One of the great things about monsters in horror movies is their ability to distance you from reality. How many times has a trailer used the tag line “It’s just a movie… it’s just a movie…?” That’s because the filmmakers behind some of the most memorable horror movies of all time were able to draw you into their vision so intensely that you forget it wasn’t real. And depending on how you look at it, that might be a shame, because behind the legendary horror icons are some great actors, even if you don’t recognize them under their incredible makeup.

In any case, Angela Norrisowner Fxactics Studioswanted to honor those men and women beneath the makeup in a series of photographs that showcase both their human and their most monstrous sides.

“I’m the owner of Fxactics Studios, where I make Halloween props and masks, so I’m always trying to create artwork to increase my likes and page views,” Norris said. Defused“I had the idea to make the montage with the clown Twisty as many people do not know that he is John Carroll Lynch from the show Drew Carey. My followers loved the idea and I kept doing it.”

Entertainment site Defused compiled a list of Norris’ works and we’ve picked some of our favorites from the list below.

Tony Moran as Michael Myers

The iconic man behind the mask throughout the film was Nick Castlebut it was known that Tony Moran stepped in for the unmasking scene where we get to (partially) see Michael’s face.

Quinn Lord as Sam

Did you know that Quinn Lord was also the little lollipop boy at the beginning of the movie who looked out the window while the girls were undressing?

Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger

It’s unthinkable now, but Englund wasn’t director Wes Craven’s first choice to play Krueger. He wanted to use a stuntman for the role, but decided it wouldn’t work and Englund got the part.

Sid Haig as Captain Spaulding

There were three people trained for the role of Captain Spaulding: Jon Polito, Red Westand Sid Haig. Guess who got the part?

Howard Thornton as Art the Clown

The mime shows that you see Art the Clown doing in the film were used based on Howard Thorton’s experience as a mime.

Bonnie Aarons as The Nun

Long before Aarons became the demon Valak in the adjuration universe, she was featured in the video for Counting crows “Here” video in 1993.

Daveigh Chase as Samara

Before entering the role of Samara The ringChase tried out for the role of Jodie Foster’s daughter in Panic room. She lost to Kristen Stewart.

Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise from IT (2017)

Skarsgård took his inspiration for Pennywise from watching the iconic movie psycho from, The shining, Mechanical orange, the dark knight, and The silence of the lambs.

Doug Bradley as Pinhead

Bradley close declined the role of the main cenobite because he was just starting out as an actor and thought people should see his face.

Kane Hodder as Jason Voorhees

Kane might be the most recognizable person to have played Jason even though it only became part of the franchise in the sixth sequel.

Gunnar Hansen as Leatherface

Because Gunnar was faster than Marilyn Burnsduring their chase scene, he had to slow down a bit by doing other things, like taking a break to use his chainsaw on a random tree.

John Carroll Lynch as Twisty from American Horror Story

Lynch’s Twisty the clown the portrayal was criticized by National Clown Association of America because they gave the profession a bad name.

Jonathan Breck as The Creeper

creeping thing he was bald because Breck thought he would have to “borrow” his victim’s hair, based on the story.

Warwick Davis as the Goblin

Unlike Gunnar Hansen in The Texas Massacre who could outrun his last girl in real life and had to slow down in the chase scenes, Davis couldn’t keep up with Leprechaun’s latest girl (Jennifer Aniston) in a wheelchair scene, so she had to slow down for him to keep up.

Tim Curry in Legend, The Rocky Horror Picture Show and IT (1990)

The amount of makeup and prosthetics curry had to do for this movie was mind boggling. At one point, Curry became claustrophobic during the removal process and panicked, ripping off part of the suit and some of his own skin with it.

To see more photos of monsters from the movie and the actors who played them, go to Defused.

All photos were created by Fxactics Studios.