星空传媒

It began like any other maternity photo shoot.

The smiling father is shown standing behind his partner with his hand lovingly placed on her rounded belly. In another shot, he鈥檚 shown kneeling and kissing her stomach as they pose in a scenic pumpkin patch.

As the series progresses, however, the charming maternity shoot takes a very dark and very unexpected turn.

Inspired by the iconic 鈥渃hestburster鈥� scene in the 1979 science-fiction film 鈥淎lien,鈥� Todd Cameron鈥檚 wife Nicole pretends to give birth to a grotesque alien creature fittingly named 鈥淏urston.鈥�

The photos show the couple from Nanaimo, B.C. reacting in horror as a long snake-like creature with sharp teeth appears to pierce its way out of Nicole鈥檚 belly in a gruesome bloodbath.

Following its 鈥渂irth,鈥� the alien creature looks like it is slithering through the pumpkin patch before Cameron is able to catch it.

The album ends with the parents-to-be cuddling the newest addition to their family, which has been outfitted with a fuzzy blanket and pacifier, no less.

鈥淢e and Nicole are really just centred on having fun and being silly. As my wife has been known to say many times 鈥業f you鈥檙e not laughing on a regular basis then it鈥檚 not worth it,鈥� and this has definitely brought a ton of laughter not only to us, but to a lot of people around the world,鈥� he told CTVNews.ca on Thursday.

has gone viral since Cameron shared it on Facebook on Tuesday evening. Since then, the post has already received more than 100,000 reactions and more than 225,000 shares.

Cameron said he came up with the idea when he came across an unopened model of the infant 鈥淐hestburster,鈥� or Xenomorph, at a garage sale in early August.

鈥淚 brought it home and put it together and painted it up and as I was doing that I kind of had this idea for a possible maternity shoot because she [Nicole] was saying how much her baby bump felt like an alien 鈥� there鈥檚 elbows and different things coming out in every direction 鈥� so I thought it would be a fun idea,鈥� he explained.

Luckily for Cameron, his wife wasn鈥檛 set on having a traditional photo shoot anyway. With their baby due on Oct. 17, they decided a Halloween theme would be perfect.

鈥淲e鈥檙e both super into Halloween. We met each other on Halloween. Nicole was dressed as a super awesome zombie 鈥� best one I鈥檝e seen 鈥� and I was dressed as Ace Ventura the Pet Detective with the full tutu so we鈥檝e always done awesome handmade costumes and dressing up,鈥� he said.

On a drizzly afternoon earlier this month, the couple and set out for McNab鈥檚 Corn Maze in Ladysmith, B.C. for the now-famous photo shoot.

鈥淚t was so hard not to laugh,鈥� he recalled. 鈥淚 have to give Nicole the hero credit for being barefoot in a flimsy nightgown in the wet and cold and still being able to laugh and put herself through all that just to get some good pictures.鈥�

It鈥檚 not the first time the couple has gone all out for a photo shoot.

Cameron said they鈥檝e been working with Carter for five years on various projects, including three 鈥淏ack to the Future鈥�-themed shoots, a spread where he dressed up as a sasquatch, and a 鈥淏ig Lebowski鈥�-inspired series where he recreated the movie in 40 different shots for his 40th birthday.

None of those other photoshoots have garnered quite the same response as the maternity one has, however. Cameron said he鈥檚 received messages from people all over the world, including numerous media outlets in the U.S.

鈥淲e just wanted to share something for our friends and family and this has just kind of taken off like crazy,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 exciting.鈥�

As for what鈥檚 to become of little 鈥淏urston鈥� when the new baby arrives, Cameron said it will still be allowed to stay in the home.

鈥淚t鈥檚 going to hang out with me鈥� much to my wife鈥檚 probable trepidation,鈥� he said.

In fact, the alien creature even has already.

鈥淲e鈥檙e just going to show what it鈥檚 like the life of raising a Xenomorph in the modern tech era.鈥�

鈥淲ith a baby in the house, it鈥檚 not the safest plan,鈥� he added with a laugh.