Michael Myers will always be the iconic masked murderer from the slasher series Halloween. The famed killer is instantly recognizable from his plain, white mask with an absent face. If you thought the mask was brought to fame and instant recognition by the Halloween series, you'd be right. 

However, the monster's mask wasn't created just for Michael Myers. It was actually a mask of William Shatner's face first. More specifically, a death mask for his most-famous character, Captain James T. Kirk from Star Trek. 

The story goes, a bone-chilling mask was needed for the original Halloween film, and a couple of options were on the table. According to an article in The Hollywood Reporter, Tommy Lee Wallace, a production designer for Halloween, was responsible for finding a mask for the movie. In his search, a few jumped out rather quickly. 

"Up on the shelves were these full face masks of Richard Nixon, and down at the end was Mr. Spock. And right next to it was this blank face Capt. Kirk," Wallace said.

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It came down to a clown mask or an expressionless, pale mask of Capt. Kirk. With some alterations, including spray paint and some bigger eye holes, the crew agreed the horrifying killer should be seen in a variation of Shatner's face. Thus, the legendary mask of Michael Myers was born.

Shatner was just as surprised as the next person when he found out that his face was being worn by this prolific killer, saying, "I thought, 'Is that a joke? Are they kidding?'" 

In typical Shatner fashion, he had some fun with it and embraced an opportunity. After the movie was released and Michael Myers masks hit the stores for trick or treaters in real life, Shatner bought one, and wore it on Halloween while out with his daughters. 

"They had made a death mask of me in Star Trek... That was somehow taken into the stores and sold as a death mask. They used the white death mask in the horror film. Then, I bought one and took the three of you trick or treating and put on my own mask... I think that was funny," Shatner laughed in an interview. 

Shatner really is everywhere, even somehow deep-rooted yet hidden in one of the most prolific horror series of all time. From now on, when you watch a Halloween movie or see a Michael Myers mask, will you think of William Shater? At the end of the day, his face started it all!