Before the extended “Special Edition” of Aliens was released on LaserDisc and VHS in 1992, Alan Dean Foster‘s Aliens: The Official Movie Novelization gave fans of James Cameron’s 1986 film their first look at scenes that didn’t make the final cut.

Titan Books recently reissued Aliens: The Official Movie Novelization, as well as Foster’s adaptation of Alien and Alien 3. After re-reading Aliens: The Official Movie Novelization, I thought it would be fun to explore some of the differences between the book and the film and how unused elements from the screenplay were recycled for subsequent Alien films and Ridley Scott’s 2012 prequel, Prometheus.

Continue below for 15 Things You Didn’t Know About Aliens: The Official Movie Novelization.

Today’s bonus Gold Box spotlight deal of the day over at Amazon is the Alien Anthology and Prometheus Blu-ray Bundle for only $19.99 (that’s 78% off the list price of $89.99).

The bundle comes with the Alien Anthology Blu-ray Edition box set along with the Prometheus Blu-ray/DVD combo pack (which is only $4.99 sold separately right now!).

Note – this deal is valid only for today, Friday, June 13, 2014, until 11:59pm PST while supplies last.

The Alien Anthology Collection Blu-ray box set includes all four standalone Alien films, which starred Sigourney Weaver: Alien, Aliens, Alien 3, and Alien Resurrection. Along with the two versions of each film are two bonus discs with over 65 hours of special features, with over four hours of previously unreleased exclusive material such as original screen tests of Sigourney Weaver prior to filming the original Alien, unseen deleted scenes, thousands of still photographs from the Fox archives, the previously unseen original cut of “Wreckage and Rage: The Making of ALIEN3,” and more.

Below is an extensive list of what’s included in the Alien Anthology Collection Blu-ray box set.

H.R. Giger, the Swiss surrealist painter and sculptor who became internationally renowned in the 1970s for the nightmarish visions he helped bring to life in Ridley Scott’s sci-fi/horror masterpiece Alien, has died at the age of 74.

The cause of death was injuries Giger sustained in a fall on some stairs at his home in Zurich, Switzerland. He succumbed to his injuries in a hospital yesterday, as told by Sandra Mivelaz, administrator of the H.R. Giger museum in Gruyeres, western Switzerland, to the The Associated Press.

A master of disturbing artistic visions that fused Gothic horror, sexuality, and extraterrestrial machinery in a way that no one could ever imitate, Giger’s work first caught the attention of filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky, who hired him to provide design work for his eventually-shelved adaptation of Dune.

The thing looked like the hand of a skeleton with many fingers curled into the palm. Something like a short tube protruded from the palm and something like a tail was coiled beneath the base of the hand. There, on the back, was a dim, convex shape like a glazed over eye. Disgusting! But if that was an eye and not some slimy excrescence… he moved closer to take a look. And the eye moved; it stared right back at him.

Then, the ovoid sprang at him, exploded at him with the energy contained in that coiled tail. He raised an arm to protect himself. Too late! The thing’s fingers gripped his faceplate. The weaving tube in the palm’s center was stroking the glass. It started to sizzle. The faceplate was dissolving! The creature was through the plate. Must get it off! It was pushing at his mouth, tight around skull, tube down throat, can’t breathe…

“Kane, answer me,” Dallas’ voice came from above, but from down below, there was no reply.

Alan Dean Foster‘s novelization of Ridley Scott’s 1979 film Alien was the first full-length adult science fiction novel that I remember reading. At this point, I had already seen Scott’s film on VHS – after begging my mother to rent it from the local video store. It wasn’t until I read Foster’s novelization, however, that I full understood everything my young eyes had seen. While reading, I began to notice several major differences between the book (which was based on an earlier draft of Dan O’Bannon’s screenplay) and the finished film. For one thing, the Space Jockey was nowhere to be found – and the Facehugger (as mentioned above) had an eye on its back.

If you’ve never read Alien: The Official Movie Novelization, Titan Books recently reissued Foster’s book and plans to reissue his adaptations of Aliens and Alien 3 as well. In addition to Foster’s novelizations, Titan Books is also publishing brand new Alien adventures from authors Tim Lebbon (Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi – Into the Void), Christopher Golden (Baltimore, or The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire), and James A. Moore (Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds).

20th Century Fox never lets a little thing like their upcoming films having not actually gone into production yet stop them from setting release dates. That’s common practice for most studios these days, but Fox was one of the earliest pioneers of that practice, and for better or worse the filmmakers working under them have had to adapt or hit the bricks. Nothing personal, just business.

In keeping with that fine tradition, the studio has recently announced a slew of new dates for some of the biggest projects on their production slate for the coming years. Even though the long-in-development Fantastic Four reboot helmed by Josh Trank (Chronicle) still hasn’t began shooting, its hypothetical sequel already has a release date set for July 14, 2017. Fox is also continuing to exploit their other profitable Marvel properties with another Wolverine sequel debuting on March 3, 2017 (with James Mangold, director of last year’s terrific The Wolverine, returning), and a mysterious Marvel feature set for July 13, 2018.