Dark Shadows

 

 

A cult classic.  A Gothic  soap opera about a governess in a mysterious mansion that  morphed into a feast of the supernatural, dominated by the vampire Barnabas Collins and the ghost of Quentin Collins, the show ran from 1966 to 1971, spawned two movies with the original cast, a reboot by its creator Dan Curtis in 1991, and a Tim Burton reinterpretation starring Johnny Depp in 2012.

Drew has been a  huge fan since 1966.  I have always liked the show.

Yesterday I learned that Lara Parker, one of the stars of the show, passed away at age 84.  She played many roles in the show, but was most famously the witch Angelique, who places a curse on Barnabas Collins.

But the show had been on my mind even before the sad news.  While looking through my YouTube account, I came across a video I made in 2016 which reminded me of all the crazy fan things Drew and I did because of this show.

Let me explain.

Back in the 1980’s Drew took me to a couple of Dark Shadows conventions, which were held at a hotel at the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan.  We got to watch clips from the show, meet cast members, and Drew bought a ton of merchandise.

And when we spent  some time in Newport, Rhode Island, when we walked along the Cliff Walk,  we had to see the exterior of Seaview Terrace, the mansion that was used in the opening credits of the show. (It’s private property, unlike many of the other mansions in Newport, you can’t tour Seaview Terrace.)

We also visited Lyndhurst, a mansion in Tarrytown, NY.  Lyndhurst was used as the setting of House of Dark Shadows and Night of Dark Shadows, the two movies made with the original cast.  They were filmed in Tarrytown because of its proximity to NYC, where the tv show was produced.  Lyndhurst is a museum now, a beautiful Gothic museum on the Hudson. 

Fast forward to 2014.  Drew found out there’d be a convention on the grounds of Lyndhurst, so of course we had to go.  There was another convention in Tarrytown in 2016.  And yes, we went to that one, too.

In  2019 we headed into Manhattan to see the premiere of a documentary, Master of Dark Shadows, all about the career of Dan Curtis.  There was also a panel discussion with two of the stars of the show, Lara Parker and Kathryn Lee Scott (Barnabas’ love interest Josette).

As far as I know, that was the last official event honoring the show and its legacy.   We kind of knew, even before COVID, that it was coming to an end.  Most of the cast members have passed away (most recently Lara Parker) and the rest are kind of old to be talking about a 60 year old show and signing autographs for adoring fans.  

I found the video from 2016, and I got curious…so I went to the Lyndhurst site … and there’s a Dark Shadows  meet and greet, with two original cast members, this weekend… Katheryn Lee Scott and Marie Wallace (the demented Jenny Collins) …

So of course we are going.

I will leave you with the video that sparked this post, a moment from the 2016 convention.  David Selby (yes, that David Selby),  a/k/aQuentin Collins, reading the lyrics to “Quentin’s Theme”.