoo
11654 Huron Street Ste120, Northglenn
559-776-3026
Humble Art has some of the best Halloween-themed flash for this edition of Friday the 13th, with demons, ghosts, skulls and pumpkins aplenty on its sheets. It also has some of the weirdest, most fun and most pop-culture-obsessed: skulls with boobs instead of eyes, UFOs beaming up slices of pizza, and tons of beloved characters, including skeletal versions of the Mario Bros. and Simpsons casts and horror icons such as Beetlejuice, Jason and Michael Myers. Flash is $31 and up during regular shop hours, noon to 8 p.m., first come, first served.

Improper City
3201 Walnut Street
720-666-0043
Taproom and coffee bar Improper City is also bringing the horror love for this edition of Friday the 13th, with a flash tattoo and movie-watching event from 6 p.m. until midnight. Flash will be coming courtesy of Shelby Rae, Catherine Mallory and Jared Rice; they'll be joined by two spooky classic films, Beetlejuice at 7:30 p.m. and Friday the 13th at 9:30 p.m. The films — and the popcorn — are free; the artists can be reached for flash pricing via their Instagrams.

Lifetime Tattoo
1510 East Colfax Avenue
303-839-8088
Just blew into town? Then you might not know that Lifetime Tattoo has been one of Denver's tatt-shop greats since 2001 — and one of the most reliable places to find your ink therapy on Friday the 13th. The deep bench of artists working at Lifetime can do just about anything, but arguably the shop is best known for producing some of the most breathtaking and beautiful traditional work around. On Friday, they'll have a slightly extended day, from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., with designs running from $150 to $200. They're keeping the sheets close to the chest for the moment, but they promise to have "crazy new designs. First come first served. Let's Party!"

Long Live Tattoo Collective
864 Santa Fe Drive
Long Live is a force. It has a wildly diverse cast of incredible artists (a lot of places do everything, but Long Live does everything really well), just started its own tattoo festival, and is definitely rocking out this Friday the 13th. And get this: They don't even have a phone number, kid. In all seriousness, you can't call the store; it doesn't have a landline, but it will have hundreds of flash designs available on Friday for $31 (plus a mandatory $19 tip) — along with larger flash at slightly elevated price points. Choices range from traditional choices to spooky favorites, and the Monster Mash at its Lincoln Park headquarters is running from 4:30 p.m. until "Question Mark."

Lovestruck Tattoo
2260 South Broadway
Lovestruck is part of Bonaroo Tattoo, a trio of shops in Denver, Aurora and Parker. Despite the similar spelling, the shop isn't connected to the Bonnaroo Festival. Instead, they share roots in the same Creole-derived phrase "Bon-a-roo" — a polyglot colloquialism meaning "best on the street." The tattooers interpret it as "bringing your best," and that's what they'll be offering on Friday the 13th, with flash ranging from $60 to $120 from noon to 8 p.m. Artists strutting their stuff include the shop's Ian Rice, Jarad Graves and Mika Clairissa. There will also be a special treat in the form of guest pop-up and former Sol Triber J.Partylord, an artist known for some of the best axes, skulls and crispy lines around.

Nest Art Collective
7460 West 38th Avenue, Wheat Ridge
720-593-1357
Nest opened in the summer of 2021, making it one of the newer destinations on this list, and it's also a shop aligned with "new school" values, in the best ways possible. Owner Lora Bird is keenly aware of the ample cautionary tales within tattooing, and she's trying to write fresh stories for her fellow body-art lovers who have experienced them. "So many clients have terrible tattoo stories, from not feeling heard to outright abuse," she says, and she "wants to change that forever! We're on the front line for making safe, clean, femme and queer spaces for tattooing more mainstream."

Nest has been hosting community-building versions of Friday the 13th since it opened. In addition to tattoos, visitors on Friday will able to peruse jewelry from Pharmakeia Co-op and Amy Lubbs, grab a vegan ice cream from Best One Yet or get a tarot reading from Chandler, among other vendors. Event sign-up begins at 10 a.m., designs start at $75 and are arms and legs only. Artist sheets (there are a lot) are currently posted on Nest's Instagram.

Primal Tattoo
994 South Peoria Street, Aurora
303-954-9864
If you're an early bird, you may want to check out Primal in Aurora, which is getting cracking for first come, first served walk-ins on Friday at 9 a.m. Primal also has some of the most affordable pricing, with $31 linework/shading tattoo rates, $50 for color and $31 piercings. The shop hasn't posted flash sheets yet, but its artists excel at both realism and traditional style and have a definite emphasis on seasonal spookiness.

The Scurvy Dog Tattoo
11881 South Parker Road, #4, Parker
303-952-8984
Scurvy Dog's name makes it sound a bit rough around the edges, but the crisp, beautiful flash it's offering on Friday is anything but. It has some of the best ghosts (and ghost faces) we've seen, and its sheeted cuties are doing everything from grabbing a cup of coffee to going on a hike. Flash designs are $50, with an added perk: Changes can be purchased for an additional $10 per. The event runs from noon until 10 p.m. at its location in Parker.

Tribe Tattoo
698 Santa Fe Drive
720-904-8904
Tribe is another of Denver's longtime, legendary ink destinations, opened by John Slaughter back in 2001. It's always one of the more popular places to grab flash on F13 — as even a quick glance at its artists' sheets will tell you. This year, there are an even ten dealing out fantastic designs, accompanied by food and music on site. Pricing varies by artist (mostly in the $100 to $150 range), and work being offered is currently being posted both in Tribe's story and "Friday 13" collection on Instagram.

Uprising Tattoo
1532 North Circle Drive, Colorado Springs
719-323-3955
Got a hankering for road-tripping to get some flash? Uprising in Colorado Springs has a massive pile of flash for Friday, with lots of traditional choices and a particularly great selection of Beetlejuice-themed items. Designs are arranged in categories of $20, $50 and $130. Aside from the convenient pricing, another perk of note at Uprising this year is allowing up to three designs per customer (in contrast to the usual "one and done" rule that most shops insist on). The store will be getting started a little earlier than usual for the festivities, opening at 10 a.m. and running specials until 8 p.m.