From February to November 1978, HR Giger worked at Shepperton Studios near London on the creatures and sets for Ridley Scott's film Alien (1979). The film became a worldwide success and won Giger an Oscar. In the Alien Diaries, published and transcribed here as a facsimile for the first time, Giger describes his work in the studios. He writes, sketches and photographs with his Polaroid SX70. Unsparing, sarcastic and at times despairing, Giger recounts his everyday life in the film industry and his struggle to turn his designs into reality against all odds — whether the stinginess of the producers or the slowness of his collaborators. The Alien Diaries (in German transcription and English translation) reveal a little-known personal side of the artist and offer an unusual insight into the making of this film classic from the perspective of the Swiss artist. The book contains almost exclusively unpublished material, including drawings and Polaroids documenting the birth of the monster, as well as numerous stills from the abundant footage Giger shot at Shepperton.