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First, it was a book written by Susan Hill. Next, it was a play adapted from the novel by Stephen Mallatratt. In fact, it remains the second-longest running play ever in London's West End. And then, Harry Potter brought the story to the big screen in a 2012 movie.

The bit of fiction is The Woman in Black, a creeptastic romp through a tale of haunts and horror.

If you somehow managed to miss this tale of woe in all its many incarnations, you have been granted another chance. The Woman in Black will open at the Lakewood Playhouse Friday, Feb. 22 and run through March 17.

"It's the rare kind of show that combines all of the best elements of theatre: strong acting in an imaginative setting and the ability to really show off our lighting and sound system," says John Munn, managing artistic director at the Lakewood Playhouse. "We've never done anything like it here before. We've told mysteries. We've told ghost stories. But to tell a story that holds both elements and scares the audience so uniquely ... without using gore ... is so rare that we just had to do it!"

One of the coolest things about the play is that it revolves around just two actors. Two actors set on scaring the shit out of you!

A lawyer hires an actor to help him tell a story from his childhood - a tale of the ghost of a woman haunting a town. The lawyer hopes to tell the tale to set himself free from fear of the Woman in Black. But whether or not she will ever truly leave him alone is up for debate. Sometimes ghosts really don't enjoy their tales being told.

LAKEWOOD PLAYHOUSE, FEB. 22-MARCH 17, 8 P.M. FRIDAY-SATURDAY, 2 P.M. SUNDAY, $18-$24, 5729 LAKEWOOD TOWNE CENTER BLVD. SW, LAKEWOOD, 253.588.0042