DARK SHADOWS FORUMS
General Discussions => Current Talk Archive => Current Talk '24 I => Current Talk '06 II => Topic started by: Zahir on November 04, 2006, 04:52:33 PM
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Vampires, werewolves, ghosts and demons--Dark Shadows had all of those and more. But weren't there some classic monster-type elements we didn't get to see? The kind of stuff the show might have explored had it not been cancelled?
For example: A Living Scarecrow! All you have to imagine is some local farmer dressing it with some old clothes they found in the attic. How were they to know those clothes once belonged to a powerful sorceror hanged as a disciple of Judah Zachary?
How about a sea monster? Combine the legends of the sirens with a little bit of H.P.Lovecraft's "Shadow Over Innsmouth" and methinks there's the stuff of an interesting storyline right there! I always thought they didn't make nearly enough of the sea in the original series. What is more mysterious, deadly and fascinating than the sea?
Okay, beautiful women, but still...
Any examples you folks can think of?
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Laura Collins gave the show ample oppurtunity to travel back to Ancient Egypt & do a Mummy story, which would have been far more interesting than the repetitive 1840.
David
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It would have been interesting to have seen a Mummy story on the show, but I think I would have replaced the 1970 PT story with the mummy idea. Despite its faults I think 1840 was a great storyline (but then I have always favored the going-back-in-time stories, they will always have a warm place in my heart).
The show already had a vampire, witch, werewolf, man-made creation, phoenix, and a lot of ghosts......why not a mummy?
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It would have been interesting to have seen a Mummy story on the show, but I think I would have replaced the 1970 PT story with the mummy idea.
The show already had a vampire, witch, werewolf, man-made creation, phoenix, and a lot of ghosts......why not a mummy?
Wasn't Quentin turned in to a mummy at one point in 1897? I can't really recall the actual details, but it's after [spoiler]Jenny kills him I believe.[/spoiler]
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In one of the scarier stories, Quentin was seen as a [spoiler]zombie[/spoiler]in 1897.
David
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[spoiler]Wasn't Quentin turned in to a mummy at one point in 1897? I can't really recall the actual details, but it's after Jenny kills him I believe.
[/spoiler]
Nope, he was [spoiler]turned into a zombie[/spoiler]
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Yeah, the Mummy gets my vote too
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Bit of trivia...
During the 1860s, 70s and 80s, and even into the 20th century for awhile, there were events called "Mummy unwrapping parties." Simply, you invite folks with an interest in such things to a formal party, the central entertainment being the unwrapping/cutting up of an ancient Egyptiona mummy. Recall that at the time there were a lot more of them, plus plenty of fakes sold to European tourists.
Can you imagine something like that going on in the childhood of Quentin, Edward, Judith and Carl? Might help explain what happened to their dad, huh?
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The DS mummy party idea is great. Then it comes to life. Or comes to life after the party's over and it's alone, then it cleans up, gets a new suit, and passes itself off as the relative from... Egypt... no, slip of the tongue... South America!
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The series finale:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v665/damnedrodan/carey1-lg.jpg)
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I almost said Godzilla. I really did. LOL, MR!
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Mark, I can just see Mothra landing on the lawn. I think a mummy could have been done without bringing Laura into the plot. Quentin was in Egypt, too. Prof. Stokes could have brought a mummy to the college to study. Mummy and Quentin renew their old battle. This would have given Selby a front and center plot. Lord knows he needed one.
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Nope, he was [spoiler]turned into a zombie[/spoiler]
Oops, sorry about that! Major embarrassed! [hall2_embarrassed] [hall2_embarrassed]
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LOL - that Gozdilla over Collinwood is awesome! I gotta go with the mummy as well. Ancient Egyptian culture has always fascinated me. I mean, how many civilizations have a "book of the dead" for pete's sake? That's just cool. It would have been really excellent to see Laura and Quentin in Egypt, if only they had the money and space for a bunch of new sets.
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I'm all for that Mummy scenario! [hall2_grin] Among other things, it would have provided a new and worthy antagonist who wasn't simply another warlock a la Judah Zachary.
Here's another. Anybody remember that Isaac Collins originally was going to settle in a place called Mermaid's Bay? But then he moved north? Hmmmmm...
Suppose the artwork of an obscure Collins relative starts showing up--one Lysander Collins from the 1920s. He's a descendant of Desmond Collins and rumors abounded of some secret love affair before his disappearance. The truth is--he was seduced, then eventually drowned by a siren, a female demon of the depths. Now she has returned to Collinsport, seeking another mate, calling herself Selene Collins, the daughter of the vanished Lysander. And wouldn't it be a hoot if the mate she decided upon was Willie?
(http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/2350/mermaid01siren5itba3.th.jpg) (http://img300.imageshack.us/my.php?image=mermaid01siren5itba3.jpg)
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The Creeping Terror... sort of a living carpet. Creeping Afghan, maybe.
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LMAO to the Godzilla and The Creeping Afghan.
And I love the siren ideas! That would've been awesome!
I'm not sure I have anything to offer. I thought maybe a Jack-the-Ripper type story--a serial killer of Collinsport's past comes back as a ghost and starts killing.
Oh, maybe Bigfoot? God knows there are plenty of woods to hide in on that estate. LOL!
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Zahir:
the DS/Bewitched hybrid Passions just did a Siren story, and it tanked with viewers so badly, the character was written out after only 4 months.
Mark Rainey:
I'm laughing my ass off at your Dark Godzilla pic!!
What a GREAT idea!!!!
David
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The series finale:
:D - and the "Post of the Year Award" goes to...
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Mark, that is simply BRILLIANT! Thanks for the first laugh I've had in a really miserable day! [bow]
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I think the siren idea could work, but (like so many things) it would depend upon execution. Just look at the different film versions of Hamlet or Sherlock Holmes.
The idea came to me that a scarecrow might actually be the weapon of a serial killer--some farmer or such in Collinsport (a la Ed Guin) whose mother used to work at Collinwood (before Elizabeth fired everyone). Now he uses this living scarecrow to kill people, enacting whatever fantasies of revenge and/or sex that feeds his warped imagination. Another twist might be if this guy actually has a split pesonality, and his "other" self doesn't even realize he is a killer!
Okay, maybe that's a bit cheesy, but maybe it'd work. Me, I' prefer that he knows his is a monster and loathes that fact, is depressed and nearly suicidal.
Regarding the living Mummy--suppose this was someone (lets give him a name: Ptah-hotep) with an unsual motivation? He's not looking for a lost love or revenge against a Collins nor trying to escape an enemy. Rather, he is looking for a way to die? He already made himself immortal and wants to end it, but can only die under some very specific circumstances--for example, if he can destroy his coptic jars, and he has reason to believe the last one is hidden somewhere at Collinwood?
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The series finale:
ROTFLMAOPIMP!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mark, you are TOO much!!! [laughing4] [stfl]
I thought maybe a Jack-the-Ripper type story--a serial killer of Collinsport's past comes back as a ghost and starts killing.
Brandon, our last Christmas RR story covered this. I *may* be able to find it on my computer at work and if so, if you want to read it I could email it to you. Just let me know and I'll look for it tomorrow. ;)
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A Christmas Roundrobin? Sounds interesting. :) What was it about?
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Although I haven't read it in so long that I have little memory of it, I do recall enjoying the Marilyn Ross novel that featured a mummy, at least when I was a kid. I think a portion of it took place on a ship headed to Collinsport, and it was actually fairly creepy. It might have been neat to see that idea expanded in the show itself.
Glad that Godzilla has generated some giggles. [hall2_grin] If I hadn't been in such a hurry, I'd have at least turned Godzilla so the direction of the shadows matched!
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Mark, I just saw your photo of Godzilla attacking Collinwood....I really LMAO! It's so freaking hilarious! [hall2_grin]
Thanks for the laugh.... [hall2_wink]
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I just realized it wasn't Godzilla but Mordila....silly me.
Still it's a crack-up.
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Regarding the living Mummy--suppose this was someone (lets give him a name: Ptah-hotep) with an unsual motivation? He's not looking for a lost love or revenge against a Collins nor trying to escape an enemy. Rather, he is looking for a way to die? He already made himself immortal and wants to end it, but can only die under some very specific circumstances--for example, if he can destroy his coptic jars, and he has reason to believe the last one is hidden somewhere at Collinwood?
Beautiful idea!
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Wouldn't it have been cool if Barnabas/Julia/Angelique
had run ins with the actual Count Dracula or Dr. Frankenstein?
David
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I would have liked to have seen one of those "missing-time" incidents portrayed on Dark Shadows.
You know, an incident in which Roger and/or Julia is walking back from the Old House to Collinwood along that bumpy path, and they simply can't understand why it took over an hour to make the usually, at most, ten-minute-trek between the two houses on the estate.
Of course, when Roger and/or Julia returns to Collinwood, instead of a bite mark on the throat, they find strange, almost tiny surgical marks on the calf or on the upper-back (odd places for a vampire to bite!). And, instead of a "Dream Curse," Roger and Julia dream of little, grey-colored guys, floating them up to a bright "star" in the sky over Collinwood. (Beam me up, Batia Mapes!) [hall2_shocked] [hall2_grin]
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Regarding the living Mummy--suppose this was someone (lets give him a name: Ptah-hotep) with an unsual motivation? He's not looking for a lost love or revenge against a Collins nor trying to escape an enemy. Rather, he is looking for a way to die? He already made himself immortal and wants to end it, but can only die under some very specific circumstances--for example, if he can destroy his coptic jars, and he has reason to believe the last one is hidden somewhere at Collinwood?
Arthur Conan Doyle wrote a story like that; it's called "The Ring of Thoth."
Besides the mummy, the other major Universal monster that DS never used was the invisible man (perhaps while trying to cure Barnabas or Chris, Julia could accidentally create an invisibility potion), but it might have been tricky to consistently have to arrange special effects for an invisible character.
ProfStokes
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The series finale:
(Scroll up to see the photo)
Cool!!! Monster in a mirror universe! Or has the monster turned the real house inside out so that the solarium windows are on the Other side? [hall2_shocked] LOL!
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i kinda like the mummy idea, but i also like the sea-monster, creature from the black lagoon
concept and
the serial killer both would be really interesting stories for DS
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Hey, how about this:
An evil pimple that becomes SO large that it has the ability to take over David's brain, possessing him, and making him do things he wouldn't normally do like dance the jig, push his father down the stairs, claim Barnabas is a vampire, and all that!
Oh wait....that already happened. But maybe we could use the evil pimple strategy in another way? Instead of possessing David, the energy of the evil pimple could transfer to Barnabas when he bites David, and then Barnabas would need injections from Julia so he could be whole again.
Hmm. Maybe MB is right. I got into Nancy's sauce a little too much. [hall2_wink]
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I think a cat-creature would have been cool. I'm thinking of something in between the original Cat People story, the novel The Green Eyes of Bast by fab cult novelist Sax Rohmer (he also invented Fu Manchu and Sumuru), and the 1940s Cat People film. There could have been a brother and sister who were both were-cats as in the Nastassja Kinski version of the story.
I'm not sure that a mummy story would have worked. Perhaps if the Mummy had been more like the one played by Chris Lee in the Hammer 1959 version. Instead of Yvonne Furneaux, the Mummy's lost love could have been one of the KLS or Kate Jackson characters. It would have been more interesting if the Mummy had taken on the guise of a modern day antiquarian, rather like Im-Ho-Tep and Ardath Bey in the original 1932 film.
A complicated plot involving Laura, the resuscitated Mummy, a feline brother and sister AND Nicholas Blair hell-bent on bringing down Collinwood and getting his revenge, would have added a LOT of color to the otherwise dreary Summer of '71...
G.
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Love the cat people idea! It could have flowed so logically from the 1795 story when the cat disappeared in a puff of smoke in Vicki's room, too, leaving a befuddled Louis E. instead!
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if i may quote sam hall(courtesy of r.j. jamison)"whenever we were having a story conference,we always knew we'd hit a low when someone would say,'why don't we do a mummy show?'".
i couldn't agree more.for me there were more than enough monsters as it was thank you.
at one point during 1968 i think we had seven monsters in rotation
i would have prefered a few "select" supernatural characters interacting more with the human cast like we had during the earlier part of the show than the full on monster vs. monster atmosphere of some of the later storylines.
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I think it helps to remember that the original concept of the show was to be a perfectly normal soap opera that leaned towards mystery and gothic elements.
When Curtis took a sharp left turn and began pursuing the supernatural, the entire concept had to be re-created while in production. I would think that process was one hell of a feat to pull off. Resorting to the "monster of the month" might have been the only way to keep three steps ahead of the production schedule.
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A mummy story could have been great. A story about an ancient Egyptian mummy invading the present day setting (or a 1920s setting) might have been perfect material for DS if handled well by the writers. I've heard the rumor that there was supposed to have been a mummy on the show after 1897 ended, but who knows if that's actually true.
A banshee might have worked well on the show. Any of those shadowy creatures from the dark. misty side of folklore and literature could have worked in a series like DS.
Mark, the Godzilla attacks Collinwood pic is friggin' hilarious!!
-Penny Dreadful-
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i would have prefered a few "select" supernatural characters
On a trip to Bangor, Carolyn comes across a mummy, and asks it, "But why don't you come to Collinwood? It's just the place for you!" The mummy answers sadly, "I auditioned, but I didn't make the cut."