Jim Beard has a book out titled - Running Home to Shadows - memory of rushing home after school to watch the daytime gothic drama Dark Shadows.
Dark Shadows ran on ABC from 1967 to 1971 and usually hit my local station at 3:30 PM which gave me the right amount of time to get home from school and warm up the television. The first episode aired on June 27, 1966 - the summer before I turned 8 years old. I don't know how, but I honestly feel that I saw almost the first episode.
I was switching channels and I remember seeing the character Vickie Winters standing in front of the fireplace in the drawing room of Collinwood and somehow I was drawn in. I wasn't one to watch soap operas and I didn't have a mother or grandmother who watched the show. Nor do I remember telling anyone about the show for a while.
Mostly I was okay to watch it, unless my brother wanted to watch Ultraman - a Japanese television about a superhero. I liked Ultraman okay for my own reasons, but it conflicted with Dark Shadows. Alas, there were fights and finally trade-offs.
Even though I have re-watched those early episodes as an adult, I remember being drawn in by Vickie Winters trying to learn about her true family, and wondered why Elizabeth Collins Stoddard had not left Collinwood in 18 years.
I remembered the characters of Burke Devlin and Joe Haskell and Maggie Evans and her father Sam, the artist. There was David Collins who was about my age and shared my name. He was such a brat - but I identified with him anyway. Especially because he was under the protection of Josette Collins and formed a friendship with the ghost of Sarah Collins.
Then the story got really creepy when David's mother Laura reappeared eventually luring David to her and attempting for them both to die by fire and rise like a phoenix from the ashes. That had been their cycle of life for hundreds of years.
This time in 1967 Laura was thwarted because Vickie and Burke came to save David. They would have saved Laura if she had but listened.
The show and my life really changed in April, 1967 when the character of Barnabas Collins appeared for the first time. After that, the series really revolved around him.
In time there were books by Marilyn and Dan Ross, comic books, bubble bum and trading cards. One year my sister gave me an album of the music from Dark Shadows. I still have it - scratches and all. I had a couple action models and the Barnabas Collins board game where you picked out bones to build a skeleton. I sent away and got a Barnabas Collins ring that I wore until it broke.
I also ordered a Josette's music box - I still have that! It is one of my treasures. I sent a fan letter to the actor who played Barnabas, Jonathan Frid. I got a postcard in return with a note that was maybe written by Mr. Frid. I lost it along the way. So sad.
My sister mentioned one time that if goth had been a thing when I was a kid I would have been goth - and agreed. The show awakened my appreciation for all manner of classic horror films. The Universal movies, the Hammer and American International movies too. I also enjoyed the Addams Family and the Munsters - but they were never scary - just odd and fun.
One aspect of Barnabas Collins that spoke to me was his guilt about being a vampire and using his powers. Don't get me wrong, for a long time Barnabas was the bad guy of the show and used his powers over Willie (his Renfield), Vickie, Carolyn and for a time, Dr. Julia Hoffman who was played deliciously by the actress Grayson Hall.
Over time Barnabas became a more noble character and was somewhat ashamed that he was a vampire. This spoke to me as a preteen who was feeling the stirrings of gay attractions to my male friends and had crushes on a number of male adult and teen celebrities. As a good Roman Catholic I never pursued any of these crushes and barely understood them. But I had a sense that I shouldn't be that way, just like Barnabas hid that he was a vampire.
They actually didn't use the word vampire for the longest time. There were inferences about the way he was, similar to how gay men in the 1960s were considered that way.
Storylines changed. The character of Quentin Collins showed up played by actor David Selby who was from West Virginia, my home state.
There were witches and ghosts and a Frankenstein storyline, and a wolfman. There was time travel. There was a tie-in to the Oscar Wilde's Picture of Dorian Gray, and many other classic horror stories.
As the years went by I had other afterschool activities and interests but I stayed connected to Dark Shadows. I lost interest during the Leviathan storyline and still haven't seen those episodes. Perhaps I will when I get to them in my current re-watching of the series.
Recently I learned about a podcast, Terror at Collinwood. It has sparked my interest and I'm back to watching episodes of Dark Shadows.
My interest stays with classic horror movies - not the slasher movies like the Halloween series, or Nightmare on Elm Street, or Saw. I've enjoyed some of the movies based on the books by Stephen King, but I haven't read any of them.
It was several years until I finally read Dracula by Bram Stoker. A good friend opined that they have never made a faithful adaptaion of the book. I agree - some have come close, but the directors always play with their interpretation.
Listening to the podcast has been a wonderful reminder of my childhood and everything I loved about cast and characters of Dark Shadows. And lest I forget, the amazing Dan Curtis, the creator and director of the series. The writers came up with wonderful stories. Robert Cobert was the composer of the unique signature tune and all the incidental music that included Josette's theme, and Quentin's theme.
The sets were great, especially when you consider the budget they had. Everything looked so opulent. Granted I wasn't 10 years old - but upon re-watching, the sets hold up to my adult scrutiny.
I know I'm not alone in the very special place Dark Shadows holds in my life. My memories from those years and that show have held a special place throughout my life and will for many more.
