Maria Jose Cristerna, a 35-year-old former attorney from Guadalajara, Mexico, is best known as the "Mexican vampire woman." thanks to piercings, tattoos and titanium horns embedded in her skull. Over the past months, she has become known for her extreme looks and now the blood curdling look will be captured for future generations to ogle at. For Cristerna, it was the fulfillment of a longstanding fantasy.
My vampire's dream is to be immortal she told HuffPost Weird News through a translator. I've always loved Ripley's cartoons, and I've admired Ripley's since I was a kid, so it’s a dream came true.

But Cristerna's dream didn't come true without much work from Ripley's sculpture team, led by Bruce Miller.

Her head has been the biggest challenge, he said. She has very long hair, dreadlocks, and we had to lift them over a light fixture to keep them out of the way.

Additionally, casting the horns presented some challenges Miller has not faced in making other celebrity sculptures, including WWE fighters The Undertaker and John Cena and one of the world's smallest men, Alypius, an Egyptian dwarf. But those challenges are nothing compared to what's lies ahead.The hardest part will be duplicating tattoos, said Miller. They are very intricate. We have many things ahead of us.

Edward Meyer, Ripley's vice president of exhibitions and archives, says the company is making at least five Vampire Woman statues, three of which will be shipped to the Odditoriums in Veracruz, Mexico City and her hometown of Guadalajara.

Maria is probably the most unusual woman in the world, possibly the most incredible I've ever met He said. Cristerna is excited to see the finished product and is already convinced that it will be good.I love it, not only the image but also what's behind me and what I'm fighting for, she said. The reason for this is not just my skin, but what's inside of me.

Cristerna's gaze began to take shape when she was 17 years old, when she married a man she said to hit and repeatedly abused her. When she finally left her husband, she decided to reinvent herself as a "warrior" as part of her liberation.
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Maria Jose Cristerna, a 35-year-old former attorney from Guadalajara, Mexico, is best known as the "Mexican vampire woman." thanks to piercings, tattoos and titanium horns embedded in her skull. Over the past months, she has become known for her extreme looks and now the blood curdling look will be captured for future generations to ogle at.


For Cristerna, it was the fulfillment of a longstanding fantasy.

My vampire's dream is to be immortal she told HuffPost Weird News through a translator. I've always loved Ripley's cartoons, and I've admired Ripley's since I was a kid, so it’s a dream came true.

But Cristerna's dream didn't come true without much work from Ripley's sculpture team, led by Bruce Miller.

Her head has been the biggest challenge, he said. She has very long hair, dreadlocks, and we had to lift them over a light fixture to keep them out of the way.

Additionally, casting the horns presented some challenges Miller has not faced in making other celebrity sculptures, including WWE fighters The Undertaker and John Cena and one of the world's smallest men, Alypius, an Egyptian dwarf. But those challenges are nothing compared to what's lies ahead.

The hardest part will be duplicating tattoos, said Miller. They are very intricate. We have many things ahead of us.

Edward Meyer, Ripley's vice president of exhibitions and archives, says the company is making at least five Vampire Woman statues, three of which will be shipped to the Odditoriums in Veracruz, Mexico City and her hometown of Guadalajara.

Maria is probably the most unusual woman in the world, possibly the most incredible I've ever met He said. Cristerna is excited to see the finished product and is already convinced that it will be good.


I love it, not only the image but also what's behind me and what I'm fighting for, she said. The reason for this is not just my skin, but what's inside of me.

Cristerna's gaze began to take shape when she was 17 years old, when she married a man she said to hit and repeatedly abused her. When she finally left her husband, she decided to reinvent herself as a "warrior" as part of her liberation.


I had a bad marriage and learned to be stronger, she said. Warriors tattoo their faces, so I am also a warrior to my children.

Although Cristerna's horns, fangs, piercings, and tattoos were initially a reaction to a bad situation, she says the public's reaction to her has been positive. My appearance has opened windows for me to travel to different places that I couldn't before. She said: It is not only what I have outside, but also inside, and now I have the opportunity to share.My skin is like a carpet and I can put whatever I want to express my feelings and the story of my life. It all means something about my past and my future, especially my friends, my family and parents, she said. I would like to remove the floating ribs to decrease my waist size and have more implants in my arms. It is vanity for a woman to want to look better.