Classic Horrors Club

When Kathryn Leigh Scott, the “first lady of Dark Shadows,” took the stage an hour and a half into the Friday panels at the Dark Shadows 60^th Anniversary Celebration last Friday (July 31), she challenged the audience to ask her a question she’d never heard before. Someone shouted what seemed like an easy enough query, but she claimed no one ever asked her if she and Dan Curtis talked about how the series might continue had it not been cancelled in 1971. She answered, “Yes;” however, she said she was too embarrassed to share what they discussed.

For what I’m guessing is the 800-1,000 fans that gathered for supposedly the last big Dark Shadows event, gems like this were few and far between. I mean, I’ve only been to one other festival (I won’t say how long ago) and I didn’t learn much at this one. It wasn’t about learning, though; it was about… celebrating. 60 years, roughly a month before the month and day of the event, on June 27, 1966, the popular daytime serial premiered on ABC-TV. Oddly, the goings on seemed to celebrate longtime fans of the show more than the show itself.

I suppose when you finally reached the front of the line to have one of the guests sign an autograph, you had an opportunity to thank them or tell them how much you enjoyed their character or the show. However, when those guests took the stage, it was all about them thanking… us. Indeed, from the looks of the crowd, there were probably people who attended the earliest of festivals, or, before them, the smaller regional events organized at the grass roots level. Supporting my theory is the fact that the very first panel was called, “Dark Shadows Festivals: A Retrospective.”

The guests, Kathy Resch, Guy Haines, and Kristi Nelson, discussed the early days of this specific fandom. It was interesting to me because this was about the time I had rekindled my interest in Dark Shadows. Two things contributed to this. The summer I graduated from college and lived in Oklahoma City, I went to a used bookstore and found several of the gold-covered Marilyn (Dan) Ross novels. They ignited a flame that had never gone out but was burning low. This is when I started subscribing to some of the fanzines and buying the concordances that described in detail the plots and stories of each episode.

Six years later, I had a small collection and had pieced together information about the show from these wonderful resources. Then came time for the 1991 revival series on NBC. You do the math, but the festival I attended was the first one with stars from both the original series and the reboot. Dark Shadows fans talk about “running home from school to watch” the original. I did that, too, on occasion, but I also participated in campaigns to stop the cancellation of the reboot. I found evidence of these early fan activities among my many boxes and plastic tubs of magazines, newspaper articles, calendars, catalogues, etc.

I went through everything I owned about Dark Shadows before I flew to Los Angeles and the memories washed over me. I took a few things with me to show people. I couldn’t trade or even give away my extra copy of Strangers at Collins House (anyone want it?) but I was certain Dominique Lamssies would be jealous of my photo of her boo, Michael Stroka (Aristede, among others.) This leads me to one of the real reasons people go to conventions like these: to see friends they’ve made throughout the years and don’t get to see except at the events, just like going to Monster Bash.

I’m not lying when I say one of the reasons I was most excited to go was to spend a little time with Dominique, whom I literally never see. In fact, I checked off my list everyone with whom I wanted to have at least a short chat and meet in person. Between her multiple assignments for hosting panels, I got to talk with Danielle Gelehrter (Penny Dreadful), host of the hottest podcast in Dark Shadows fandom. (As promised, I was wearing a Terror at Collinwood t-shirt, and she gave me a sticker.) I got to meet Scott Plisken, Facebook friend and fan of The Classic Horrors Club Podcast.

I got to meet Jeff Polier, who flew down from Portland to attend with Dominique. When he wasn’t frantically running around guest wrangling and appearing in panels, I got to have some great conversations with Ansel Faraj, whose films have featured various actors from Dark Shadows. Ansel has played a big role in fandom for 15 years. I even got to give Sam Irvin a hard time for standing in line to get Kathryn Leigh Scott’s autograph like the rest of us commoners, and drool at the original artwork of Mark Maddox. I got only a few autographs; I was more interested in soaking up the experience.

I also overcame my social anxiety to chat with some new faces. I’ll probably never see them again, and I don’t even know their names, but to the gentleman from Maine who sat beside me at the panels late into Friday night, and the two guys from Queens who sat next to me at the Saturday luncheon, I say, it was truly nice to meet you. I also had nice conversations with Patrick MacCray from the Collinsport Historical Society, author of the latest Dark Shadows Daybook (Unbound), and the writer and artist of the Curse of Dark Shadows graphic novel, Craig Hurd-McKenney and Jok, respectively.

Finally, although I’m certain I’m forgetting someone, I met Stuart Manning from England, who’s publishing a second issue of his gorgeous charity fanzine, Daytime Gothic, featuring a lovely article by… me! (I wasn’t sure I had made the cut. I’m not a headliner like some of the other contributors, but he showed me I had.) Stuart has worked on some of the Big Finish audio productions and representatives from that company were there with CDs of the series, Bloodlines (volumes one and two), and cards offering a 50% discount for online purchases made prior to the end of the day on the next Wednesday.

Although I dropped some coin to get to Los Angeles, my wallet was happy with my sensible shopping at the Celebration. I bought only one Ross paperback I was missing (Barnabas, Quentin, & the Crystal Coffin) and an awesome, personalized colored sketch of Barnabas Collins by Jok. Of course, I’m disregarding all the 60^th anniversary merch I had already pre-ordered so I wouldn’t have to carry it home. That turned out to be a wise idea because the major releases (Dark Shadows Noir, Dark Shadows Legacy, and The Collins Family Album) had been either delayed in shipping or were simply not finished.

As if to rub salt in our wounds, there were panels for each of these projects, their creators whetting our appetites for what promise to be amazing collectibles. There was also a panel on the Dark Shadows animated series being developed. Notice I said, “being developed.” Even with the backing of Warner Brothers, it’s far from being a done deal, as guest Eric Homan, producer of 104 episodes of Adventure Time explained. There was no news on Mark B. Perry’s efforts to sell his ideas for a new series, but he may have said something during the panel he hosted, “The Next Generation of Fans.” I missed that one.

We’ve come full circle. The celebration began with a panel about fandom and closed (among others) with a panel about fandom. It’s good to know there’s a younger group rising to keep the lights on in the Old House. Aleah Shockley, for example, provided the artwork for The Collins Family Album. I haven’t talked much about the actors, but there were three panels with some of those still among the living: “Ladies of Dark Shadows”, “Men of Dark Shadows”, and a “Dark Shadows in Prime Time Reunion.” (When asked what he’s been doing lately, Jerry Lacy said, “I’m retired. My farmhouse burned down. I had just sold it.”)

Along the lines of a younger fandom, I heard several people say they were in attendance because of the revival series. With all the doom and gloom about this being a final gathering, perhaps events will evolve into focusing on Dark Shadows (1991.) Joanna Going (Victoria Winters), Ely Pouget (Maggie Evans), and Rebecca Staab (Daphne Collins) drew long lines. Roy Thinnes (Roger Collins) sat next to them, but I’m afraid he can be grouped with the older actors of the original series and may not be with us for much longer. I don’t care how the fandom continues, as long as it does (and doesn’t revolve around Johnny Depp.)

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