70 Fun Facts About Dark Shadows

On which American television network did Dark Shadows originally air on weekdays from 1966 to 1971?

It ran in the late-afternoon slot and found its audience among teenagers getting home from school.

The fictional town of Collinsport, home of the Collins family, is set in which US state?

The seaside town's exteriors were actually filmed in Connecticut, not on the coast that the show claimed as home.

Who created and executive-produced Dark Shadows?

He later directed both spin-off films and the big-budget World War II miniseries The Winds of War.

The creator said the show came from a 1965 dream of a mysterious young woman travelling on what?

He pitched the dream to the network the very next day, and the opening episode duly follows a young governess riding into Collinsport.

What was the proposed title of the series in Art Wallace's original story bible?

The bible was written from the creator's dream sequence before the name was shortened and darkened for broadcast.

Which actor played the vampire Barnabas Collins in the original series?

He was planning to move west to take a university teaching job when his agent called about a short-term vampire part.

Barnabas Collins was originally written in for a run of how many weeks?

The short contract stretched into four years once ratings spiked, and the reluctant vampire became the show's protagonist.

In which year was Barnabas Collins first introduced to the show?

The vampire arrived in April, when the network had warned the struggling soap it had 26 weeks to improve or be cancelled.

Which handyman accidentally freed Barnabas from the mausoleum while hunting the Collins jewels?

Barnabas promptly attacked him and turned him into an unwilling servant, a role John Karlen played for the rest of the run.

According to the show's flashback storyline, in what year was Barnabas Collins born?

His parents were Joshua and Naomi Collins, and he grew up close to his uncle Jeremiah, whom he later killed in a duel.

Josette du Pres, the heiress Barnabas intended to marry, came from which Caribbean island?

Angelique arrived in Collinsport as Josette's maidservant, which is how the fatal love triangle began.

Barnabas' young sister Sarah died of what after a cold night hiding in the woods from her undead brother?

Her ghost later became a recurring presence at Collinwood, appearing to the modern-day family in the 1960s episodes.

Which actress played the witch Angelique Bouchard in the original series?

She later wrote four Dark Shadows novels, beginning with Angelique's Descent in 1998, and read the audiobooks herself.

In the 1968 storyline, Angelique married Roger Collins under which alias?

Barnabas recognised his former wife immediately, and the marriage fell apart within a year amid her affairs.

Which actress played Dr. Julia Hoffman, the vampire's loyal confidante?

She also played Countess Natalie du Pres and the Gypsy Magda Rakosi, and turned up in both feature films.

The actress who played Dr. Julia Hoffman earned an Oscar nod for which 1964 John Huston film?

She played the domineering chaperone Judith Fellowes in the Tennessee Williams adaptation shot in Puerto Vallarta.

Which actress played Josette du Pres, Barnabas' lost love, in the original series?

She played five roles in all and later founded Pomegranate Press, which published a shelf of books about the show.

Josette's actress later wrote The Bunny Years about which company's costumed waitresses?

The book was optioned by Brian Grazer's Imagine Entertainment and became an A&E television special.

Which veteran Hollywood film star was cast as the family matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard?

She was best known for Fritz Lang's film noirs of the 1940s and earned a 1968 Emmy nomination for the soap.

When the series began, Elizabeth Collins Stoddard had not left Collinwood for how long?

Her self-imposed exile was tied to the mystery of her missing husband, one of the show's earliest storylines.

The character of governess Victoria Winters was inspired by the title character of which Gothic novel?

The writers mined classic literature relentlessly, borrowing from Poe, Stoker, Shelley and even The Crucible.

The man-made monster Adam, created in the 1968 storyline, was inspired by which novel?

Adam was played by Robert Rodan, who returned decades later to voice a new character in the audio dramas.

Quentin Collins' ageing portrait storyline borrowed from which Gothic novel?

The Oscar Wilde homage ran during the flashback storyline that took the show to its ratings peak.

The Leviathans storyline of 1969-70 drew on the shared universe of which horror writer?

Fans disliked seeing Barnabas reduced to a pawn of an unseen power, and the show's ratings began to slide.

Which actor played Quentin Collins, and later starred as Richard Channing on Falcon Crest?

He had never heard of the show when a talent agent saw him in Summer and Smoke and invited him to audition.

The instrumental "Quentin's Theme" earned a Grammy nomination for which composer?

He lost the award to John Barry's Midnight Cowboy theme, and later wrote game-show themes for To Tell the Truth and The $25,000 Pyramid.

The show's original soundtrack album peaked at what position on the Billboard 200 in September 1969?

A single of "Quentin's Theme" by the Charles Randolph Grean Sounde also cracked the Hot 100 top 20 that summer.

The series reached its peak popularity during a flashback storyline set in which year?

By late 1969 the show was drawing between seven and nine million viewers a day and was the network's top soap.

For most of its run, at what time did Dark Shadows air in the Eastern time zone?

The slot let teenagers catch it after school, and its ratings win there helped kill the original Match Game on a rival network.

Which soap, launched in July 1968 in the slot right before Dark Shadows, also chased its young audience?

It went on to run for 43 years, outliving the vampire soap that had cleared a path for it.

How many episodes did the original network run of Dark Shadows amass?

Every one survives in some form, though one exists only as audio and several colour episodes only as black-and-white kinescopes.

Which game show replaced Dark Shadows in its time slot after the final episode aired in April 1971?

The last minute of the finale used a Thayer David voiceover to hurriedly tie off the remaining plotlines.

At its peak, roughly how many weekly fan letters did the studio get for Barnabas's actor?

Screaming teenagers mobbed his personal appearances, and his face ended up on comics, gum cards and a board game.

During the Second World War, the actor who played Barnabas served aboard a destroyer for which country?

Born in Hamilton, Ontario, he interrupted his studies at McMaster University to enlist in 1944.

The original Barnabas actor's 1974 horror film Seizure was the directorial debut of which filmmaker?

It was his last screen role for 38 years; he did not appear on film again until a cameo in the 2012 remake.

Which studio released the first feature film, House of Dark Shadows, in October 1970?

It was the first soap opera ever turned into a feature-length movie, and it arrived at the height of the show's popularity.

House of Dark Shadows was shot in six weeks on what budget?

The crew had to work around scheduled public tours of the historic estate where most of it was filmed.

Both 1970s feature films were shot primarily at which historic estate in Tarrytown, New York?

The mausoleum scenes were filmed nearby in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.

Which Connecticut town stood in for Collinsport in the television series' location shots?

Its Griswold Inn doubled as the Collinsport Inn and the town post office became the police station.

Which Newport, Rhode Island building served as the exterior of Collinwood in the TV series?

For decades the building was used by Salve Regina University, until 2009.

In House of Dark Shadows, Barnabas is finally destroyed when he is stabbed with what?

A post-credits scene shows his body turning into a bat and flying away, leaving the door open for a sequel that never happened.

Why does Barnabas not appear in the 1971 sequel Night of Dark Shadows?

The film was originally announced as Curse of Dark Shadows and was reworked around Quentin Collins instead.

Night of Dark Shadows marked the feature film debut of which future Charlie's Angels star?

She had first joined the soap as the silent ghost Daphne Harridge after working as a network page and tour guide.

Roughly how much running time did the studio force the director to cut from Night of Dark Shadows in 24 hours?

The film shrank from around 129 minutes to about 94, and much of the lost footage was not recovered until 1999.

Which cable network acquired the entire run of episodes in 1992 and aired the show until 2003?

PBS stations had kept the show alive with reruns through much of the 1980s.

The 2012 limited-edition complete-series DVD box set was shaped like what?

Only 2,500 numbered copies were made, each with a card signed by the original Barnabas actor.

How many issues did Gold Key Comics' regular Dark Shadows comic book run?

The comic outlived the TV show by five years, running until 1976, and has since been reprinted by Hermes Press.

Who actually wrote the show's 32 paperback tie-in novels, credited to a female pseudonym?

He wrote hundreds of novels under various pen names, and also produced the novelisation of the first feature film.

The 1991 prime-time revival of Dark Shadows aired on which network?

It launched as a four-hour miniseries event in January and was cancelled after a single season.

Who played Barnabas Collins in the 1991 revival?

The British actor was best known for playing sprinter Harold Abrahams in Chariots of Fire.

The 1991 revival was repeatedly preempted because of which news event, sending its ratings into decline?

Fans sent the network more than 7,000 letters of protest and picketed its headquarters in Los Angeles and New York.

Which future star played young David Collins in the 1991 revival?

The cast also included Jean Simmons as Elizabeth and horror icon Barbara Steele as Dr. Hoffman.

Who directed the 2012 feature film adaptation of Dark Shadows?

It was his eighth film with the same leading man and, as of now, their last collaboration.

Which actor played Barnabas Collins in the 2012 film?

He had been obsessed with the show as a child and called playing the vampire a dream, persuading the director to sign on.

Which actress played the vengeful witch Angelique in the 2012 film?

Her character's face and body crack like a porcelain doll as the film nears its climax.

In the 2012 film, Barnabas is freed from his tomb and wakes up in which year?

Much of the comedy comes from his reactions to lava lamps, television and the era's pop music.

In the 2012 film, the governess calling herself Victoria Winters is really which character?

She picks the alias from a poster advertising winter sports in Victoria, British Columbia.

In the 2012 film, teenage Carolyn Stoddard is revealed to be what kind of creature?

Angelique confesses she sent the beast that bit Carolyn as an infant, along with causing the death of David's mother.

Which rock musician appears as himself, performing at the Collinwood "happening" in the 2012 film?

Barnabas, baffled by the name, dismisses the performer as the ugliest woman he has ever seen.

Christopher Lee's small part in the 2012 movie was a career milestone: which one?

It was also his fifth and final collaboration with the director, who had first cast him in Sleepy Hollow.

In the 2012 film, the Collins family fortune was built on which industry?

The family emigrated from Liverpool in 1760 to expand the business and founded Collinsport in the process.

What is the name of the rival seafood company Angelique runs in the 2012 film?

She has posed as five successive generations of women who owned the business while the Collins cannery withered.

Where was the 2012 film shot in its entirety?

Pinewood Studios hosted the production, and four original cast members flew in for a three-day cameo shoot at the ball.

Who composed the score for the 2012 film?

A 21-track album of his score came out three days before the film's release.

Which band's cover of the Raspberries' "Go All the Way" plays over the 2012 film's end credits?

The soundtrack leans on early-70s rock, from T. Rex and Black Sabbath to Barry White and The Carpenters.

What was the 2012 film's worldwide box office gross?

It underperformed at home, where its opening weekend was overshadowed by The Avengers, but did well overseas.

Since 2006, the Dark Shadows saga has continued as audio dramas produced by which company?

Original cast members returned to their roles, and the 2015 serial Bloodlust was released twice weekly to mimic the soap format.

Who played Barnabas in the unaired 2004 pilot shot for The WB?

Marley Shelton played Victoria Winters; the pilot was never picked up but has been screened at fan conventions.

Which actress played the Collins matriarch Elizabeth in the 2012 film?

She was so taken with the part that she told MTV she hoped there would be sequels.

In the 2012 film, Helena Bonham Carter plays the family's hard-drinking live-in what?

Her character was hired to treat young David's trauma over his mother's death, and secretly wants the vampire's blood for herself.