Venice Halloween Flash Tattoo: Walk In at Noon at Ink Monkey

Ink Monkey, at 2417 Lincoln Blvd in Venice, takes tattoo walk-ins every day on a first come, first served basis, and on Saturday, October 31, 2026 it opens at noon and closes at 9 pm, so a same-day Halloween flash tattoo of a palm-sized bat or black cat needs no booking. The full name on the door is Ink Monkey Tattoo and Piercing, and the studio has worked this stretch of Lincoln Boulevard, near its intersection with Venice Boulevard, since October 2006. Piercings here are walk-in only.

The shop's own homepage gives its start date plainly: "EST. OCT 2006." October 2026 is therefore its twentieth anniversary month, which is a neat excuse to get something seasonal here rather than somewhere on the boardwalk. The same page carries the line "VOTED BEST TATTOO & PIERCING STUDIO ON THE WESTSIDE FOR 8 YEARS!" and says the studio is open seven days a week, which matters on a holiday that lands on a Saturday this year.

What makes it useful for a spur-of-the-moment Halloween piece is the way it describes itself. The welcome text says Ink Monkey is known for custom tattoo work but also accepts walk-ins every day. In practice that means the people drawing your design at the counter are the same artists who take long custom projects by appointment, so a quick spooky piece gets the same hands. Body piercing runs out of the same room on Lincoln, also on a walk-in basis.

There are two doors into a tattoo here. The first is simply walking in, and the shop is explicit that walk-ins are handled first come, first served, so there is no list to join online before you arrive. The second is the BOOK NOW link on the booking page, where you are asked to choose an artist before you get a slot. If you already know whose linework you want for a Halloween design, book. If you just want something small and dark today, walk in early.

Piercing has stricter rules. The booking page says piercing is walk-ins only and no appointments are available, and the piercing page adds that services are taken seven days a week. Anyone under 18 needs a legal guardian present with state or federal ID, plus ID of their own. Tattoos are a different matter: California Penal Code 653 makes tattooing anyone under 18 a misdemeanor, so bring a government photo ID that proves you are an adult.

The tattoo roster on the site lists six artists, Max, Justin, Yuily, Olee, Sick and Eder, each with a portfolio page worth scrolling before you go. The piercers are Two Hawks, Sam and T. Looking at the portfolios on your phone at home, not at the counter, lets you point to a style you like when you arrive, which speeds up the conversation when the shop is busy on a Friday or Saturday evening.

Recent Yelp reviews show who actually walks through the door. In September 2026 one customer wrote about coming in with a friend for matching windmill tattoos and called Justin super friendly. In March 2026 Carmen G. described her first tattoo with Max, after a receptionist who remembered her earlier phone call welcomed her in. In June 2026 Emily M. stopped in while stuck in traffic heading back to the San Fernando Valley because a newer stacked ear piercing was disappearing into her ear, and Sam sorted it out.

Ink Monkey has not published a Halloween 2026 flash event on its website, so do not expect a pre-printed sheet of numbered spooky designs at a fixed price. What the shop does offer is daily walk-in service from artists who draw custom work. The practical approach is to arrive with one clear reference, a sitting black cat, a single bat, a small jack-o'-lantern, and let the artist redraw it to suit your skin and placement.

Keep the walk-in version modest, something palm-sized on a forearm, ankle or calf, and save a full haunted-house sleeve panel for a booked session through the artist picker, where you can choose Max, Justin, Yuily, Olee, Sick or Eder by portfolio. If you want to match a friend, take the cue from the windmill pair in the reviews and ask for one artist to do both pieces back to back, so the cats or bats come out as a true set.

The posted hours are Monday to Thursday from noon to 8 pm, and Friday to Sunday from noon to 9 pm. Halloween 2026 falls on a Saturday, so the shop runs its longer weekend schedule that day, and Friday, October 30 also closes at 9 pm. Thursday, October 29 closes an hour earlier, at 8 pm. Walking in right at noon gives you the most room before the evening rush, and a weekday visit earlier that week is calmer still.

If the counter tells you the wait will run past your costume plans, there is a straightforward plan B a short drive or bus ride north on Lincoln. Black Diamond Tattoo, toward the Santa Monica end of Venice, runs an online booker on its site aimed at anyone who wants a small tattoo today or tomorrow. Grab an open slot there rather than spending your Halloween evening in a waiting chair, then come back to Ink Monkey for a bigger booked piece in November.

Here is the honest judgment: do not get a tattoo on Halloween afternoon if your costume plan involves the sand at Venice Beach or a pool party that night. Ink Monkey's own aftercare sheet tells clients to leave the bandage on for two to three days and to keep the tattoo out of direct sunlight, swimming, sauna, steam and tubs for at least two weeks. A fresh piece under a bandage also cannot be part of the costume.

The same instructions rule out a few other Halloween habits. The shop says not to apply alcohol, Neosporin, Vaseline or petroleum jelly, and not to rub or scratch a new tattoo, so skip covering it with costume makeup, body paint or glitter glue. Wash it gently with mild unscented antibacterial soap two or three times a day and use a light, fragrance-free lotion. A Thursday, October 29 visit gives you two days of healing before Saturday's parties instead of none.

You do not need to go far to fill a wait. Goodboybob, the coffee roaster, opened a counter inside the Deus Ex Machina motorcycle and surf shop at Lincoln Boulevard and Venice Boulevard with a grand opening on July 18, 2026. Hoodline reported pour-overs made with Guatemalan beans, espresso drinks, teas, muffins, bagels and pastries, plus a brown-butter drink called the BBL. It is the most convenient stop between putting your name down and sitting in the chair.

With an hour or more to spare, walk west along Venice Boulevard toward the Venice Canal Historic District. The canals were built in 1905 by developer Abbot Kinney, who wanted coastal Los Angeles to look and feel like Venice, Italy, and the district is bounded by Abbot Kinney Boulevard, Pacific Avenue, Westminster Avenue and Venice Boulevard. Dell Avenue crosses all four east-west canals on its own bridges, each with steps down to the walkways, which makes a quiet loop away from Lincoln's traffic.

Without a car, Metro Local line 33 runs along Venice Boulevard from Downtown Los Angeles and connects with the Metro E Line at Culver City station, and it stops a short walk from the shop. Big Blue Bus line 3, run by Santa Monica Transit, works the length of Lincoln Boulevard itself.

Yelp lists credit cards as accepted at Ink Monkey, so you do not need a cash run before walking in. Bring the photo ID the state requires for any tattoo, and pick up the shop's aftercare advice before you leave: mild unscented antibacterial soap, a light fragrance-free lotion and two weeks out of the sun. The shop posts work and updates on Instagram and Facebook under @inkmonkeyvenice, which is the best place to see what the artists have been drawing lately before you pick a reference for your Halloween piece.