Guillermo del Toro auctions off part of his Bleak House horror collection
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A portion of filmmaker Guillermo del Toro’s prized horror memorabilia collection was auctioned off Friday, with the highest-ticket item selling for $325,000.
Del Toro, one of the industry’s most respected filmmakers and long-time horror buff, auctioned over 100 of the 5,000 items in his collection. The other two parts of the auction series, in partnership with Heritage Auctions in Dallas, are set to go live next year.
The items were part of del Toro’s Bleak House — two and a half Santa Monica properties that house thousands of ghoulish creatures, iconic comic drawings and paintings, books and movie props. The filmmaker said he felt compelled to let some of his sprawling collection go following a close brush with the Los Angeles wildfires this year.
“This one hurts. The next one, I’m going to be bleeding,” del Toro, 60, said of the auction series. “If you love somebody, you have estate planning, you know, and this is me estate planning for a family that has been with me since I was a kid.”
The highest-selling item Friday was a painting by H.R. Giger, part of the concept design created for an unproduced script titled “The Tourist.” It was an auction record for any artwork by the Swiss artist, who is known for creating the creature in the sci-fi horror classic “Alien.” The $325,000 price includes the “buyers premium” attached to all auction items for the house that sells it.
“I feel like a good guardian — knowing fully that these, and future, artifacts have now found loving hands,” del Toro wrote following the auction.
Mexican-born del Toro auctioned hundreds of items ranging from works by comic luminaries like Jack Kirby and Richard Corben to exclusive items from his own classics like “Cronos” and “Hellboy.”
Items not sold during the live auction Friday will remain available for online bidding until Oct. 6.
Other top earners included original artwork created by Bernie Wrightson for the 1983 illustrated version of Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein,” which sold for $250,000. Wrightson’s original cover art for the album “Dead Ringer” by rock superstar Meat Loaf was sold for $187,500.
Some of del Toro’s concept sketches and props from his own movies also sold for tens of thousands of dollars. The iconic trench coat worn by actor Ron Perlman in the filmmaker’s “Hellboy” movies sold for $50,000. Two screen-used drivesuits from “Pacific Rim” went for $75,000 each.
A few of del Toro’s favorite pieces, including the “Big Baby” — the signature six-round shotgun from “Hellboy” — didn’t sell in the live auction but are available for online bidding.