World-Famous Vampire Woman Makes Special Appearance at Venezuelan Expo Tattoo 2012 [PHOTOS]

The Venezuelan Expo Tattoo event held on Friday saw tattoos being taken to a whole new level, with hundreds of artists showcasing their skills that included under-skin implants and piercings, Huffington Post reported.

However, it was the event's special guest Maria Hose Cristerna, also dubbed as the Vampire Woman, who grabbed the spotlight at the second annual exhibition event held in the capital city of Caracas. The 35-year-old is herself a work of art, with almost 100 percent of her body covered in tattoos. She also has prosthetic fangs, fluorescent eyes and titanium horn implants in her forehead.

The mother of four and former lawyer took to body art as a form of self-expression after suffering years of domestic abuse from a previous marriage, according to previous interviews.

The horns I have are a symbol of strength and were implanted without anaesthetic. I had the fangs done because I loved vampires as a little girl and I changed the colour of my eyes so they were how I really wanted them to be, Cristerna told The Sun in an interview published April 2011.

The Expo, which ended Sunday, also saw many tattoo enthusiasts taking their body art to the extreme, with some hooked to pulley suspensions through clasps in their chests.

Here's a look at some of the striking pictures of the world-famous Vampire Woman and other tattoo aficionados, bound to leave you aghast.