10 Prolific Figures Heavily Influenced By H.P. Lovecraft

Shortly after Jaws’s 1975 release proved the waters to be a dangerous place, Dan O’Bannon set out to prove outer space was likewise deadly with his screenplay for the film, Alien. Inspired by the haunting imagery of painter, Hans Ruedi Giger, O’Bannon thought the Swiss artist would be the perfect designer for what soon became the iconic horror sci-fi monster.

Based on figures in his art book, Necronomicon, Giger was brought in by director Ridley Scott to design the Xenomorph, the facehugger, the “Space Jockey” (and his ship), as well as the planet, LV-426, all iconic in their own right and works that netted Giger an Oscar for his efforts in 1980.

Watching the film similarities can be seen to Lovecraftian horror themes. The xenomorph, at least before the prequels, was a largely mysterious, powerful figure humanity had no control over. Likewise Giger’s work evoked what the mind feared to behold, images that, as he said, “seem to make the strongest impression on people who are, well, crazy.” Lovecraft often dealt with similar themes of great knowledge that drives people insane, like in At The Mountains of Madness.

Both Giger and Lovecraft were inspired by Egyptian history and motifs, and Giger’s most famous works, Necronomicon I & II, definitely seem to be named after Lovecraft’s fictional book of the same name.