| Series cast summary: | |||
| Jonathan Frid | ... |
Barnabas Collins
/ ...
(594 episodes, 1967-1971)
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| Grayson Hall | ... |
Dr. Julia Hoffman
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(475 episodes, 1967-1971)
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| Alexandra Isles | ... |
Victoria Winters
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(423 episodes, 1966-1968)
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| Nancy Barrett | ... |
Carolyn Stoddard
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(401 episodes, 1966-1971)
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| Joan Bennett | ... |
Elizabeth Collins Stoddard
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(389 episodes, 1966-1971)
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| Louis Edmonds | ... |
Roger Collins
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(321 episodes, 1966-1971)
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| Kathryn Leigh Scott | ... |
Maggie Evans
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(311 episodes, 1966-1970)
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| David Selby | ... |
Quentin Collins
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(307 episodes, 1968-1971)
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| David Henesy | ... |
David Collins
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(277 episodes, 1966-1970)
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| Lara Parker | ... |
Angelique
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(269 episodes, 1967-1971)
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The story of Dark Shadows begins with newly hired governess Victoria Winters arriving at Collinwood, the Collins' estate in Collinsport, Maine in search of her mysterious origins. She soon is caught up in the strange events and mysteries that seem to surround the Collins family. Eventually, the Collins' "cousin from England", Barnabas Collins, arrives and takes the show in a new direction; his vampire curse introduces a new history of the Collins family. Part of this revised history is the popular character of the witch Angelique whose jealously led to the tragic death of Barnabas' great love Josette and who placed the curse upon Barnabas. Written by Anonymous
Like many people I used to rush home from grammar school to see this Gothic soap opera. I distinctly remember being petrified of the werewolf and running out of the room when Barnabas bit somebody.
Seeing it now it's still sort of creepy. It moves very slow (of course) and the black & white seasons are extremely dull with really pathetic special effects and threadbare settings. But when the series switched to color and started to really be popular (in 1967) it really got going. The special effects improved, the settings and costumes got more elaborate and the plot lines went barreling out of control. Also they had a good cast who played all their roles seriously. That's good, because if they had camped it up or winked at the audience it would have fallen apart.
A good, fun horror soap. It's a good thing it's available on video and DVD now.