Mick Garris was born on December 4, 1951, in Santa Monica, California. He spent his childhood in the San Fernando Valley neighborhood of Van Nuys, after his parents' divorce when he was 12 years old. During this time, he began making his own 8mm home movies, which would later become a passion for filmmaking.
Garris' early career was marked by his work as a freelance critic for various film and music celebrities. He wrote publications for newspapers and magazines such as "The San Diego Door", "The Los Angeles Herald-Examiner", "Cinefantastique", and "Starlog" throughout the 1970s.
In the late 1970s, Garris was the lead singer in a band called The Horsefeathers Quintet, which disbanded in 1976. He then worked as a receptionist at George Lucas' Star Wars Corporation, where he created and hosted a Los Angeles cable access interview program show called "Fantasy Film Festival".
Garris continued to work in the film industry, writing and directing "making-of" features for films such as "Scanners", "The Howling", "Halloween II", "The Thing", and "Videodrome". He also worked as a press agent for the Pickwick-Maslansky-Koeninsberg agency and wrote screenplays for horror anthology TV shows such as "Freddy's Nightmares" and "Tales from the Crypt".
Garris' breakthrough as a director came with the film "Psycho IV: The Beginning" in 1990, which was a prequel to the "Psycho" films. He also directed the TV series "She-Wolf of London" and the film "Sleepwalkers" in 1992.
In the 1990s, Garris continued to work with Stephen King, directing the mini-series "The Stand" and the film "Riding the Bullet". He also directed the film "The Judge" and the TV series "Masters of Horror", which he created and executive-produced.
Throughout his career, Garris has worked with many notable directors and actors, including John Landis, Joe Dante, John Carpenter, Steven Spielberg, William Shatner, and Christopher Lee. He has written and directed numerous films and TV shows, and has become a respected figure in the horror genre.
