Stephen King musical set to haunt

ATLANTA (AP) — Horror writer Stephen King’s first play, The Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, featuring haunting melodies by rocker John Mellencamp, is finally ready for the stage. It’s now set to open next April at the Atlanta Alliance Theater.

The project originated about 11 years ago, King said. “John had an idea that he wanted to do a play about ghosts in a cabin and how sibling rivalries are carried down from generation to generation,” King said.

With the same agent, they got together and agreed to try to write the play, King said, wherein he outlined a story incorporating live brothers and dead brothers.

In writing the play, King kept the musical side in mind. But it was Mellencamp who wrote all the lyrics as well as the music, King said. “Believe me, I can’t write songs. Songs and poetry are just outside my field.”