Dark Shadows for Pagans

Welcome to Dark Shadows for Pagans! We’re glad you could make it! This is a new group, so there are no clones to check out YET. But watch out, because a clone could come to your favorite network very soon. Stephen calls this “Dark Shadnoses for Pagans”. You know how he is about noses. In fact, for years, I thought “Lord Nose,” a regular columnist for “High Times” magazine, was Stephen gone incognito. After we do “Lycanthropes for Pagans,” and “Monsters of the Big and Little Screen for Pagans,” we’re going to lighten things up a bit with “Nose-tick Philosophy for Pagans.” This group is very close to Stephen’s undead heart. Stephen really grew up with this series since it started in the fall of 1967. When he was serving time in jail for participating in the Days of Rage SDS National Action, it was the only show everyone wanted to watch in the day room. Stephen got to watch the episodes he’d missed.

Tegwedd was in college when she started to watch “Dark Shadows.” At that time, it was a ½ hour black & white daily daytime serial or soap opera. She would watch it in the dorm with her dorm mates. Her sister, who was not in college, had a fierce crush on Jonathan Frid, who portrayed the vampire Barnabas Collins. She collected pictures of him from movie star magazines, and arranged them arranged the edge of her bed, so that she could sleep surrounded by him. Then she developed a crush on David Selby, who portrayed Quentin Collins, either a lycanthrope, or another vampire, Tegwedd forgets which. But always she returned to Jonathan Frid, who is now in his 90s. David Selby is still acting. The actor who played Willie Loomis is still acting.

Stephen especially loved the music which was wonderfully haunting. We both like that both series used the same music. We also liked both houses at Collinswood, and the way they used the sounds of the winds and the waves, the tide crashing on the rocks far below. The series was set to have a long run because it was a daytime soap, and something interesting to watch in the daytime. It was a live show with mistakes made in the lines, and mispronunciation. But things moved on in technology as the show progressed. Back then the only way you could record a show was on the very primitive kinescope. But videotape came in in the early 1970s. The show was still going strong in 1973, and only petered out in the mid-70s. The The funny part was the flubbing of the lines, and the worst was Jonathan Frid. Second worst was Jean Simmons, who played Mrs. Elizabeth Stoddard. It would be fun to compare the casts of the 2 series. The 2nd series came in in 1990, the same year as “Twin Peaks.” For the most part, both series followed the same plot line, with cousin Barnabas Collins claiming to have come from England, when in reality he had been awakened by Willie Loomis, the foolish and greedy nephew of the Collins cook. There is some evidence of modernism, considering the demise of the original series. Fans flocked to the new series like lemmings. There were Dark Shadows conventions where fans dressed in the costumes evocative of both series. And when they were going to cancel the 2nd series, there was a protest demonstration in San Francisco. Stephen was on the steering committee of this demonstration. Later at a Dark Shadows convention, he met Ben Cross, who portrayed the Barnabas Collins of the 2nd series, who was very gratified by the attempt made to save the series. The protest had failed. The network cancelled the series anyway, thus making the series succumb to the Kiss of Death curse. If we like a product, it is no longer produced and sold. Chocolate Altoids is an example. If it’s a movie, it leaves the theatres early. If it’s a TV series, it gets cancelled. Besides the physical demonstration, they flooded the network phone lines with calls. Stephen wouldn’t be surprised if they did a 3rd series, with a whole new cast, except for one or two stars from the old series. What Stephen doesn’t get is it was cancelled although it was a very popular series. Tegwedd’s theory is that they don’t care about what real people want. All they care about are their handpicked Nielsen families, who are carefully selected to be the lowest common denominator, be church going, bible thumping jesoids with no taste or intelligence. Tegwedd was considered once to be a Nielsen rator, but she was too educated and intelligent. They want the types who voted for Shrubya both times. They’re the ones who declared this glut of “reality” shows. If indeed they do a 3rd Dark Shadows series, should they start again from the beginning, or from where they left off? Tegwedd thinks they should start from where they left off in the 2nd series, when Victoria Winters returns from the late 18th century because she knows the fans are very familiar with the plot lines of both series. Stephen agrees, but we both know they’ll start again from the beginning yet again, because they assume their viewers are both stupid and ignorant.
What do you think, dear readers and fellow members of this group? Give us your opinions. Anyone can post here who is a member.

Angelique was trained in either Vodoun or Santeria in Montserrat in the Caribbean. Thus there’s a tie-in with our Pirates for Pagans groups. If you have the game “Sid Meyer’s Pirates:Live the Life,” you’ll see that Montserrat plays an active role in the game. The game is not only educational, but very educational. Angelique came from Montserrat just a little after it had been taken over by France again. It passed from colonial power to colonial power all through that period. All of the Caribbean was originally Spanish, after all that’s why it was called the Spanish Main, but the other 3 powers, Britain, France, and the Netherlands, carved out pieces of it for themselves. Angelique also came from Martinique. Stephen believes she came from Montserrat in the 1st series (the daytime serial) and from Martinique in the 2nd. Tegwedd believes that there was some class warfare going on on Angelique’s part, because Josette came from a wealthy aristocratic family (her mother was a Countess), while Angelique was a servant from the lower class. Angelique learned either Vodoun or Santeria. Stephen says Santeria because the islands were originally Spanish, but Tegwedd says Vodoun because the islands were French, and also because people are more familiar with “Voodoo” than they are with Santeria. If Santeria, then she studied rouge or rojo, red Santeria, the dark branch. If Vodoun, then petro, the dark form of Vodoun. She used poppetsand fire magick. After she died, her power increased, becoming very elemental, mostly fire and wind (air).

One group we have to have is Buffy & Angel for Pagans. To sum up, Dark Shadows for Pagans is about both series. The original series started in 1967 as a b&w ½ hour daytime serial (soap opera) that progressed to a full hour color show. The 2nd series was a full hour evening color series that was broadcast weekly. Jonathan Frid, who portrayed the original Barnabas Collins, is now in his 90s. David Selby, now in his 70s, is still acting. Ben Cross, who portrayed the elegant vampire in the 2nd series is still acting. Stephen met Mr. Cross at a convention after a demonstration to protest the cancellation of the 2nd series. There is a tie in with the Pirates for Pagans groups because Josette and Angelique came from Montserrat and Martinique. Go to http://abbottsinninternational.com/ , http://abbottsinn.com/ , http://abbottsinn.ning.com/ and call 1-888-611-7982 for a reading, class or research.