Ross Martucci fell in love with special effects makeup as a child, when he saw the gruesome Freddy Krueger of the movie “Nightmare on Elm Street” on the cover of a horror magazine. “I couldn’t believe how it was possible to make somebody look like they were burnt from head to toe and it not be real. It was almost like magic to me,” the Chicago-based artist recalls. “I said to myself, ‘This has to be one of the coolest jobs to do.’”

More than 20 years later, Martucci got to assist on the “Nightmare on Elm Street” remake, which was mostly filmed in Chicago. On a day when main make-up artist Andrew Clement was unavailable, Martucci and Clement’s assistant worked together on Freddy Krueger’s makeup. “That was amazing,” he says.