HR Giger died today. The “Alien” movie series had a pretty heavy impression on me as a kid; I remember watching “Aliens” when I was very young (five?, six?) and being absolutely terrified. Strange aside: my grandmother was a big Sci-Fi fan and lent me the “Aliens” VHS. My mom was not stoked with her after I refused to go to sleep that night.

Anyways, I always assumed HR Giger would be a pretty weird guy to come up with the Alien monster as well as his other art. I was reading this interview Giger did with VICE when I realized he was really weird (emphasis added):

Apart from art, is there anything else you collect?

I have weapons. I never want to be without weapons. As protection. I like weapons. From a child I always had weapons.

What’s your favorite weapon?

I have a small 5mm, 22 caliber, it’s a small revolver. That was what Li (Giger’s first wife) shot herself with. It’s very small. I have three revolvers with gunpowder in the barrel. You can fill them up. That’s fun.

Holy. Shit.