WHO NEEDS ANDREW LLOYD...WHAT'S HIS NAME?

Take a dash of Stephen King and a dollop of John Mellencamp, and what do you get -- a recipe for the macabre?

Truly, it is one of spookiest collaborations in the history of musical theater, the king of horror and the earthly rocker --but I am not kidding -- this deviant duo are collaborating on a haunted musical, according to Billboard.

"Our goal is someday to end up on Broadway," Mellencamp tells top music industry publication.

Based on an idea by Mellencamp, the untitled show features estranged 20-something brothers who find themselves with their father in a cabin inhabited by ancestral apparitions.

Be afraid -- very afraid!

IF YA CAN'T BEAT 'EM, JOIN 'EM

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers released their new song, "Surrender," on MP3.com.

MORE TLC TO GO AROUND

TLC's Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins and hubby, rapper Mack 10, welcomed their first child, a daughter named Chase.

MORE TLC

Country music darlins' Clint Black and Lisa Hartman Black are due to have first child in early May.

I DON'T NEED NO STINKIN' SCREENPLAY!

The late John Huston's long-lost screenplay Amparo, about a washed-up screenwriter, will find its way to the big screen next year. The legendary filmmaker's son, Danny Huston, will direct the film.

HECHE JOINS BEAL

Anne Heche joins the cast of Ally McBeal for three episodes. Heche's plays a troublesome client of John Cage's (Peter MacNicol) in what show's executives depict as a "challenging comedic role."

WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE, JOAN!

During a recent interview with NBC, former Good Morning America co-host Joan Lunden confessed she was forced to "retire" from the morning show by ABC executives in 1997 when the ratings plummeted due in part to the rising popularity of the Today Show.

WHO'S MINDING THE KIDS?

Mama Madonna confirmed she getting her bustier outta moth balls for the first time since 1993's Girlie Show tour. Madonna will play New York's Roseland on November 5

and London on November 28. More club tours are planned for next year.

WILL BEN STILLER EVER FIND A FUNCTIONAL MOVIE ROLE?

Ben Stiller, Gwyneth Paltrow and Gene Hackman set to star for director Wes Anderson in the Disney comedy The Royal Tenenbaums, about a dysfunctional family of geniuses who wind up as adults living under the same roof.

NELSON'S DAILY DOSE

Willie Nelson told Details magazine that marijuana and exercise are part of his daily routine. "I don't want to call it a drug--an herb is not a drug. If you need some

temporary help in getting through the day, cannabis is the best way."

CASTING CALL

Antonio Banderas is in final talks to star in the action movie Ecks vs. Sever, about a clandestine agent who is locked in mortal combat against his nemesis.

CAN'T THROW THE BEACH BLANKET OVER THEIR EYES!

Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello are suing Macy's for publishing their pictures in a brochure without their authorization. They want the photos removed and payment of at

least $250,000 each in retribution.

I'M DREAMING OF ALLY McBEAL

Ally McBeal: A Very Ally Christmas CD features cast members Calista Flockhart, Jane Krakowski and Lisa Nicole Carson and newcomer to the show, Robert Downey, Jr., singing their Christmas hearts out. The CD has a November 7th release date.

THEY WORK HARD FOR THE MONEY

About 2,000 female technicians at CBS won a $8-million settlement in a class-action suit against the company charging sex discrimination.

MOVE OVER RICHARD GERE

Former NBC's ER star, Julianna Margulies, joins Andy Garcia and Mick Jagger in The Man From Elysian Fields, a film about a writer's financial failure strains relations with his wife and forces him to work as "escort."

FORGETTABLE

Grammy-winning singer Natalie Cole, daughter of legendary entertainer Nat "King" Cole, says in a new book living in her father's shadow led her to heroin addiction in her 20s, according to a recent People magazine article.

NEVER MIND!

Dick Van Dyke, the star of CBS' Diagnosis Murder, said he's not planning to retire anytime soon, referring to recent headlines about his retirement. "I've been talking about retiring for years," the 74-year-old actor said. "It's my standard answer to the question, 'What are your future plans?' The truth is I'll always be interested in things that are worthwhile and fun."

WITH A CAPITAL "T" THAT RHYMES WITH "P"...

Matthew Broderick is boning up on his alphabet -- he's slated to play Henry Hill in a new version of the Tony-winning Broadway musical "The Music Man," a

three-hour film to air on ABC-TV on the "Wonderful World of Disney" according to the Daily Variety. Producers are looking to cast Broderick's wife, Sex and the City's, Sarah Jessica Parker, as Hill's love interest, Marion the librarian!