Through eBay, I just acquired two issues of a Joan Bennett fanzine, with the very odd title Under Bennett's Bonnet. These go back to 1970, when my teenage interest in DS was at its peak. I had absolutely no idea that Joan had a fan club during the run of the series. Over the years, I have heard about fanzines and clubs for most of the actors but this was new to me. Nor were the names on the publication (Gail Katz, Sue Agranoff, Rachel Silverman) at all familiar.
The zines are very much a product of their time. Hand drawn graphics. Typewritten, with lots of misspellings and overstrikes. But there's still a certain charm to it. They have access to Joan who was unsurprisingly gracious. There are some scattered interviews with Joan. Nothing particularly shocking, unless you happen to be shocked by the revelation that Joan didn't like turnips. There are two chapters of an 1897 piece of fan fiction where Judith is menaced by the return of a flesh and blood Gregory Trask. He found a secret passageway out of the room. Of course, that doesn't explain how he survived the gunshot. No idea if the story continued beyond two chapters.
Not to say that there aren't some interesting bits. I was unaware that there had been a bomb scare at the studio on May 1, 1970.
There is also an interview with DS hair stylist Edith Tilles. Edith came to DS after having been the hairdresser on Jackie Gleason and Gentle Ben. I presume that she did the hair for Dennis Weaver and the other actors but you never know. The most interesting part for me is that if you sent Edith a SASE, she would send you a clipping from your favorite actor's hair. I would love to find out if anyone actually did this! And, did Edith have to fight off KLS for any Frid clippings?

Sharon Smyth Lentz will be appearing at the Paranormal Expo at Selma, at the Selma Mansion in Norristown, Pennsylvania on this coming June 9 and 10. Tickets to the expo are $10. Tickets are available through eventbrite.com

For those in southern California, Barbara Steele will host a screening of the Fellini classic 8 1/2 at the Laemmle Royal Theatre on 11523 Santa Monica Boulevard on January 17th at 7pm. There will be a Q and A section with Steele and film critic Stephen Farber.

The ever busy KLS is the cover girl for the January/February issue of the magazine Arthritis Today.

The November 20th issue of Closer magazine features an interview with TLATKLS. There are also quite a few pictures of her humble abode in Beverly Hills. Worth checking out if you want to see how the other half lives. She does mention DS and says that Joan Bennett gave her one of her dresses that she almost wore to the premiere of the Depp movie.
The interview is pleasant, though no more or less than any other interview in such a magazine would be. She does say that she has done several movies in the past year, including one where she plays Mamie Eisenhower. I can't wait to see how she's made up for that.

Sharon Smyth Lentz will be making an appearance at the Comic Collection, a comic book store in Feasterville, Pennsylvania on October 7th, from 12 noon to 3:00pm.

The May-July 2017 issue of Filmfax, which I found at Barnes and Noble, has a very good interview with Ken Bald, who drew the DS newspaper comic strip. Bald has extensive golden age comic book credits going back to the classic Captain America, Submariner and Blonde Phantom. He also did a lot of horror comics in the 1950's. He was a fan of the tv show and loved doing the book. According to Bald, the strip did well in areas like NYC and California but the bible belt never warmed up to the idea of a vampire hero.