Guillermo del Toro auctions off part of his Bleak House horror
collection
[September 27, 2025]
By ITZEL LUNA
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.”
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This image released by Heritage Auctions shows H.R. Giger's original
art created for an unproduced science fiction script, an item up for
auction from the collection of filmmaker Guillermo del Toro.
(Heritage Auctions via AP)
 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.
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