It was the summer of ’69…man’s first walk on the moon had captivated the world, the Manson murders had shocked the City of Angels, Woodstock had rocked a farm in Bethel, New York, Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” had reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart the week ending August 16, and creator-producer Dan Curtis’s “Dark Shadows” had become ABC’s most popular soap opera TV series.
Like so many other teenagers, I was mesmerized by “Dark Shadows,” which premiered on June 27, 1966, and ran until April 2, 1971. Vampires and witches and ghosts, oh my! Throughout the school year, I used to rush home when my afternoon classes finished to tune in at 3 p.m. to my favorite gothic soap opera. I couldn’t wait to find out what was happening to the wealthy Collins family of Collinsport, Maine. The soap featured classic horror characters (vampire Barnabas Collins, werewolf Quentin Collins, witch Angelique Collins, as well as some warlocks, zombies, and ghosts). The storylines also featured time travel, flashbacks, and alternative dimensions, allowing the same actors to play identical relatives or lookalikes in different time periods and parallel worlds.
“Dark Shadows” TV Poster by RDEnochs DESIGN
During the summers I spent time helping my brother on his farm north of Overton, Nebraska…raking alfalfa, painting hogs on his farrowing house, and doing general daily farm chores. Monday through Friday I would try to stop what I was doing to watch “Dark Shadows” in the afternoon. Sometimes I managed to coax my sister-in-law’s sister to take a half-hour break from her housework and watch with me. But if I was working in the fields, I filled the gap of missing “Dark Shadows” by singing along to my favorite songs playing on my brother’s Ford tractor radio. Whenever “Sweet Caroline” would play, I cranked up the volume and shouted out the lyrics at the top of my lungs. I always wondered what the neighbors and animals thought!
Those were the days of “Dark Shadows.” I miss juggling my summer work schedule to watch it. It became another one of my guilty pleasures. No other soap opera was as addictive for me, except maybe “Peyton Place.”
“Dark Shadows” TV Soundtrack Cover by RDEnochs DESIGN
Believe it or not, “Dark Shadows” was the first daytime soap to generate a best-selling soundtrack album. As I created posters to commemorate the 55th anniversary of its premiere, I listened to Robert Cobert’s eerie score again. The album became part of my vinyl collection of film and TV soundtracks. The music included 1.“Shadows of the Night (Quentin’s Theme),” which became a top 10 hit in 1969 and earned a Grammy nomination as Best Instrumental Theme (but lost to John Barry’s theme for “Midnight Cowboy”), 2.“I’ll Be with You, Always,” a specially recorded spoken word track narrated by Jonathan Frid, and 3.“Josette’s Theme,” a haunting music box melody.
“Dark Shadows” TV Poster by RDEnochs DESIGN
The ratings for “Dark Shadows” rose tremendously when the show introduced Barnabas Collins 10 months into its run. Jonathan Frid joined the cast in April of 1967 as cousin Barnabas from England, a 175-year-old vampire who had been cursed by witch Angelique when she became jealous of Barnabas’ love for his fiancée, Josette du Pres.
“Dark Shadows” ultimately spawned three films and a re-imagining of the 1966 ABC TV series by Dan Curtis for NBC.
“House of Dark Shadows” Film Poster by RDEnochs DESIGN
“House of Dark Shadows,” directed by Dan Curtis, was released on October 28, 1970. This horror film was based on the 1966 TV series and starred Jonathan Frid as Barnabas Collins along with other original cast members from the gothic soap opera.
“Night of Dark Shadows” Film Poster by RDEnochs DESIGN
“Night of Dark Shadows,” directed by Dan Curtis, was released on August 4, 1971. This horror film was a sequel to “House of Dark Shadows,” but since Jonathan Frid was not available at the time, the storyline centered around Angelique and Quentin with Lara Parker and David Selby reprising their roles from the TV series. Other returning cast members included Grayson Hall, John Karlen, Nancy Barrett, and Kate Jackson.
“Dark Shadows” Film Poster by RDEnochs DESIGN
“Dark Shadows,” directed by Tim Burton, was released on May 11, 2012. This horror comedy film, based on the gothic TV soap opera of the same name, starred Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter, Eva Green, Jackie Earle Haley, Jonny Lee Miller, Chloë Grace Moretz, and Bella Heathcote in a dual role. In June of 2011 four cast members from the original TV series (Jonathan Frid, Lara Parker, David Selby, and Kathryn Leigh Scott) all spent three days at Pinewood Studios to film cameo appearances as party guests during a ball held at Collinwood Manor. Frid died in April of 2012 before the film’s release, making this his final film appearance.
“Dark Shadows: The Revival” TV Poster by RDEnochs DESIGN
Dan Curtis also created a 1991 TV series remake of his original 1966 “Dark Shadows,” but “Dark Shadows: The Revival” aired on NBC for only one season (January 13 – March 22, 1991) before its cancellation.
“Dark Shadows” TV Poster by RDEnochs DESIGN
Epilogue…
It was a sad day for me when the final episode of the original “Dark Shadows” aired in 1971. I still miss tuning in to see what was happening to the Collins family at Collinwood. Yes, I was a “Dark Shadows” junkie who needed a daily fix. And today this once popular soap opera has evolved into a cult classic, still beloved by millions of followers including me. The lyrics from “Shadows of the Night (Quentin’s Theme)” sum up my thoughts and leave me feeling nostalgic.
Shadows of the night
Falling, silently
Echo of the past
Calling you to me
Haunting memory
Veiled in misty glow
Phantom melody
Playing soft, and low
In this world that we know now
Life is here, then gone
But somewhere in the afterglow
Love lives on, and on
Dreams of long ago
Meet in rendezvous
Shadows of the night
Calling me to you
Calling me to you
Calling me to you
Full disclosure: I’m not sure if my brother ever knew that I took those breaks to watch “Dark Shadows.” But no harm, no foul…