Dear Santa

The Rock Hill Herald, December 9, 1971

One of the Christmas presents that little 6 year old Billy Weaver asked for in 1971 was a Barnabas Collins game along with a B-B gun, a wild rider and Operation! Toss in some fruit, nuts and candy and Christmas was made. The sad thing is that most of us still want a Barnabas Collins game for Christmas!

David Conant Ford Obitaury

The New York Times, August 10, 1983

Sam Evans was one of my favorite characters from DS and that was mainly due to David Ford's portrayal of him. Mark Allen, the first sam Evans, was kind of a dopey version of the character while Ford seemed more laid back and natural for the part of drama queen Maggie's father. Ford, like Thayer David, died relatively young as did DS alumni Joel Crothers (at the age of 44 in 1985) who played Joe Haskell, among other characters, on the show.

'Dark Shadows' Sequel Nears

The Deseret News, May 14, 1971

Click here to enlarge

I think it's common knowledge by now that Night of Dark Shadows was originally to be titled Curse of Dark Shadows and would star Jonathan Frid once more. After the television show was cancelled those plans and the plot changed in the Grayson Hall penned film centering around Quentin Collins' inheritance of the dilapidated estate.

'Dark Shadows' Revisited

The Robesonian, February 1, 1978

I can't remember offhand when DS began in syndication and airing reruns but in the Fayetteville, North Carolina area the reruns were going strong in early 1978 on Channel 36 WRET at 11:30 weeknights.

'Dark Shadows' Keeps Viewers More So

The Pittsburgh Press, September 23, 1971

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This is another slam piece against Night of Dark Shadows. This time it's by Thomas Blakley, the drama editor for the Pittsburgh Press, in his review of the movie which was showing at the Fiesta Theater in September 1971. Not that some of the criticism isn't warranted because the movie was very much tied to the series inasmuch that you had to be immersed in the show to really care for the movie. But the expectation of gore, "chills and eerie happenings." is pretty much anathema to what the franchise was about.

'Dark Shadows' Fans, Show Us Your Fangs

The Tuscaloosa News, March 27, 1991

This Tuscaloosa News article was meant to gauge fan response to the rekindling of the show in 1991. Did they like the new show as well as the old? Was the new Barnabas more exciting than the hemmed in guy of old? Etc., etc. Unfortunately, I was unable to find the follow-up responses which kind of makes this a moot point but that's how it goes sometimes.

'Dark Shadows' At Fox

The Toledo Blade, October 15, 1970

This is a movie review for "House of Dark Shadows" which was playing at the Fox Theatre in or near Toledo, Ohio the week of October 15, 1970. It's a negative review which is more on target than not even though the reviewer seemed to miss the point that DS was more so a drama than a gorefest despite it's paranormal footing. 

Cameras Roll On 'Shadows'

The Toledo Blade, April 11, 1971

A quick blurb about the second DS shadows movie which also filmed in Tarrytown, NY. The "Curse of Dark Shadows" was supposed to be the follow up to the successful "House of Dark Shadows" and feature the return of Barnabas Collins but was ultimately revamped with the cancellation of the television series and Jonathan Frid's apparent desire to move on from the franchise, at least for the time being. The title was ultimately changed to "Night of Dark Shadows" and focused upon the more recent star of the television series Quentin Collins (David Selby) and his role at Collinwood after its fall from prominence.

Barnabas's Camp Is Vamp

The Arizona Republic, September 8, 1968

I haven't posted in a while due to extreme DS burnout with the recent disappointing movie release, the death of Jonathan Frid and a marathon watching session that lasted a good 2 months trying to catch up on the entire series. Anyway, I still have hundreds of these articles saved and I guess even if I'm not going to write anything about them I can post the damn things!

This is your typical cursory glance at DS as the show was reaching its zenith with a heavy emphasis on the burgeoning star in Jonathan Frid. Nothing exceptional here but it's still exciting to see it in print.