Marcelo Rosales makes a small key tattoo on Brittany Boss' tattoo sleeve.

Friday the 13th is universally known as a day of bad luck, but if you walk into any tattoo parlor across the country, you might think it’s a holiday.

In Tyler, the lobby of the Lost Boys Tattoo shop was filled with over 40 people at noon Friday. “This is just the beginning,” said one worker, before rushing to round up the crowd according to the tickets they were given hours ago. He planned to do the same with the next group.

Though it may be unofficial, it is a tradition at tattoo parlors to offer specials on Friday the 13th. By noon, over 150 people had signed up at the Lost Boys, and more were expected. The shop had more than 50 tattoos to choose from, each costing $13 plus a $7 suggested tip. Per tradition, most have some sort of horror theme, or at least a 13 somewhere.

Sarah Buck, who drove over an hour from Pittsburg, is no stranger to Friday the 13th tattoo specials. This was the third time she had come to Lost Boys, and each time she’s left with two tattoos.

Today, she’s getting a Beetlejuice and the deathly hallows from the Harry Potter series.

“Friday the 13th tattoos are great because they’re always a little horror-themed, and I grew up watching a lot of horror movies,” she said. “It reminds me of my childhood.”

A few feet away from Buck was Tyler native Brittany Boss, who showed up to the shop at 8 a.m. and got serviced at noon. She got an eye tattoo and skull-shaped key to add to her Alice in Wonderland-themed sleeve.

Boss has several tattoos commemorating family members, including a clock with the time her son was born and the last name of her late brother, who she said told her the day before he died that she was going to have a baby boy.

“It’s like the storyline of my family, of my life,” she said, pointing to a vintage butterfly tattoo she got commemorating her greatgrandmother, which was done by the same tattoo artist working on her as she spoke.

Marcelo “Layzie” Rosales, co-owner of Lost Boys, has been a tattoo artist for 15 years.

“I was born for this,” he said, raising his voice to drown out the buzzing sound of his tattoo pen and the Nirvana song playing in the shop.

Rosales has been drawing since he can remember, but being able to use someone’s skin as a canvas is something truly special, he said.

“Being able to hear something come out of someone’s mouth and turn it into a picture – that what I do,” he said. “It’s almost like a magic trick. As an artist, you’re supposed to have that magic.”

Marquis Craver of Chandler browsed through over 50 tattoos on the flashsheets he had to choose from. He had his eye on a rose tattoo, or maybe one that said “Lucky Thirteen.” Though he remained indecisive, he already had a ticket, so he knew he wasn’t leaving the shop without one.

“I’ll figure it out,” he said. “It’s just skin.”