If you’re in the market for a coffee table book that can probably pull double duty as a gateway to a nightmare auxiliary dimension, then Taschen’s new 400-page collection of H.R. Giger’s artwork might be just what you’re looking for. This massive 15×20-inch tome weighs about as much as a spider slug’s egg sack, and it’s full of infinitely more horrors. Giger—who died unexpectedly in 2014 at the age of 74—reportedly suffered from night terrors, according to Wired. But instead of simply suffering through his sleep disorder, he channeled his fears into his surrealist, biomechanical paintings and sculptures so that we could all share in his pain. His most notorious creation is almost certainly the design for the Xenomorph, which first appeared in Ridley Scott’s 1979 sci-fi-horror film Alien.
“At its essence, Giger’s art digs down into our psyches and touches our very deepest primal instincts and fears,” Scott said of the Swiss artist’s body of work. “His art stands in a category of its own. The proof of this lies in the intensity of his work and imagination, which I can only compare to Hieronymus Bosch and Francis Bacon in their powers to provoke and disturb.”
H.R. Giger should be available for purchase any day now. Be forewarned: it’s selling for $900. Not sure exactly how many cadaver hides one would have to tan to accrue that kind of money. It’s up to every individual to do the personal math and see if it’s worth it.