Guillermo del Toro Parts With His Monsters: Heritage Auctions Opens Bleak House Collection
After wildfires nearly claimed Guillermo del Toro’s legendary “Bleak House,” the Oscar-winning filmmaker is parting with treasures from his 5,000-piece archive. From Hellboy props to Pan’s Labyrinth art, Heritage Auctions’ Bleak House Part I opens Sept 26.
Guillermo del Toro nearly watched his life’s work burn. When wildfires surged through Los Angeles earlier this year, he rushed back to his Santa Monica sanctuary with only hours to act. Out of more than 5,000 artifacts inside his fabled “Bleak House,” he managed to save barely a hundred. The houses survived, but the terror never left him.
Now the Oscar-winning filmmaker is making the hardest move of his career: letting some of his monsters go. On September 26, Heritage Auctions will open The Guillermo del Toro Collection: Bleak House Part I, a three-part event that offers the world a curated slice of his extraordinary archive.
“This one hurts,” del Toro says. “But collecting is not owning. Collecting is protecting, a sacred duty. I have two families — the one I was born into, and the one I built of monsters.”
A Catalogue of Nightmares and Wonders
The first auction reads like a map through del Toro’s haunted imagination. There’s the “Big Baby” shotgun from Hellboy, Amphibian Man maquettes from The Shape of Water, Charlie Hunnam’s Pacific Rim drivesuit, and the earliest sketches of the vampire from Cronos.
Pan’s Labyrinth is woven deeply throughout: Raúl Villares’ sweeping concept of the mill, long kept above del Toro’s desk, joins the original clapperboard signed by him and original artwork from The Labyrinth of the Faun, his novel with Cornelia Funke.
Alongside these are treasures from the artists who shaped him. Mike Mignola’s original art for Hellboy: Seed of Destruction, a rare full-color cover for Clive Barker’s Hellraiser, Bernie Wrightson’s devastating Frankenstein plates, H.R. Giger visions, Ray Harryhausen effects relics, Disney Golden Age illustrations, works by Robert Crumb and Moebius — all part of the DNA that fuels del Toro’s own storytelling.
“Every piece in this auction offers a window into the heart and mind of a true auteur,” says Joe Maddalena, Heritage’s executive vice president. “This isn’t memorabilia. It’s the emotional blueprint of a world-builder.”
The Keeper of Bleak House
Guillermo del Toro Bleak House Collection — Heritage Auctions 2025. Inside his legendary archive: Hellboy’s Big Baby shotgun, Pan’s Labyrinth relics, and more. Video courtesy of Heritage Auctions, HA.com
Bleak House — two and a half homes painted oxblood red — has long been both archive and muse. Each room is organized by theme, each wall curated by del Toro’s own hand. He selects every frame, dusts every artifact, guards against careless intrusions. Once, he nearly collapsed when he saw someone clean an oil painting with Windex.
But even for him, the burden grew heavy. “It feels like driving a bus with 160 unruly kids,” he says. “I needed to rest.”
The wildfires made the choice unavoidable. “This predicament made me aware of the impossible size of the collection,” del Toro explains. “The responsibility is to share this treasure trove with others who will save these pieces of culture and beauty for the generations that follow.”
Pain, Duty, and Joy
Letting go is agony. Each item is a farewell. But there is joy too — the joy of knowing these monsters will live beyond him.
“If you love somebody, you plan for them,” he says. “That’s what I’m doing. These creatures are my other family. I can’t keep them all, but I can make sure they live on — cared for, protected, loved.”
Heritage will preview the auction in Beverly Hills from September 11–25, with bidding live September 26. Parts two and three are planned for 2026.
This is not just an auction. It is Guillermo del Toro’s love letter to monsters, and his invitation for others to join the family.
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