“At its essence, Giger’s art digs down into our psyches and touches our very deepest primal instincts and fears. 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.” – Ridley Scott Swiss artist HR Giger (1940–2014) is most famous for his creation of the space monster in Ridley Scott’s 1979 horror sci-fi film Alien , which earned him an Oscar. In retrospect, this was just one of the most popular expressions of Giger’s biomechanical arsenal of creatures , which consistently merged hybrids of human and machine into images of haunting power and dark psychedelia . The visions drew on demons of the past, as well as evoking mythologies for the future. Above all, they gave expression to the collective fears and fantasies of his age : fear of the atom, of pollution and wasted resources, and of a future in which our bodies depend on machines for survival. This book was begun shortly before the artist’s untimely death and shows the complete story of Giger’s life and art , his sculptures, film work, and iconic album covers as well as the heritage he left us in his own artist’s museum and self-designed bar in the Swiss Alps. In an in-depth essay, Giger scholar Andreas J. Hirsch plunges into the themes of Giger’s oeuvre and world while an extensive artist biography draws on contemporary quotes and Giger’s own writings.