by Sam Juliano
It all began as a harmless curiosity. A few of my seventh-grade friends clued me in on an afternoon soap opera they had been watching daily. Mind you, they didn’t initially volunteer the information, almost as if to keep this new discovery a private matter that might be compromised if it became too popular. But when I got frustrated that our after school stickball games had lost the majority of the players, I pressed harder for the cause. I was told the half hour show, known as Dark Shadows, which ran between 4:00 and 4:30 from Monday through Friday on ABC, had recently introduced a vampire among its characters. His named was Barnabus Collins, and it seemed that his first appearances on the show brought what was initially a rather tepid affair a new prominence, one that turned into quite a sensation – certainly the equivalent of a present day online viral. After I got over the shock that some of my teenage jock friends had actually been seduced by a soap opera, I decided I must investigate before damning the practice. I was after all a big horror fan from the day I can first remember availing myself of the likes Chiller Theater and the re-runs of 1950’s science fiction/horror B flick re-runs. Like so many of my friends I adored the Universal horror films, and had just at that very time developed an appreciation for the atmospheric productions from Hammer Studios. In early 1966 I vividly recall walking down to the Embassy Theater about twenty-seven blocks from my home to see Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors. It was love at first site, or more aptly, love at first bite, since the vampire and werewolf tales were at center stage. Still, I had a problem believing it was hip for a thirteen year-old boy to be watching a soap opera. These shows were for my mother and those weeping middle-aged women, who enjoyed getting a good cry out of their daytime programming. After all Dark Shadows was running side-by-side on the schedule with As the World Turns and One Life to Live. Vampire or not, the target audience couldn’t be little old me, especially during prime outdoor athletic immersion. No, I was certain this irksome proposition would end up a certain bust. But, alas, the proof would be in the pudding.
What I could have never foreseen is that afternoon stick ball was in some serious danger. A few weeks with this quietly enveloping Gothic soap permanently relegated our post-school day games to the weekends, or to be more specific to any free time when Dark Shadows wasn’t enthralling us. Like the best television, this was a show we not only were entertained by, but one where we became intimate with the characters, and were so entwined with the drama, that we were infuriated every Friday afternoon when we were left hanging, in the manner of soap opera formula. Of course this narrative design was aimed at keeping people aboard, but we were probably a bit too young to fully understand the nature of ratings and network scheming. We needed to know immediately what would happen to Dr. Julia Hoffman after she got bitten by Barnabus or what would happen after Barnabus hires Sam to age the portrait of the witch Angelique. When Julia embarks to hypnotize Willy, what will he reveal? After Julia locks Barnabus in the basement, we need to know then and there if Barnabus will find a way to escape. And it went on and on. Almost every day the show ran they left you in the lurch, causing us to accuse the creators of dragging out a plot line for the full duration of the episode so they could hold back a major revelation for the next day. That of course is the very business of soap opera, but we thought this show – the show we grew to love- would not be playing by those rules.
It was to be several years before I discovered the myriad architectural interiors of Manderlay in Hitchcock’s Rebecca, or even the decaying mansion in Sunset Boulevard, but I had seen enough Gothic horror in the Hammer films to appreciate such a spooky and claustrophobic environment. The mansion in Dark Shadows was known as Collinswood (in Collingsport, Maine) and it was there where all the supernatural events were played out, whether in the main drawing room, secret passages, attic rooms, hallways, bedrooms and other indoor locations. Over five years and an astonishing 1,225 episodes Dark Shadows was played out in the present, in the past through various time travel plot devices, and in a parallel universe. Ghosts, witches, warlocks, werewolves, zombies and other harbingers of evil were part of the Collinswood universe. As was the case with other soap operas the same actors played multiple roles over the duration of the run, though by and large viewers were enraptured by a number of memorable story-lines, replete with more plot twists than any measure of continuing drama could possibly accommodate. The show’s writers had an uncanny ability to rivet the audience once the program’s creator Dan Curtis -who came up with the idea after a few dreams- decided in early 1967 -about ten months into the show’s run- that to gain the highest ratings he needed to go all out with the supernatural plot lines. Six years earlier for Boris Karloff’s Thriller producer William Frye similarly deduced that the show’s alternate mystery-horror concept needed to go full force with the latter. Of course like Thriller the Dan Curtis production achieved smashing success once the focus was altered.
The story of how Canadian actor Jonathan Frid was hired to play Barnabus is just as fascinating as any other surrounding the show, but suffice to say here he agreed to play the role because he needed the modest funding he would earn, and he thought it would serve as a stop gap until he found something else. He realized a vampire on a fledgling soap opera was not the most promising gig, but he agreed to bide his time. Not he, nor Curtis nor anyone connected with the show could have foreseen the volcanic ratings spike the show experienced once he had made a few appearances. Frid has quickly transformed into a household name, and became the darling of the daytime television community. Eventually to the actor’s incredulity, he was seen as a sex symbol and received more fan mail than anyone in the industry, mail he was of course unequipped to handle. The handsome actor with the waxed hair strands had created a sensation – a vampire who was a reputable, caring and generous man- but one who was unable to completely fight off the bodily needs of someone as afflicted as he. Right from the start he won the audiences’ unconditional loyalty and it seems he could do no wrong.
It was at this juncture that I first walked through that sturdy wooden door to Collinswood, and didn’t exit until Dan Curtis announced the show’s finale on April 2, 1971. I may have sacrificed a few hundred home runs and some pitching victories, not to mention exercise, but it turned out to be a winning gamble. I was almost always unfailingly mesmerized, caught without escape in a tangle of deceit, supernatural happenings and overcooked melodrama, the likes of which while derided during the show’s run is now appraised as the very definition of cult television. I distinctly remember losing my temper a few times when friends held me up as the strains of the famed Dark Shadows theme by composer Bob Cobert loomed imminent. I once got into trouble by dashing out of an after school detention, when the entire class was penalized for unruly behavior for a substitute, but the principal didn’t sympathize with my need to watch the show’s installment. I also remember cursing up and down when the network pre-empted the broadcast on twenty occasions during the run, though they later doubled or tripled up to keep pace. It is never a good thing to be owned by anything, but I can think of about a thousand that are far worse than keeping abreast of soap opera, partially about a guilt-ridden 175 year-old vampire.
So much has been written about the show and the two films based on it, The House of Dark Shadows (1970) and The Night of Dark Shadows (1971) and the short-lived resurrection -also initiated by Curtis- in 1991, that any attempt here to deal with with that marathon run in story-line terms is the height of redundancy. Even for those not part of that glorious time that coincided with the Beatles, Woodstock, and the Vietnam War and a period of cultural creativity in all the arts, the show has been kept alive by the fondest of recall, re-runs and worldwide conventions, enthusiastically attended by tens of thousands and all the shows principals. Those in the cast who have passed away, including Frid at 88 were active on that front till the very end. Like Star Trek, the Dark Shadows phenomenon attracted people from all walks of life, all ages, and those who thought a soap opera would never tickle their fancy. Those wishing to relive those priceless memories that helped to define their youth can even invest in a coffin-shaped box set of 131 DVDs that contain ever episode ever aired, though such a plunge would set one back around 400 bucks. Tim Burton’s horror comedy Dark Shadows (2012) was a send up of the series that received poor to mixed reviews, with the film’s failure largely attributed to a reverse direction of the television show’s serious approach.
Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw is a classic Victorian ghost story, a psychological study of the mind of a repressed governess. Her charges are two dreadful children-a brother and a sister who possess extrasensory abilities and may be under the influence of ghosts. The governess is caught up in the children’s demi-world. Are the ghosts real or a product of their imagination? James never answered the question, but posed with a similar script contention with a similar Collinsport family dynamic Dark Shadows opts for full disclosure and the direction of course is the supernatural. Elizabeth Stoddard (Joan Collins, in one of the show’s leads) as Elizabeth Collins Stoddard needs new governess for young David (David Henesy) after Victoria Winters disappears. Magiie Evans, despite her meager background as a waitress at the local diner, is chosen, and in short order she is transformed from her original, hard-bitten persona, to that of ingenue in residence. The two children, David and Amy fall under the malevolent spell of the ghosts and the show had one of its most engrossing sub-plots. Add one the character of Quentin Collins, played by dashing David Selby in what turned out to the soap opera’s most popular character after Barnabus Collins, and the line was hugely successful.
But the show’s most vital entry point, and one that changed it forever, bringing it astounding fame, was broadcast on April 18, 1967. Innocuously enough it was the final five minutes of that 211th episode that altered the show when the Collins’ housekeeper Mrs. Johnson answers a knock at the door. As it slowly opens, framed within the deepening twilight is the patrician visage of a dark-haired man wearing an Inverness cloak. “Is Elizabeth Collins Stoddard in?” he asks. Mrs Johnson responds: “Who may I say is calling?” “Barnabus Collins,” he says. “A cousin from England.” The early Barnabus narrative treated the vampire issue coyly. When he first was released from his coffin by Willy Loomis he bit his benefactor on the wrist. This satisfied his need for sustenance and, as a bonus, provided Barnabus with an unwilling servant and bodyguard to watch over his daytime slumbers -he is a vampire after all- and cover up for his nocturnal roamings, Willie himself suffered a ‘bizarre illness.’ It proved awkward to explain the odd marks on his wrist or why he squinted in bright light. Once it was clear that Barnabus was a full fledged vampire the show took on a very austere tone. The characters who were closest to Barnabus accepted his condition -his close relationship with Dr. Julia Hoffman brought the show a real sense of humanity- and helped him at every turn. Even the potential threat he posed never impacted their determination to protect him. But as with the show’s infamous gaffes, like the regular intrusions of microphones on the set that was all-too-obvious to viewers, Hoffman was supposed to be male, but one typo succeeded in changing her gender with the casting directors. The original intent was to have the male doctor serve as a Van Helsing type, committed to Barnabus’ destruction, but with the accidental alteration, the female doctor formed the strongest of bonds with the vampire. Academy Award nominated actress Grayson Hall (The Night of the Iguana) played the role, which was thought to be for only thirteen weeks, one where the vampire would eventually kill her. But as they say the rest is history. All the elements came together, the bond was intractable, and when the chemistry between Frid and Hall was forged, public response was tumultuous and completely unexpected. The ratings began a precipitously steady climb, and the network was deluged with fan mail. Hall succeeded fantastically in fleshing out the role of one obsessed with a vampire. She had the nurturing qualities that recall the gypsy played by Maria Ouspenskaya in the 1941 The Wolf Man, and never gave up trying to find a cure for her friend’s thirst for blood.
Carolyn Stoddard’s brother (played by Louis Edmonds), Professor Stokes and Count Petofi (Thayer David), Angelique (Lara Parker), Maggie Evans (Katherine Leigh Scott) and Victoria Winters (Alexandra Moltke) as well as the aforementioned Barnabus Collins, Carolyn Collins Stoodard, Julia Hoffman, David Collins and Quentin Collins were the essential acting troupe, though as the show progressed others were brought in. Even “Quentin’s Theme”, a dreamy instrumental number used in some of the show’s episodes that turned into a AM radio hit by the Charles Randolph Greane Sound. The key to the spectacular success of Dark Shadows was the humanizing of the show’s arsenal of ghoulish characters and bringing to those characters a formidable degree of empathy. Ironically the direction was dictated by audience popularity, and it sustained this moody Gothic soap opera to its long run and an afterlife that like some of the show’s vampires has never been extinguished, not by wooden stakes nor audience disdain.
I love everything about this review!!!!
The literary and film references, the authority in the knowledge of the shows historical details, the allusions to key moments of the show and all rolled together in one big fun reminiscence through the eyes of a youth!!!!
This was such a pip to read and it’s great to know that there is someone out there that is even more passionate about this show than I am!!!!
Some balk at DARK SHADOWS, calling it a camp novelty from a time when TV was finding it new footing. I SAY, as I know Sam will agree, that this is, without question, the greatest and most original show ever produced for day-time television under that horrible mantle, THE SOAP OPERA.
Phooey, I say to the naysayers.
Watch it and know.
This is one of my favorite reviews for the count-down!!!!!
I can say I am also of the belief that soap opera has never achieved anything quite like this.
Well Dennis, that is certainly the kind of comment that will always leave the recipient very thrilled. I certainly will corroborate all the wonderful things you say about DARK SHADOWS, which I watched religiously ever since I was hooked by Barnabus and the Collinswood brood way back in 1967. This is a cult show extraordinaire, and ardent viewers have many stories to tell. Hence, i told mine. Thanks again my friend! Much obliged.
Tim, that is indeed the contention being made, and happy to hear you concur.
What a fantastic review! I, too, watched every day at 4, sometimes with my sister, mostly by myself. I was recently given a set of the best episodes, but it’s not as captivating as it was then. Thanks for sharing the vintage photos, too!
Thanks so much my friend!! I can certainly understand that so far removed in years it won’t have the same impact as it did in that long ago time, especially since the mysteries that ended many of the shows are now out of the bag so to speak. Much appreciated!
I never experienced the great fortune of watching Dark Shadows during those initial broadcast years of 66-71. Too young. But years later I did catch many and fell in love with the characters, especially Barnabus.
This is an incredible review Sam – your unique approach of an obsessive teenager whose entire days revolve around an afternoon airing make for a marvelous read. I envy you, and the time you spent with the show. Everyone should have such an experience in their lives.
Frank, I hear ya. But as you state you did come upon them later on and joined in on the fun. I do cherish the experience for sure, in response to your contention. Thanks so much for the very kind words my friend.
What actually let me to the series were the two films you mention in your review, House and Night of Dark Shadows.
Frank, I can understand that. Those who were not watchers during the initial run were alerted to the show once the films opened theatrically. So in that sense it was a reverse discovery so to speak.
Sam you have captured the presence of this show in it full on novelty as well as effect on all those who happened to find it on our day time tv watching. I love your personal story about how you discovered this show, that your baseball companions all began to disappear into the grip of the Vampire!
Somehow I came across the show one afternoon, I believe I even started watching before Barnabus knocked on the door… I introduced the show to others in my family as the gothic got more intriguing pulling us more and more into the vampire stare…
Thank you so very much Jeff! Yes, my story was one of paradise lost and then found in a most unexpected place. So you also partook of this daily afternoon ritual, and even a while before Barnabus came upon the scene. Wow! Well, you are an original member of the vampire fraternity then, and as you attest also a mercenary for the show! Your description of the allure is most intoxicating my friend. Again, many thanks!
What a brilliant, entertaining, witty review which provides a fresh appreciation of this cult show that so many of us will attest had us by the throat in those impressionable days. I remember the show struggled until Barnabus came upon the scene, and then it became one of television’s most watched programs. I’ve seen looked again at some of the shows on VHS tape, and got hooked all over again. Love the mansion sets and the music. Quentin was a fascinating character too.
Frank A, thanks for the wonderful engagement and kind words! Yes the early shows nearly doomed DARK SHADOWS, but once Barnabus came aboard it became all the rage. I once had the VHS tapes, but managed to upgrade to DVDs. Quentin was certainly next up in popularity behind Barnabus. Much appreciated my friend.
An exhilarating read! I have my own stories connected with the series, and some are almost as funny. I had a major crush on Angelique, as many of us did. Julia Hoffman was a hoot, as Grayson God rest her soul was prone to forgetting lines. But that was part of the charm of this priceless show. That coffin box is a little too steep for me, but I may have to save my pennies.
James, one day we must take this further, so you can share your own remembrances! I’m not at all surprised you had a crush on Angelique. And I’m amazed someone else remembers Grayson Hall’s line miscues. As you say they were part of this campy experience, though sometimes I was so immersed that I was a bit annoyed. Ha! Yes the coffin box is quite a commitment. Thanks so much for the kind words my friend and fellow fan!
Faithfully watched every day! So disappointed when it ended. Love your review!
Thanks you so much! Thrilled to hear you watched it faithfully, and were so sorry to see it end!!
I too was bitten by this show, which explains why I write this after sunset. Never did like garlic! Great review!
Hahaha George, gotta love it! Thanks so much for the very kind words!
By telling that story about how you fell under the vampire’s spell, you spoke for everyone who loved the show back in those days. I discovered it later, but my older brother was in your age grouping.
Frid really elevated the show to the classic status it enjoys. I enjoyed the parallel universe thread. Thayer David as Professor Stokes was a favorite character.
Too bad that re-boot in the 90’s went nowhere. But it no chance to duplicate lightening twice. Terrific post.
Much appreciated comment here Tim! I’m sure your brother had quite a lot to say about the show. I too was smitten with that parallel universe line and agree Jonathan Frid was the key player that made the show what it became. Yes the 90’s spin off was indeed ill-advised and seemingly doomed from the start for a number of reasons. Thanks again!
This is amazing. A definitive example of how a television show can take over your life. And how a day can be planned around it, at least psychologically. I know the show, but never to this extent. Really a jolly old time reading, and hope one day to pay a return visit through DVDs.
Ricky, I love the way you put that. Yes, everything be damned with that kind of mindset, and I lived it for several years. Thank so much, and I do hope you get a chance to resurrect the memories with that return visit!
My mom told me that she refused to answer the phone when it was showing. And she had a secret love affair going on with Jonathan Frid.
Paula, I well know how your mom thought! Ha! Thank you!
‘Dark Shadows’ was a kind of mythical voyage into an unknown world of fantasy and romance. I do remember the not so good aspects like the missed lines, the bad sets and costumes and laughable hair. Joan Bennett and Grayson Hall seemed to have most of the gaffes. When the show was working on all cylinders it was brilliant. Which I think was the majority of the time. The bottom line is that it held you in its grip and kept you returning.
As you say Sam, it was a hard offer to refuse. I thought your review was the ultimate appreciation of the show, a real one of a kind that will never be seen quite that way again.
‘Dark Shadows’ was a kind of mythical voyage into an unknown world of fantasy and romance.
Celeste, that is a fantastic capsule framing if I might say so my friend. Yes the show once had a famed blooper tape which did feature many of the gaffes. Of course your bottom line is so true and the main point of my defense. Thanks so much for the very kind words!
Sam, here are some of those infamous bloopers. There are many up on You Tube!
Ha Celeste, thank you so much for adding these! Got a good laugh this morning, and do remember many!
Now, you are really talking my language Sam. You couldn’t talk to my sister and I at 4 PM every day. I had heard they were going to kill Barnabus off, but the letters to the network dictated otherwise. I also thought this was the best of the soap operas, maybe because they never had a supernatural one. But I’m inclined to agree with you Sam – character bonding. I even bought the 45 of “Quentin’s Theme”. Wonderful review.
Your observations seem quite sound Karen. And of course I did know that feeling quite well in the days we forfeited 30 minutes of our time daily, Monday through Friday for years. Wow, you also owned “Quentin’s Theme” eh? Nice. Thank you so much my friend.
I think the 45 of “Quentin’s Theme” was on the air around the same time as another I was smitten by – the Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet by Henry Mancini. Sam, you have me looking on amazon for the dvds. All of a sudden you have rekindled all the great memories of the show.
Ha Karen, sounds like we also share a passion of “The Love Theme from ‘Romeo and Juliet’ which though brought to AM radio by (Henry) Mancini, was actually written for the film by the film music icon Nino Rota. The Dark Shadows DVD set is a Holy Grail for many, but the e bay price is much lower than that on amazon.
Great fun. I have soaps I have enjoyed more-One Life to Live, for instance-but this one, which ended a decade before I was born, holds up better than it ought to, given the budgetary and broadcast-standard restraints imposed on it. A classic, for sure.
Absolutely Adam, it was an enduring show that took television at the time to ongoing narrative heights. Thank you!
It is my own favorite soap of them all, but I rather thought it was a no-brainer. Your memories enhance the nostalgic value and your understanding of the production warts and all make this another one of your essential reads Sam. The irony of television is that a vampire soap opera captivated millions of teenagers, either gender. I don’t think there was a single funny moment. They played it ultra-serious and it paid dividends over and over. Fantastic read!
Thanks for the exceedingly kind words my friend! Yes that irony is well noted. The show rarely brought on a guffaw, and without a doubt worked because of the austerity.
Hey Sam,
I’ve never seen a minute of this show, nor even heard of it until now. It seems like a rather curious show. I can seen how it would gain a cult following though.
Jon, I am a bit surprised you never heard of it, but I know its original run from 66 to 71 was before your time. I have reason to believe you would connect with it, even via a DVD discovery. Thank you!
Gracias.