Forked tongues, vampire teeth and tattooed eyeballs... More stomach-churning pictures from tattoo expo

                  

It's the show which celebrates some of the most extreme body modification imaginable… and should you be uncomfortable with having your eyeball tattooed then look away now.

These unsettling pictures show in excruciating close-up every detail of the process, carried out at this year's Venezuela Tattoo Expo in Caracas, which bills itself as being the biggest event of its kind in Latin America.

Eyeball tattooing is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the bizarre procedures people have endured for the sake of (body) art.

Implants, dental work, ear tunnels and even carving off bits of their own flesh have all been experimented with as enthusiasts compete for the most diabolical look. More horrible pix ...

            

Ouch! Luis Alfonso has his eye tattooed black at Caracas's International Tattoo Festival

            

Hold him down: One twitch could be disastrous as Mr Alfonso's eye is injected with a dye 

            

Extreme: It may seem a modern conceit, but eyeball tattooing was first described in 150AD by the Romans

            

Scary: A man with both eyes tattooed black, named only as Alex, poses for a photograph by revealing his tongue, which has been cut down the middle to give it a reptilian-style split

             

Lizard-like: Carlos Dehaquiz has also gone for the full eye tattoo, to complement his facial tatts and piercings

             

Moody: Body modification and tattoo artist Emilio Gonzalez, who has complemented his facial tattoos with horn-like piercings in his forehead and tunnels in his ears and lower lip

             

Boring: This heavily tattooed man, named as Luber, looks comparatively normal compared to others at the tattoo expo who have experimented with the more extreme body modifications

              

Hidden talent: Luciel could pass for a normal person, and perhaps does when she dons a trouser suit for work or weddings. Only when she sticks out her tongue do we realise her enthusiasm for body modification

Meet Rato: The man with both his EYES tattooed blue

               

Mary Jose Cristerna, is a Mexican who is better known on the international tattoo circuit as Vampire Woman

               

Sub-dermal implants form ridges around her entire skull, while her tattoos have a distinct supernatural theme 

               

Ms Cristerna, pictured, has heavily modified her teeth to fit in her her vampire-inspired image

               

As well as extreme modification to her face, she offers people the key to her heart, pictured

               

This Venezuelan man is known, unsurprisingly enough, as Red Skull. He appeared at the four-day event

Extreme tattoos and body art at Venezuelan convention

                 

Kala Kaiwi, pictured, holds the world record for the non-surgically made stretch earlobes, at 109mm wide

                 

         Kala Kaiwi, pictured,  describes himself as a body modification artist from Hawaii

                  

Colombian Carlos Dehaquiz, who looks lizard-like, is one of the more normal exhibitors at the event

               

This woman hitches up her jeans to show of the design on her left leg, pictured which includes a skull