Do You Recognize this Demon? Hint: He's a Dental Technician

Season 7 of Face Off, a reality competition show exploring the world of special-effects make-up artists on the SyFy channel, features one of our own: Barry Mahoney, a scanner and designer at Custom Automated Prosthetics (CAP) in Stoneham, MA.

On each episode, the artist-contestants are asked to create original movie-worthy characters such as aliens, human-animal hybrids or horror villains. They are mentored by legendary make-up artist Michael Westmore—best known for his work on Star Trek productions—and one artist is voted off each week by the panel of judges. The final winner gets a trip, a Fiat 500 and $100,000.

Contestants are given about 20 hours to complete each challenge.  Although Mahoney was sent home at the end of the second episode, he says it was a life-changing experience.

“We were challenged to work extremely hard within unreasonable time limits but it made me a more efficient artist. All of the contestants became a family; we’re...