Michael Jackson loved Halloween, and 30 years ago this month he gave fans something spooky that most people have forgotten about.
It was a short film called “Ghosts.” Not quite a music video, more like a little horror movie, running about 39 minutes. And it didn’t just go online or play on TV first. It actually went into movie theaters, tucked in with select prints of a horror film that opened on October 25, 1996.
Michael paid for the whole thing himself. The director, Mick Garris, said the budget ran about 15 million dollars, and Michael covered all of it. That’s a staggering amount of his own money for what was, at heart, an extra-long music video.
In it, Michael played five different characters. Not one or two. Five.
The “Ghosts” short film
Watch closely and try to spot all five of the roles he plays in this one.
He appeared as the Maestro, the Mayor, the Mayor Ghoul, the Superghoul and the Skeleton. He’s dancing one moment and transforming into something ghoulish the next. It’s Michael showing off every trick he had, all for the fun of a Halloween story.
For years “Ghosts” even held a Guinness World Record as the longest music video ever made. It kept that title until 2013, when Pharrell Williams and his cheerful hit “Happy” finally passed it.
But here’s the part that surprises people most.
Michael didn’t come up with the story all by himself. He had help from one of the most famous names in all of horror.
Stephen King, the legendary author behind “It,” “The Shining” and so many scary classics, shares the story credit on “Ghosts” along with Michael and Mick Garris. The two of them, the King of Pop and the king of horror novels, actually put their heads together on it.
And the movie that “Ghosts” played alongside in theaters? That one was King’s too. It was called “Thinner,” based on one of his novels.
The trailer for “Thinner,” the film “Ghosts” played with
This is the horror movie that lucky theatergoers saw Michael’s “Ghosts” attached to. Give it a look.
So imagine buying a ticket for a creepy Stephen King movie in October 1996, settling into your seat, and getting a brand new 39-minute Michael Jackson horror film on top of it. What a night at the movies that must have been.
It’s a wonderful and almost forgotten chapter of his career. A huge star teamed up with a horror legend, and Michael footed the whole bill, all for one Halloween treat.
This week, give “Ghosts” a watch and enjoy Michael doing what he did best, surprising everybody.