Michael Jackson's Ghosts is a 1996 short film starring Michael Jackson, directed by Stan Winston, and written by Stephen King and Mick Garris. It is based on a story by Garris, Jackson and King. Ghosts tells the story of an eccentric man with supernatural powers being forced out of a small town by its judgmental mayor. Jackson plays five roles, and performs dance routines set to the songs "2 Bad", "Is It Scary" and "Ghosts", taken from his albums HIStory (1995) and Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix (1997). The AV Club described Ghosts as an allegory for Jackson's life and pop culture status. Ghosts was filmed and released in 1996 and released along with select prints of the horror film Thinner and was first screened in the 1997 Cannes Film Festival.[2] It was released as promo a year later internationally on LaserDisc, VHS and Video CD.