Bite Mark Clothing - Horror T-Shirts To Die For!

Its a year down the line since I started Bite Mark (launched on October 31st 2007) and after packing orders in my flat, I wanted to meet my customers face to face. 60% of all Bite Mark orders are from the USA so I made the decision to buy a booth at one of the horror conventions. Spooky Empire Ultimate Horror Weekend convention in Orlando, Florida was my choice as of the amazing reputation from fans and vendors alike.

It was gonna cost practially all of my savings to buy the space and fly myself and a friend over to the convention. But I had to do it. Bite Mark had grown into something I could never have imagined and I wanted to put everything I had into it.

Cue me booking a booth in May 2008, leaving me with 5 months to prepare. Everyday I would sit on the internet researching tradeshows, conventions, booths designs and tips. The concept of the booth changed every few days but I knew I want a great customer experience that anyone who walked by couldn't ignore.

I finally decided on a 1950s horror cinema experience. I adore all the showmanship and promotion that accompanied horror movies from directors such as William Castle and Alfred Hitchcock. There was a tongue in cheek element in tag lines for movies and glamour that is rarely seen in todays industry.

The booth was going to have myself and my friend decked out in old fashioned usher outfits, vintage popcorn bowls with halloween candy and other little details that showcased the effort and time I put into every Bite Mark t-shirt and orders.

Little by little I ordered parts of the booth. From the banners at the back, going to fabric stores to pick the correct colour and size of the table cloths, the right vintage popcorn bowls, finding the usher costumes etc

The 5 months flew by and on Oct 14th I was on a flight 4000 miles from Scotland to Orlando, Florida. I was so nervous, I kept going over all the layouts and details in my head. Once I planted my feet in Orlando International Airport, I instantly chilled out and knew that whatever happened, I'd have a great time.

The convention would run over 3 days from Oct 17th-19th. I had posted 7 parcels containing most of the hand printed bags, banner stands over a week earlier and they didn't arrive in time even though I paid 200 bucks for a guaranteed delivery. The most important lesson I learned was to improvise as there's alway something that will go wrong.

The lack of my original back display didn't deter customers however and I made the best of what I had. After putting my sales woman into overdrive, we took in over 100 t-shirt sales that weekend.

I met loads of awesome people and realised that other horror fans wanted original and high quality tees just like me. I've just released the second season of Bite Mark tees called Horror In Technicolor and I'm currently working on season 3.

The convention opened tonnes of doors and possibilites for Bite Mark and I can't wait for what the future holds. Thank you to all my customers, you guys are practically family!

p.s wasn't so scary huh? :p



	When I was a kid I saw Nightmare On Elm Street on late night tv. I crept downstairs in my Super Mario pjs on to watch Freddie kill good looking teenagers whilst they slept. I was so terrified that I didn't make it back upstairs but I couldn't stop watching. The adrenaline from waiting for the next murder had me hooked and it was then I knew how much I loved horror movies. Fast forward 15 years and I'm still that same kid in Scotland who loves anything to do with horror. I'd collect bits n pieces from my favourite horror movies especially t-shirts. I'd wear and wear my fave Freddie tee but over time the print would fade and the t-shirt itself become crispy after each wash. I realised I wanted t-shirts that lasted. Horror tees that didn't just reuse the same images of horror icons and would stay as soft as the day I got them. No matter how much you wore and abused them. I started Bite Mark to extend my t-shirt collection. With a screen printing press from Ebay, I hand printed a small run of designs ranging from doomed zombie infected cities ("Nightwatch" t-shirt) to morbid philosophies ("Die Happy" t-shirt). I put together a crappy website offering the tees in limited runs with each one numbered and the tag hand stitched on. All the orders were printed and packed from my cupboard in my flat. With each order, customers would tell their friends about Bite Mark. And as my customer list grew, so did my ability to provide better packaging (body bag envelopes), faster customer service (I cut down my hours at my bar job) and work on a better customer experience from my t-shirts.		Its a year down the line since I started Bite Mark (launched on October 31st 2007) and after packing orders in my flat, I wanted to meet my customers face to face. 60% of all Bite Mark orders are from the USA so I made the decision to buy a booth at one of the horror conventions. Spooky Empire Ultimate Horror Weekend convention in Orlando, Florida was my choice as of the amazing reputation from fans and vendors alike. It was gonna cost practially all of my savings to buy the space and fly myself and a friend over to the convention. But I had to do it. Bite Mark had grown into something I could never have imagined and I wanted to put everything I had into it. Cue me booking a booth in May 2008, leaving me with 5 months to prepare. Everyday I would sit on the internet researching tradeshows, conventions, booths designs and tips. The concept of the booth changed every few days but I knew I want a great customer experience that anyone who walked by couldn't ignore. I finally decided on a 1950s horror cinema experience. I adore all the showmanship and promotion that accompanied horror movies from directors such as William Castle and Alfred Hitchcock. There was a tongue in cheek element in tag lines for movies and glamour that is rarely seen in todays industry. The booth was going to have myself and my friend decked out in old fashioned usher outfits, vintage popcorn bowls with halloween candy and other little details that showcased the effort and time I put into every Bite Mark t-shirt and orders. Little by little I ordered parts of the booth. From the banners at the back, going to fabric stores to pick the correct colour and size of the table cloths, the right vintage popcorn bowls, finding the usher costumes etc The 5 months flew by and on Oct 14th I was on a flight 4000 miles from Scotland to Orlando, Florida. I was so nervous, I kept going over all the layouts and details in my head. Once I planted my feet in Orlando International Airport, I instantly chilled out and knew that whatever happened, I'd have a great time. The convention would run over 3 days from Oct 17th-19th. I had posted 7 parcels containing most of the hand printed bags, banner stands over a week earlier and they didn't arrive in time even though I paid 200 bucks for a guaranteed delivery. The most important lesson I learned was to improvise as there's alway something that will go wrong. The lack of my original back display didn't deter customers however and I made the best of what I had. After putting my sales woman into overdrive, we took in over 100 t-shirt sales that weekend. I met loads of awesome people and realised that other horror fans wanted original and high quality tees just like me. I've just released the second season of Bite Mark tees called Horror In Technicolor and I'm currently working on season 3. The convention opened tonnes of doors and possibilites for Bite Mark and I can't wait for what the future holds. Thank you to all my customers, you guys are practically family! p.s wasn't so scary huh? :p