I've been thinking about starting a prop project topic on any and all coffins for quite some time, and I got the final push from Lori's question in the Watching Project topic for episode 970:
I wonder how many coffins they kept in the prop room. How many different sizes did they have. I still think that they were kept in the basement of Collinwood in the locked room. ![[ghost_shocked]](http://www.dsboards.com/SMF/Smileys/classic/ghost_shocked.gif "Shocked")
There are several different coffins. I was thinking of naming or numbering them, but sometimes it's difficult to tell them apart.
Of course, Barnabas’s original coffin, a.k.a. the Hershey Bar coffin, is always easy to distinguish. Here's a view of it in episode 676:
Things get murkier from there. I've seen some metal coffins here and there, but looking around, I have found only one capture of a metal coffin, so I don't know if all the metal coffins are the same. Here's Elizabeth's coffin, from episode 672:
And now we get into the really tough part: wooden coffins with all the proper angles. Consider the following three coffins.
First, there's a nicely carved wooden coffin, used by Tom in his vampire days. Here's a capture from episode 570:
Next we have Tom's post-staking coffin, shown here in episode 630:
And finally we have Dirk's coffin, shown here in episode 773.
I have consulted with a co-worker on these three wooden coffins. (You may, if you wish, imagine us giggling as we pointed at various angles and lines instead of working, and of course I had to tell him the whole story of why Julia was sticking her head into the metal coffin.) My co-worker is quite sure that they are all different coffins. He helpfully pointed out that the lines of the Tom's pre-staking coffin are slightly curved, unlike the lines of the other two, and that the quality of Tom's post-staking coffin is clearly inferior to that of the other two. (He said, "It looks as though it's made from an old door.") He also pointed out that the shoulder angles on Dirk's coffin have a bit of a jog - no doubt in order to accommodate Dirk's manly physique.
So, those are three different coffins. Within the Dark Shadows universe, this raises the question of why Nicholas switched coffins on Tom. Outside of the Dark Shadows universe, I can't help wondering if the reason there were three such similar coffins is that they were not bought but rented, and that each ended up being used by an authentic dead person.
Now for the two usual questions.
First are the coffins real? If they are not, then Dark Shadows just got that much weirder.
Second, are there Dark Shadows coffin collectibles? If not, then I think there ought to be. I'm imagining keychains with miniature coffins hanging from them. And charm bracelets with the complete set of Dark Shadows coffins. And bobblehead coffins. And here's a question raised by my co-worker: Are there Dark Shadows fans who have requested a copy of the Hershey Bar coffin for their own burial?
I really got my co-worker going. He has now informed me that there is a market for used coffins.
