Looking Sharp -- Pop-On Fangs Are A Fashion Statement That Has Extra Bite Around Halloween

A full moon. Branches creaking in the wind. Rain beating down on the street. Suddenly a bloodthirsty vampire stalks through the shadows, his luminous cloak spreading out around him like the wings of a condor. He opens his cadaverous mouth, ready to sink his fangs into the nearest neck.

The Dracula film last year and the current $50-million adaption of Anne Rice's book, "Interview with the Vampire" (to open Nov. 4), have provided new blood for stake-through-the-heart fans. So it's only natural a new style would emerge out of the vampire cult.

Fangs.

Victor Moray started making fangs two years ago. He now has about 20 to 25 customers a month, and more than a dozen a day as Halloween approaches. The 22-year-old fang-maker said increased interest in vampires has helped his business, but he's uneasy with the notion fangs may be the latest trend in body adornment. "It's a way of self-expression," he said, "people like them because they are fun to show off."

Moray's fangs come in several styles. Most people like their Dracula caps on the canine teeth that already have a fangish quality. Some prefer their knife-sharp cutters right next to the front teeth, "Lost Boy" style, named after a popular movie among the vampire coterie. Moray will also deck you out with a werewolf set, the kind that go on the bottom teeth. Recently he added tusks to his lip-splitter catalog, but he's had only a few takers so far.

While fangs only protrude below the tooth about a quarter-inch, the tusks stick way out over the lower lip.

"They make you drool a lot," said Moray.

The fangs, made from acrylic, look like dental caps. They come in a variety of shades to match the teeth. For those wishing to make a sharper statement, the fangster is getting into some designer items - gold, silver or metallic numbers.

The interior of the fang is shaped from a mold of putty placed over the tooth. This allows the fangster to supply customers with quick-and-easy slip-on and slip-off fangs suitable for night games. Not recommended for daytime use at the office, unless you have a really ghoulish boss.

Moray supplies his clients with a list of 13 fang rules, including:

Don't drink too much; the alcohol can destroy your fangs.

Don't share them.

Don't sleep with them on; might swallow them.

Don't bite into pop cans.

Don't eat Pay Day bars; the caramel candy will pull fangs loose.

Most important on his list: "We do not advocate biting people, cats, dogs, or other small woodland creatures."

The fangster has had a few strange requests.

"One guy wanted permanent fangs. No, I don't think so," said Moray, rolling his eyes. Another burned his fangs with a cigarette lighter. He admitted to Moray he did so while on acid, but still wanted a new pair free. "My warranty doesn't cover destruction due to outside forces," said Moray.

Teenagers like the look, and Moray concedes a lot of them do fangs to irritate their parents. He draws the line at 16, requiring those who are younger to get their parents' permission. He also gets some orders from customers into S & M. "They like to use them for sex toys," he said with a shrug.

Normally the fangster works out of his apartment. But with Halloween coming up, he was summoned for duty earlier this week at Gargoyles in the University District and will be at Fantasy Unlimited today and tomorrow.

When a client, Roxan Andrews, came in to check out her set, she explained the appeal of fangs. Only three other students at her high school, Chief Sealth in West Seattle, are fangsters, she said. She wants to stand out from the crowd, noting the student body breaks down into three attitude-and-style camps: "There's either the preppy look or the gang look. And then there's me and a few people in drama."

Asked if she'd like to see more students picking up on the trend, Andrews demurred, concerned about wannabe fangsters. "Not if they are just trying to be different." She, of course, doesn't need to try.

"It's like when my hair was blue and somebody asked: `Did you do that on purpose?' " Duh.

Like body piercing and tattooing, fangs fit the times. They are the latest chapter in body adornment. Now that everyone in the hip-o-rama crowd has gotten spiked or had a tat, the Dracula decoration is a way of staying ahead of the pack.

Will fangs eventually go mainstream? Tattoos and body piercing have moved beyond the alternative circuit, so fangs could be next. Andrews' assessment: "A lot of people get fangs so they can fit into an outcast group."

Or look cool on Halloween.