Specials 1970 - 2009

TV-PG

A review of what occurred in episodes 1-209, which are also known as the "Beginnings"

A complete history of the show, including interviews with the actors and production personnel.

Many of the spooky shows most bizarre and terrifying moments, including vampire Barnabas Collins' dream curse.

A video tour with Nancy Barrett (Carolyn Stoddard) of the New England settings where exteriors were filmed.

An in-depth review of the program by its creator and executive producer Dan Curtis, along with many favorite scenes.

In this special release, the story of how Barnabas was cursed as one of the living dead is detailed in a selection of scenes from the most popular episodes.

FYI: 3.5 hours long!

High atop Widows' Hill, off the stormy Maine coast, sits the foreboding Collinwood, home for centuries of the wealthy Collins family. An exorcist is summoned after the children at Collinwood are possessed. In this special release, the story of how the ghost of Quentin Collins haunted the eerie estate of Collinwood is detailed in a selection of scenes from the most popular episodes.

FYI: Over 3 hours long!

Alexandra Moltke discusses her fondness for the 1795 storyline; a run-in with Betsy Durkin in the 1990s; watching Dark Shadows at the end of her pregnancy when Kate Jackson was on the show; making documentaries on human rights issues; finding joy post-Dark Shadows as a stay-at-home mother; working at the Museum of Television & Radio; and leaving Dark Shadows due to her pregnancy (an unexplainable situation for Vicky!)

John Karlen discusses his role of Willie Loomis, who he felt had very little dialogue; being a flake on the set; admiring Joan Bennett’s determination and concentration; Jonathan Frid’s line quantity and what a trooper he was and his letter-perfect performance in Arsenic & Old Lace; flirting with the females because of his easy lines; being unconcerned with the ratings and leaving the show for long periods as he worked sans contract; his first taste of being recognized, including by other celebs (Muhammad Ali and Lyle Lovett).

Kathryn Leigh Scott discusses the mystique and romance of Dark Shadows.

Matthew Hall discusses being a child on the set and working on the 1991 Revival Series.

Marie Wallace talks about her audition for the part of Eve where she saw the other two actresses, one blonde, one brunette, and sized them up trying to figure out what Dan Curtis was looking for, which was a very sexy, vampire-ish woman. She arranged to go last and teased her hair out and tried to be as sexy as possible. She also describes spending a lot of time on set with Humbert Allen Astredo whom she considered to be the best actor on the series.

Jonathan Frid talks about the “bites”, particularly the best one in his opinion, in which he left the dentures off, relying on the power of suggestion. Frid insists that he took the role of Barnabas as seriously as Hamlet, but thinks some of the actors and even writers were taking camp liberties. He describes Barnabas as being from “good family”, healthy stock, sensible, intelligent, and passionate with one slight problem, not that different from an alcoholic. He had human values without any of the normal (for the time) conventions, which Frid feels made him a more believable figure, rather than a dry, dull character. He also talks about trying to avoid fans when getting off the set in a hurry and once being scolded by the mother of a fan.

Denise Nickerson discusses her audition for Dark Shadows, playing on the set with David Henesy which inevitably led to mischief, starting an eatery on-set with a hotplate, and her memories of Dan Curtis.

Cameraman Stuart Goodman talks about working with Lela Swift before Dark Shadows and being hired as one of the first three cameramen. How they began working with bulky black & white camera with turrets and zoom lenses and how they would often bang into the sets, actors, and even other cameras. As the show progressed and took on a horror theme they began to experiment with special camera effects normally only used in movies and taking an entire day on a movie production, whereas they were shooting in one day as if it were live, which it occasionally was. He also talks about the daily schedule with camera blocking, shot-cards for each scene and teleprompters. He also talks about lunch during the day and how when leaving the set with the actors he would often be mobbed by fans seeking autographs even though he was not a star.

ABC publicist Les Schecter talks about how ABC was consistently 3rd in network ratings (out of 3 networks) and was trying to attract a younger audience. He began covering Peter Jennings in the News Department and was hired to cover daytime television about two months after Dark Shadows began. He talks about how it wa already attracting many people, but when Jonathan Frid was hired the ratings shot through the roof. He speaks of Jonathan going on The Dick Cavett Show and how difficult it was for him to interact with the fans, not as himself, but as Barnabas Collins. The network sent Jonathan on a publicity junket where he would change clothes in the airplane and be the last one to exit, dressed in character. He would then attend cocktail parties and fan events as Barnabas Collins.

David Selby talks about auditioning for Dark Shadows. Apparently he was changing agents and when he went to the new agency they sent him on this audition before he even signed with them. He did a scene from Tennessee Williams as the audition piece and then they had him pose for the camera. As Quentin Collins did not speak for a very long time, he had some apprehension about that storyline running out and having to speak in the 1897 sequences.

Lara Parker talks about how part of Dark Shadow's appeal was the paradox that great love stories always end in death. She illustrates her story with the example of Jonathan Frid creating a vampire who is more than just a monster, but the tragic hero surviving the death of his beloved, and determined to not see her die again as their paths cross in time. She further theorizes about how our fear of death gave rise to not only vampire legends, but religion and how people appeased their fear of death in the days before modern medicine with the search for monsters.

Marie Wallace talks about how much fun it was to play Jenny Collins, an insane woman who was almost completely opposite of her previous character, Eve. She had not been expecting to be called back to the show, but it was explained to her by Lela Swift that Dark Shadows was a repertory company, and if they liked you, you would be back. Ms. Wallace has since retired from acting, but says if she were offered the chance to play an insane woman again, she would leap at the opportunity.

Sy Tomashoff recalls how the set of Dark Shadows was on a long, narrow rectangle, instead of the squarish set one would want. The permanent sets for Collinwood and The Old House were on opposite corners and Eagle Hill Cemetery was always in the same place. Tomashoff talks about the discipline it takes to do a 30 minute soap opera, 5 days a week. He also recounts how he created the first ghost on Dark Shadows, which was Josette Collins coming out of her portrait at The Old House and walking outdoors (70).

David Selby talks about how it felt to suddenly be both in a successful television show, and to be a personal success. How he was recognized everywhere he went, often before he realized people were applauding him. He was enjoying being interviewed for magazines such as Sixteen and Tiger Beat, then would go back to his 2 bedroom studio apartment. He also talks about the mutton-chop sideburns, both prosthetic and real and having to shave off the real ones when he was doing theatre.

Kathryn Leigh Scott talks about how Dan Curtis brought actors together for the success of Dark Shadows. She recounts Grayson Hall's observation that Dan cast actors with "large faces and booming voices" and tells about meeting Joan Bennett for the first time, and how they remained friends until Joan's death. She further recounts how Dan Curtis acted as a catalyst for many aspects of her career, including founding Pomegranate Press and how different Dark Shadows fan events are than other fan events, how they are reunions for the actors and give them a chance to meet fans all weekend long and have dinner with them and tell stories.

James Butler talks about his work as a publicist for Dark Shadows. At the time there was only 1 monthly magazine which covered daytime soap operas, where he always had something, but the exciting new phenomena at the time were the teen fan magazines, Sixteen (published in New York) and Tiger Beat (published in Los Angeles). Butler arranged to have a monthly column in each magazine. The exciting thing about Dark Shadows is that there was a core cast of both well-known seasoned movie and stage talent (Joan Bennett, Louis Edmonds, Grayson Hall, etc...) along with rising young stars such as Kathryn Leigh Scott, David Selby, Kate Jackson, etc...

Leonard Goldberg, former ABC executive, talks about reading fan mail for Dark Shadows, particularly Jonathan Frid, who attracted not only teenagers, but older women. These women were a huge selling point for ABC advertising and seemed to be attracted to the Gothic atmosphere the same way women are often attracted to Gothic romance novels. Goldberg also describes Jonathan Frid as an unlikely matinée idol, classically trained in Shakespearean theatre.

Roger Davis narrates an abridged version of "Here's What Really Happened to Barnabas & Co." entitled Beyond the Shadows to accompany MPI Home Video's release of the final episodes. The abridgement deleted several lines throughout, but particuilarly omitted paragraphs three through five above, removing references of the characters Angelique and Mrs. Johnson as well as the unpleasant details of Roger's demise. The narration also corrected "Philip" to "Sebastian Shaw."

The pilot episode including the originally aired commercials.

The ABC promo for the beginning of Dark Shadows.

25th Anniversary Special VHS

Dark Shadows 30th Anniversary Special (VHS)

About making the audio drama starring the original cast.

High atop Widows' Hill off the stormy Maine coast sits the foreboding Collinwood estate, home for centuries of the wealthy and mysterious Collins family. This special release reveals how the children of Collinwood become possessed by the ghost of Quentin Collins.