CNN PRODUCER NOTE     Nieka started turning into a zombie on October 21 but did not finish her transformation until the early hours the next day as each make-up session takes at least an hour. She took the photos and shot the video in her bedroom in her hometown Hamburg, Germany.

“I started getting into special effects make-up after seeing a tutorial on YouTube a few years ago. The first thing I tried to do was unzipped eyes. It looked really scary and I went trick or treating and some people would get so freaked out they would close the door right away. The only downside was that the zipper stabbed me in the eye every time I blinked,” said the 19-year-old who is currently doing an internship at a hospital and is planning on becoming either a doctor or a special effects make-up artist.

Seeing both friends and strangers react in this way to her scary creations was what sparked Nieka to keep improving her make-up skills. “It might take a long time to create but it’s worth it just to see that “wow” in their eyes,” she said. Nieka said Halloween is growing in popularity in Germany and that clubs in Reeperbahn – Hamburg’s infamous red-light and party district – now give anyone in fancy-dress free entry during the Halloween season. stinabacker, CNN iReport producer