Every year, four affluent old friends — Ricky Hawthorne (Fred Astaire), Sears James (John Houseman), Dr. John Jaffrey (Melvyn Douglas) and Edward Wanderley (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) — meet to tell ghost stories. When one of Wanderley’s sons dies mysteriously the day before his wedding, and the ghostly apparition of a beautiful woman appears on the ice, the four old friends have no choice but to piece together one last story — this one more terrifying than all the others, because it is true.Ghost Story is a 1981 American horror film directed by John Irvin and based on the 1979 book of the same name by Peter Straub. It stars Fred Astaire, Melvyn Douglas, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., John Houseman and Craig Wasson (in a dual role). It was the last film to feature Astaire, Fairbanks, and Douglas (who died four months before the film’s release), and the first film to feature Michael O’Neill. The film was shot in Woodstock, Vermont, Saratoga Springs, New York and at Stetson University in DeLand, Florida.