This year movie fans around the world celebrate the 30th anniversary of director James Cameron’s blockbuster sequel, Aliens. The movie is the follow-up to Ridley Scott’s classic 1979 original, Alien, and was released in July of 1986. Costing a little under $20 million to make, it would go on to bring in over $131 million worldwide at the box office.

To help celebrate the anniversary, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment has launched a special Aliens lens for Snapchat users to enjoy. With it, you can turn yourself into a feared Xenomorph, or you can even get your very own facehugger to latch on to your skull. Adorable little guys, really. Misunderstood.

You can see how the facehugger looks in the image below.

Alien 3. David Fincher’s 1992 film takes place right after the events of Aliens. An escape pod from the USS Sulaco crash-lands on a prison-run refinery planet, killing everyone aboard except Lieutenant Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver). Unknown to Ripley, an alien organism was also aboard, which then begins killing the inhabitants of the prison.

Upon release, Alien 3 received mixed reviews and Fincher disowned the film after the studio dismantled and reworked it without his consent. An alternate version of Alien 3 (officially titled the “Assembly Cut”) with over 30 minutes of additional footage and alternate key plot elements was released on the Alien Quadrilogy DVD set in 2003, and later in the Alien Anthology Blu-ray set in 2010.

Titan Books recently reissued Alan Dean Foster’s Alien 3: The Official Movie Novelization, as well as his adaptations of Alien and Aliens. After re-reading Foster’s novel, 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 Alien 3: The Official Movie Novelization, and be sure to check out 15 things about the Alien and Aliens novelizations if you missed them.

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.

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).

So, a Xenomorph facehugger has made a home of your head. You’re not having a very good day, are you? Chances are you’re a goner. But thanks to this handy-dandy instructional placard, there may be hope for you yet.

Step 1: Locate a Class II Xenomedical Technician…