Peabody Essex Museum’s show on classic horror and sci-fi art from the Kirk Hammett Collection

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At Large October 9, 2017 Barbara Basbanes Richter

Peabody Essex Museum

Blood, guts, and gore are the name of the game at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, where It's Alive! Classic Horror and Sci-Fi Art from the Kirk Hammett Collection is currently on display. Perhaps better known to his fans as the lead guitarist from the heavy metal band Metallica, Kirk Hammett has also spent the past thirty years amassing a massive collection of classic science fiction and horror movies.

"The stuff of horror has a mojo that always works on me. I start producing ideas. They just flow like liquid," said Hammett, crediting his collection of creepy posters for fueling his own creative work. More than one hundred posters, from the Bride of Frankenstein (1935) to The Mummy (1932), and Nosferatu (1931), as well as movie props, costumes, and other original artwork, are on display. The exhibit follows the publication of Too Much Horror: The Kirk Hammett Collection (Abrams 2012), which details the scope and inspiration for the collection. The book is available for purchase at the museum.

Allison White

Kirk Hammett

"My collection takes me to a place where I need to be," said Hammett. "Among the monsters, where I'm most comfortable and most creative. From the moment I first encountered these characters, I could see that these guys had just as much difficulty in coping as I did. It's a very, very dark universe when we shut our eyes at night."

It's Alive! Classic Horror and Sci-Fi from the Kirk Hammett Collection is on view now through November 26 at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts. See the website for more information, including hours and ticket prices.