For most of the year, the Lower East Side store Makeup Mania prepares models and actresses for head shots, in makeup of the traditional, flattering sort. But Halloween is the main event. Each year, makeup artist Eva Marie Dirst uses latex and rubber prosthetics to mold mere mortals into demons and superheroes. The small windows open to the twoseat studio become a spooky observatory.

“This year we have a Freddy Krueger that will take four hours to do. I have to apply a molded bald cap and then it’s just a lot of gluing,” Ms. Dirst said, signing an order for 15 gallons of fake blood. And that’s only the beginning: She has appointments to elaborately transform one client into the deviant Alex de Large character from “A Clockwork Orange” and another into the Wicked Witch of the West. Appointments for intricate projects need to be made at least a week in advance, but some walk-ins will be welcomed.

Ms. Dirst has been dressing Halloween’s best-costumed New Yorkers from her Allen Street studio since she crossed the country from Hollywood five years ago with her partner, a prosthetics guru, Ian Goodwin.

The duo developed a working relationship while in college at the prestigious Westmore Academy of Cosmetic Arts in Burbank, Calif., and remained close friends while working in the movie business. Ms. Dirst created the alien heads of Klingons for “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and the gory characters in a number of B horror films.

Ms. Dirst said many Halloweeners drop in for a “simple” Zombie makeover, complete with the application of submerged eyeballs and facial stitching, which costs about $30 and takes about 30 minutes to apply. But she has also morphed entire bodies into burn victims, pixies, and apes.

Ms. Dirst’s most elaborate endeavor was a $700 full-body depiction of the character Mystique from the film “X-Men.”With her client wearing only a thong, Ms. Dirst coated her from head to toe with the exact color of body paint used in the 2000 film. Ms. Dirst applied latex over the breasts, then meticulously glued hundreds of tiny plastic jewels, which she had purchased in the Garment District, over the entire body. After seven grueling hours, the finishing touch was a full body airbrush.

Through the years, Makeup Mania has developed a devout following of Halloween fanatics. “This will be my third year going to Eva, and it’s definitely worth it,”a 54-year-old secretary at a junior high school in Flushing, Adrienne Albera, said. Ms. Albera, who has been dressing like a witch on Halloween for about 17 years, invites children from the neighborhood to her haunted house for “snake eyeballs” and “graveyard pudding.”According to Ms. Albera, turnout has grown since she started going to Ms. Dirst. About 200 trick-or-treaters attended the show last year.

Ms. Dirst also sells her blood, guts, and gore on the Internet. She can deliver long treatises on the many varieties of fabricated blood — such as lung, aged, and “meaty.” “Each blood serves a different purpose,” she said. “Some is meant to look thick and old, while other blood needs to appear fresh.” Lately she has also been working with private investigators. “We give them fake noses, extra weight, moles, whatever they need to get into character,” she said. “It’s turning into Halloween every day.”