Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Something for Dark Shadows Fans






This past August, I finally did something I've wanted to do for years and attended a Dark Shadows festival, this year in Tarrytown, NY. What was extra special about it, was that Jonathan Frid, everyone's favorite vampire, Barnabas Collins, came out of retirement in Canada to attend...so of course, having always loved Barnabas, I had to go, especially since--as he even hinted at himself--this would more than likely be his last attendance at such an event.




So, nearly 1,500 fans gathered for the 40th anniversary of his first appearance as Barnabas Collins. Also in attendance, were several of Jonathan's co-stars from the show, Lara Parker (Angelique), Kathryn Leigh Scott (Josette), Marie Wallace (Eve), Betsy Durkin (Victoria Winters #2 and the Irish Spring Girl from the 70s commercial) and Diana Millay (Laura Collins, the Phoenix)It was also at this convention that we learned Johnny Depp was considering taking on the role of Barnabas Collins in a new Dark Shadows movie, which made a lot of people happy as the first Gulf War coverage pretty much destroyed the return of Dark Shadows in the 1991 TV adaptation.

I'm still not proficient with posting pictures, but I'll try my best here.

4 comments:

val said...

I have no idea what you are talking about, my ignorance is beyond compare. Dark Shadow is - a book? A film? A computer game? Sorry!

Boston_Betty said...

Dark Shadows was a daytime, American 'soap opera' that ran from 1966-1971. It was supposed to be a continuing gothic horror piece that concerned the adventures of a young governess names Victoria Winters, as she arrived in Collinsport, Maine, to look after the young David Collins, heir to the Collins family name and fortune. It was a soap opera that contained elements such as werewolves, vampires, warlocks, witches, time travel and alternate realities. It was quite the phenomenon here in the states and nearly anyone over the age of 40 will tell you they remember running home from school in the late 1960s and early 1970s to watch it. You can find out more by simply googling "Dark Shadows" and wikipedia.

SnarkAngel said...

My mother, my sister, and I were ADDICTED to this show. I think my mom still probably has my old Dark Shadows and Barnabas Collins board games. And yes, I was one of those kids who RAN home from school to catch it at 3 p.m. daily, where mom would be waiting with a glass of milk and hostess ding-dong. LOL

val said...

WHen you think of the dross we imported - why couldn't we have had this? It sounds great!