barnabas collins

When I was in middle school or so, I went through a period when I couldn't sleep at night. Bizarrely, the first night of my sleeplessness coincided with the beginning of a series of all-night marathons of the 1960's soap opera Dark Shadows (appropriately enough about vampires, who tend not to sleep at night either). So over the course of several weeks I managed to watch nearly every episode of the entire series (which had a 5-year run), and while I don't remember it all that well (I was sleepy at the time), I do remember loving it--especially the opening theme. All the crashing waves and eerie music. The wind and silhouetted mansion. And the guilty pleasure of watching evil.

Here is a clip that has set a scene with Barnabas Collins to music. Who knows what is going on, or why he opens the miniature urn on the nightstand, but what tickles me about this clip is the way Barnabas Collins lifts the frilly overhang in order to get a better view of the sleeping woman. Not only once, but twice!



And oh, all the dark shadows!

Here's another Barnabas Collins fan clip. Notice the return of the miniature urn (keepsake box?). And the bat! The blue candles and white girl. Barnabas at the window.



I could watch Dark Shadows clips all day, and I look forward to the Tim Burton Johnny Depp (Helena Bonham Carter?) film version, coming soon.