Demons are lurking inside a tidy white house with purple shutters on a quiet street in Beverly.
They are Sandra and Billy Berchoff, whose love for the macabre, horror flicks and creepy costumes propelled the couple to master Hollywood-caliber makeup techniques.
On Wednesday, the Berchoffs spent six hours transforming themselves into demons before heading to downtown Salem. Tomorrow, they'll turn into mad clowns before they head to Salem for their annual Halloween jaunt around the city.
"We get a lot of people staring at us," Billy said. "It's like being in a fishbowl."
"It's like Brad and Angelina — people are always stopping us to take our pictures," Sandra said. "Sometimes we can't move."
Last year, they went to Salem on Halloween dressed as "Planet of the Apes" and looking like they'd stepped off a movie set.
"It's fun to see everybody's ideas for costumes and creativity," Sandra said. "We people watch, too."
The Berchoffs have been creating elaborate costumes and makeup for 15 years. Their daughter, Starsha, 19, does it, too.
"I've always been an artist and able to draw," said Billy, 41, "so I took that and developed it.
"We started with the basic costume-shop cheesy makeup and did bullet holes and cuts. As I went along, I bought books and DVDs and kept teaching myself."
"We've always been into the macabre and Halloween, being near Salem," Sandra said. "Halloween has always been one of our favorite holidays."
Billy Berchoff has worked as a contractor at Sylvania for 23 years, and Sandra runs a residential cleaning business called The Clean Machine. They live on Garfield Avenue with their dogs, Monka and Frizzle, and enjoy riding Harley-Davidson motorcycles.
But the evidence of their hobby is everywhere in their home. Hand-painted latex body parts hang on clothes hangers in their closet — an exposed spine here, a fleshy chest plate there. Costume wigs rest on foam heads, and shelves are piled with chemicals, cleaners and makeup.
The Berchoffs are meticulous about planning and executing their costumes and makeup. And they have learned from their mistakes, like the time Sandra ripped the latex off her face and took half her eyebrow with it.
How they did it
So how did they turn themselves from a smiling couple into seething demons?
First, they cleaned their faces with rubbing alcohol so everything could stick, then covered their hair with bald caps. Billy painted spirit gum into his beard to glue it down.
They used professional-grade adhesive to affix foam latex appliances to their faces to achieve features like ridged foreheads, hook noses and pointy chins, and they used liquid latex to smooth out the lines where it meets the face.
The appliance is like an additional layer of skin — rather than a rigid mask — and moves with their expressions.
"It feels like your face," Sandra said.
Billy meticulously painted their faces with shading, lines and shadows. The couple wear full acrylic veneer teeth for their costumes. In all, a full costume with makeup, teeth veneer, contact lenses and props can run as much as $1,000, he said.
After six hours, the Berchoffs were in full demon makeup and ready to hit the town.
"What are we going to do now?" Billy asked, peering out from piercing yellow contact lenses ringed in red.
"Let's go to Victoria Station," Sandra said through her fangs. "I love the salad bar there."
