Los Angeles, California - It's no coincidence that the villain Vecna from the popular TV series Stranger Things looks so unappetizing, as the show's makeup and CGI experts have revealed!

Ever since Vecna was banished by main character Eleven through a portal to the dark side – known as the "Upside Down" – he has been spreading fear and terror in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana.

While little remains of his human form, behind the scenes, things got quite unsavory to give actor Jamie Campbell Bower (37) his creepy, shimmering grayish costume.

"Vecna's color tone, in a way, is made up of vegetable chips," Barrie Gower, the head of the makeup-effects department for seasons 4 and 5, told Vanity Fair recently.

To give the veggie paste its gritty sheen, the makeup team then resorted to "loads" of lube: "We get our rubber gloves on, and we cover him in lube, all glossy and slimy."

The creepy look was completed with visual effects, and the CGI department also took its cue from the menu.

To depict the severe burns inflicted on Vecna at the end of the fourth season, a lot of time was spent researching "barbecued meat," as visual effects head Betsy Paterson explained.

"Like a really heavily charred piece of barbecue chicken," she said.

The tentacle-like tubes that wrap around Vecna's throat and neck also look particularly disgusting.

These were also set in motion with the help of visual effects, but if they were real, they would probably feel "like an intestine with muscle inside it," according to Paterson's unpalatable description!