The way they describe it, Ferndale’s new Witch House Tattoo is bigger than husband-and-wife owners Pamela and Kevin McLeod. It’s almost as if some dark, mysterious force is behind it.
The two have had an extraordinary run of good fortune — or perhaps otherworldly intervention — in transforming the old house on Livernois Avenue into a new tattoo studio, which opened to the public in October. (Naturally.) The painted-black home is located right next to the brightly hued Ferndale Project brewery, creating an amusing juxtaposition that recalls Wednesday Addams and Enid from the hit Netflix show.
“Basically, the structure was perfect, the floor plan was perfect,” Pamela tells Metro Times. “It’s just that we had to restore her to the form she was always meant to be, with this gothic vibe.”
As the couple tells it, it was Pamela who initially spotted the old house, which is a bit of an outlier on the otherwise industrial-residential strip of Livernois. There was no for sale or for lease sign posted, but on a lark Pamela decided to search real estate listings on the internet. To her surprise, the property was listed by the owner of the Ferndale Project building.
“We struck up a conversation and too many things just aligned,” she says. “It was just really one of those meant-to-be things.”
“We tried to walk away from this several times,” Kevin adds. “It just kept calling us.”
The two moved in last July, and set to work restoring the black beauty. That included ordering wallpaper from Germany and Latvia, and collecting antiques from in and around Michigan.
“We had a joke that the house was collecting all of her things back,” Pamela says.
“And once we collect the final item, a vortex will open and a witch will be born,” Kevin says.
Kevin is a tattoo artist and owner and operator of Ferndale’s nearby Detroit Grand Tattoo Company at Nine Mile and Woodward. While he prides the Detroit Grand Tattoo Company artists for their diverse styles, he says he wanted to open a second studio to focus on his personal preference, which is dark: black and monochrome designs with pops of color. He sees the studios as sisters, and will refer customers between the two depending on the job.
“I can tattoo in many different styles, but it doesn't really satisfy the soul,” he says. “I wanted to just do my one thing.”
Aside from managing the business, Pamela helped design the interior. A part of the first floor is dedicated to retail space where she sells oils, candles, incense, and teas.
She describes Witch House Tattoo as “an immersive experience” with an emphasis on hospitality.
“My client the other night called it a ‘goth spa,’” Kevin says. The two also plan to host occult-themed events like tarot card readings and tea rituals.
Continuing with the theme of fate, they also created a novelty Magic 8 Ball, the old fortune-telling toy with a custom die inside that has 20 different suggestions for tattoo ideas.
“I’ve had two people do the Magic 8 Ball for their first tattoo, which is really wild to me,” Kevin says. He is also considering launching a deal dubbed “The Mark of the Beast” where he will do a full-day session for, say, $666 — with the only stipulation being he gets to draw whatever he wants. (All prices will be “angel numbers,” or repeating numbers significant to numerology, he says, though he’s still ironing out details.)
So far, Kevin is the only artist operating in the space, but he hopes to invite guest artists to work alongside him.
“We’re holding out for somebody that just agrees with our philosophy,” Pamela says.
For now, the studio has operated largely by word-of-mouth. A sign is being built, but it will be emblazoned with Witch House Tattoo’s mysterious logo. Kevin says he doesn’t want to advertise the studio too heavily because it’s appointment only and doesn’t keep regular hours.
For anyone curious enough to approach the front porch, they can use their smartphone to scan a printed QR code, those modern-day runes, to pull up the Witch House Tattoo website.
Kevin and Pamela say that despite its low profile, the business is already attracting lovers of the dark and macabre.
“Oh my god, they’re our favorite people,” Pamela says of Witch House Tattoo’s clientele.
“I go home, and I’m just like, filled with joy,” Kevin says.
“It means a lot to get such great feedback from the community,” Pamela says. “It’s just so reaffirming to all of the work that it took, and the risk.”
Pamela invokes the line from the 1989 ghost movie Field of Dreams: “If you build it, they will come.”
“It’s so true,” Kevin says. “Like, people dressed all in black have been coming in and they’re like, ‘I have been waiting for a place like this to exist.’ ... We’re finding our tribe.”
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