Giger's Seminal Book is Back

Originally published in 1979, Giger’s Alien was perhaps one of the first ‘movie books’ that allowed fans a glimpse into a world which had, until then, been largely hidden.

Part illustrated dairy, part creative blueprint, H.R. Giger’s seminal book offered fans a complete illustrated record of the months of painstaking work that went into designing the most frightening movie monster of them all … Alien’s Xenomorph.

Almost 50 years on, this perennial bestseller has just been re-released by Titan Books, in time for the gift-giving season.

There’s no doubt that the classic status of Alien, the movie, is in large part due to Academy-Award winning artist and designer H. R. Giger, whose creation kickstarted a science fiction-horror phenomena.

Featuring sketches, original paintings, on-set photographs, and stills from the finished movie, Giger’s Alien is unnerving and beautiful in equal measure. It’s also a snapshot of a moment in time. Before Alien, most sci-fi featured shiny space ships, and invaders from Mars. While horror movies relied on B-movie monsters, and cheesy scares. Alien subverted both genres – with a dark, claustrophobic atmosphere, and a monster who keyed into our darkest fears of violence and violation.

We can talk about Ridley Scott’s gritty, expressionist visuals. Sigourney Weaver’s iconic character creation. Dan O’Bannon’s fresh, gender-flipped script. But without Giger, there would be no Alien.

Fascinating, unfiltered, and packed with behind-the-scenes intrigue, Giger’s Alien is an unfiltered look at how the Swiss surrealist brought his body-horror nightmare to life. It documents not just ‘the making of the movie’ but his deep frustrations with the film industry, who he constantly worried would ruin his vision.

A best-seller for decades, this is a book that’s an integral part of the Alien story and a must-buy for every sci-fi fan.