It was so silly and so scary and so unpredictable, and at the same time, you could not watch a show that you didn't see somebody make a mistake, so it was a howl. And everybody that watched it either got scared, or they could be sensually or sexually aroused or they could giggle. It broke all the rules.

Lara Parker (Angelique on Dark Shadows)

Daytime soap operas have generally been a milieu for bored housewives. But in 1966 a show appeared on American television that soon grabbed the nation's attention -- Dark Shadows. It started innocuously with pretty dismal ratings, yet near the end of its first season, and impending cancellation, it started to make a little noise by adding a couple of supernatural characters -- ghosts.

Television isn't rocket science; networks give the viewers what they want. In this case the writers started adding witches, and werewolves, and - soon to be cult star - Barnabas Collins, a vampire (played by Shakespearean actor Jonathan Frid). The show became a gothic novel on drugs. Perhaps that was its appeal -- this *was* the 60's. In any case, the show took off. Soon it was drawing 20 million viewers.

Many of these avid fans were teenagers or younger; rushing home from school to see the show. And though it only aired for 5 years, Dark Shadows has remained alive in one form or another for more than 30 years. It spawned a series of popular books, two comic book series, a newspaper comic strip, two feature films, and a revival TV series. And even today, fans meet at annual conventions called Dark Shadows Festivals--which draw thousands of attendees.

http://www.darkshadowsonline.com/

My name is Victoria Winters My journey is beginning, a journey that I hope will open the doors of life to me, and link my past with my future. A journey that will bring me to a strange and dark place. To the edge of the sea, high atop Widow's Hill. A house called Collinwood, a world I've never known, with people I've never met. People who tonight are still only shadows in my mind, but will soon fill the days and nights of my tomorrows.

These were the first lines that were ever spoken on the daytime gothic serial drama Dark Shadows.


There was no vampire loose on the great estate. For the first time at Collinwood the marks on the neck were indeed those of an animal. Melaine soon recovered and went to live in Boston with her beloved Kendrick. There they prospered and had three children. Bramwell and Katherine were soon marred, and at Flora's insistense, stayed on at Collinwood where Bramwell assumed control of the Collins' business interests. Their love became a living legend, and for as long as they lived, the dark shadows at Collinwood were but a memory of the distant past.

Those were the last words ever spoken on Dark Shadows. The show was cancelled in the middle of a storyline and the writers came up with this epilogue to neatly (perhaps) tie up all the loose ends. This voiceover was spoken by Thayer David.

Voiceovers were always a part of Dark Shadows, every single episode of the show began with a voiceover, and in the first years of the soap, they usually began with Alexandra Moltke saying "My name is Victoria Winters..." as in the first episode...

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