A Life in the Cinema

By: Mick Garris

Narrated by: Joe R. Lansdale, Mick Garris, Steven Weber, Matt Frewer, Miguel Ferrer

Length: 5 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's Summary

Introduction by Stephen King, afterword by Tobe Hooper, cover art by Clive Barker. For this special audio version, the introduction and afterword are by Joe R. Lansdale, and the stories are read by Garris mainstays Matt Frewer, Miguel Ferrer, Steven Weber, and the author himself. 

A Life in the Cinema is the first book from award-winning filmmaker Mick Garris. It is a collection of eight prickly tales that reach under the skin of real life and reel life to take you places you never realized you wanted to go. 

The title story "A Life in the Cinema" and its sequel "Starfucker", are set in the author's hometown of Hollywood and provide a yellow-jaundiced look at a world you only thought was glamorous.

As Stephen King, in his introduction, says: "Here is a real Hollywood insider writing about the real inside world of filmmaking: the good, the bad, and the cheesy. These stories are both erotic and cynical, but they are, above all, well and fiercely told - when he's yarning about the tarnished tinsel underbelly of the town he knows (and clearly loves) the best, Mick Garris writes like a combination of Robert Bloch and James Ellroy, hard-boiled noir with a ghastly little prink of the devil's own pitchfork."

Not all of the stories are Hollywood-based: Garris includes tales of a grandmother who is just as loving in death as she was in life, a geriatric trailer park with a randy secret, wistful and impossible love with a twist, the wrong kind of baby love, and a deathly brush with fame. 

So, welcome to a dark side of Hollywood you've never seen before...

©2000 Mick Garris (P)2020 Mark Alan Miller

Certainly a Master of Horror

I love Mick Garris and, thanks to this book, now firmly believe that all audiobooks should always be narrated by Matt Frewer.

Erotic and Horror

I did enjoy this book with some insanity of different stories which had both horror and eroticism and decent narration. I enjoyed some of the stories, my favorite one was Grandmother

Well done!

Beautiful prose throughout. Structurally, some of the stories weren't the best, but they were all well-written and satisfying. Inspired work. A fine job!

Excellent Creepy Weird Short Stories

A great assortment of paranormal/horror short stories. If you're looking for variety and absolute craziness, this is for you. The opening short story "Baby Shower" is an excellent introduction with its weird twist in the end. My absolute favorite in the series is "Dream on Me," narrated by Mick Garris. In my opinion, it's the one that pulled my attention the hardest with its plot. That's not to say that all of the stories won't track your attention because they will. This audiobook is excellent for people who are short on time but want to experience good suspenseful stories. Each story is professionally narrated with fantastic audio. Highly recommended.

Enjoyable Collection

While I'm more familiar with his film work, Mick Garris' short stories are a treat to listen to. And I love when short story collections are narrated by multiple people, as is the case in this collection, including Garris himself. I was voluntarily provided this review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.