Firstly ... long post ahead. You've been warned.
I was a young boy when the original movie came out in 1979. Too young to see it but my elder brother saw it at the cinema. He had the (original) book of Alien and the Alien Movie Novel Photo Book (very rare but he still has it) and I would secretly devour all those incredible and horrific images.
So essentially I knew what the creature(s) looked like and most of the plot too thanks to these books before ever seeing the film itself.
My brother would tell in me in minute detail about this utterly terrifying film and my imagination would run wild knowing exactly the imagery involved. Back then (pre Aliens) the mystery about the Xeno was truly terrifying. He would tell me that the Xeno was able to read your thoughts and it was indestructible. That the idea for a sequel would be that the Alien didn't die but would eventually get inside the Narcissus and kill Ripley.
Oh and he once made me sit in the dark and listen to the original soundtrack too. Scared the crapola outta me. My brother, bless him, loved to torture me (that's what brothers do).
Oh the nightmares I had. This utterly hellish looking creature that could read your mind, had acid for blood, a tongue that shoots out with metal teeth, is 9 feet tall, indestructible, has no eyes and is virtually out to kill you viciously.
I eventually saw the move when I was around 11 or 12 years old on TV (censored to pieces because back in the 80s they cut the crap out of everything for general TV). It was scary but I must admit after years of build up my first thought was `ah that wasn't as scary as I thought'.
That was me in denial though :-)
So reality is I've been a fan since reading those books back in the very early 1980s.
I still remember the sheer thrill and surprise seeing the trailer for Aliens in the cinema. I had no idea they had even made a sequel (this was pre internet and also in Australia we knew jack shit about anything ... hahaha). And I got to tell my elder brother about it and he was like ... what? What? WHAT???
Hahahahaha.
The books introduced me to Ron Cobb and HR Giger. Those two influenced my drawing style a lot as a young teen. I think I would surprise my school mates (and teachers) by being able to draw biomechanical creatures and the Xeno to almost perfect detail.
I'm a huge fan of most popular sci-fi like Star Wars, Trek, etc but Alien holds a very special place in my heart even after 35 years!