‘Development Hell’ shocks, repulses, entertains
Most fans of Mick Garris will know him primarily as a Hollywood director and screenwriter for both the big screen and for television (“Sleepwalkers,” “The Stand,” “The Shining,” “Riding the Bullet,” “Desperation” and “Bag of Bones” to name a few off of his long resume). What is generally not known is that Garris is also a novelist and a short story writer (“My Life in the Cinema”).
His first novel, “Development Hell,” was published in 2006 by Cemetery Dance Publications in both a signed limited edition and a trade hardcover. The trade hardcover is not difficult to find with a little searching, especially at a reasonable price.
OK, but what kind of writer is Garris?
Like Lady Hollywood herself, Garris enjoys using a multitude of heavily laced adjectives, adverbs and metaphors to describe the city of dreams, fame and fortune in all of its grand flamboyance, sparkling beauty and vile ugliness. To say that “Development Hell” is a Hollywood novel is an understatement. This is a book designed to blow you away with an insider’s satirical look at the city of angels (and stars). It’s one man’s journey through the light and darkness of Hollywood with bits of horror thrown in, lots and lots of hot sex, and a strong, hard look at the side of a town most people never see. Strange as it may seem, there’s also a spiritual quality about this novel that I think was entirely unintentional. I mean that in a good way because some of the things the protagonist goes through will have you thinking about the afterlife in new and unusual ways.
The story deals with a new hotshot director in Tinsel Town (we never know his actual name) whose first movie flopped because of studio interference, but now has a new idea for a film which involves a mutant female baby left to him by a Mexican lady (think of the movie “It’s Alive”). One thing quickly leads to another and the film about the baby comes to halt, followed by a rather perverted bonding between the child and director.
If that wasn’t enough, the lead character soon learns that for a price, he can be with the film goddess of his dreams, Jean Harlow. She’s still alive and hasn’t aged a bit, though there’s something slightly off-kilter about her. Then, through a series of strange experiences, the director creates his film masterpiece by committing suicide before the camera, thinking it finally will be the end of his woes and put his name on the map as a famous maker of movies, but it’s really just the beginning. God, or the Universe, has a rather bizarre sense of humor, and a person doesn’t escape their karma by setting fire to their bodies. No, it just doesn’t work that way. The spirit of the director still has a lot to learn, and this will be forced upon him as he takes over the bodies of different people in the film industry, hoping to still make it as a top director. The thing is no one really cares. If there’s not a huge box office gross attached, it’s nothing but dust in the wind, empty of promise and rewards and recognition. In the end, what goes around comes around, and karma must fulfill its unique destiny whether the spirit wants it or not.
“Development Hell” is certainly a one-of-a-kind novel. I have never read anything like it before, and I don’t think anyone else has, either. The author goes all out with this story, taking each twist and turn to the extreme. I found myself shocked, repulsed, surprised, turned on, questioning the meaning of life, laughing so hard that I sprayed Diet Coke over everyone sitting across from me at the lunch table, and always curious as to what would happened next. Garris knows how to tell a story that’s in your face, and he isn’t afraid to get down and dirty with the descriptions. He will delight and horrify you in the same sentence, but never bore you.
While not for everyone, I found this novel about Hollywood and one’s man quest for acceptance and acknowledgment to be riveting and compelling and humorous. This very talented author has one warped sense of humor and you simply can’t stop yourself from laughing at loud at the some of the scenes in the novel. And, if you’re a reader who enjoys a lot of gratuitous sex between men and women, men and men, women and women, and perverted little creatures hungry for love, then you’ll want to get a copy of this book.
I hope this isn’t the last we’ve seen of Garris as a novelist. As good of a director and screenwriter as he is, this man is also an exceptional novelist who doesn’t pull any punches in his storytelling. Wild, exciting, and over-the-top, “Development Hell” is a novel you won’t want to miss.
