Book Review: Spider Kiss by Harlan Ellison

The thought of Kevin Smith (director of Clerks and Chasing Amy among others) taking on a horror movie for his next film has been stuck in my craw ever since the news started making the rounds on the internet a while back. Now I know why - Smith should really be making a film adaptation of Spider Kiss instead. It’s not just that I hate bullshit “slasher” flicks in general but also that I would hate to see Smith’s immense talent wasted on such pointless pap.

Now I know you’re asking yourself what the hell is Spider Kiss anyhow, and why are you spouting forth such crazy ideas? Let me enlighten you dear readers. Spider Kiss is a book — that’s words written or typed on paper for all you Web 2.0 junkies — and a damn good one at that. So good in fact, that it must be made into a film and Kevin Smith is the best candidate to do it justice.

To put this in perspective I generally think books should be left as just that, with the exception of the occasional Stephen King tome. In fact the only book out of the hundreds upon hundreds I’ve read, besides Spider Kiss, that I feel is truly worthy of a movie is Wicked, the stellar effort by Gregory Maguire that chronicles the further adventures of The Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz.

Rumored to be loosely based on the career of Jerry Lee Lewis, Spider’s Kiss is rich in detail as it follows the fictional rise and fall of teenage heartthrob and musician Stag Preston. While the book is full of dramatic license, Harlan Ellison’s take on the dark side of the music business is startlingly, and sadly, all too realistic. This is rock and roll fiction that would have made Hunter S. Thompson proud in its unflinching truthfulness.

Article Author: Brandon Daviet

Music writer and all around good guy from D-town, Colorado!

Visit Brandon Daviet's author page — Brandon Daviet's Blog