I always thought that Darla and Angel had a very Barnabas/Angelique type chemistry (and I think Julie Benz would make a fabulous Angelique in any kind of remake).  The similarities particularly stand out in "Dear Boy", where Darla tells Angel, "God doesn't want you ... but I still do."

And who would win in a showdown between Evil Willow and Angelique?  My bets are on Black Eyed Girl.

Nicky

Halloo, boys and ghouls,

Well, my friends, this is it:  the end of 1897.  Not as you saw it or remember it from the original series, but as we've reworked it -- tweaked it a bit, I guess you'd say, since Vicki Winters was long gone by the time they went back on the show -- for our ongoing round robin, "Shadows On the Wall".  We're currently in our third year of working on this, and we've been building to this grand guignol finale the entire time.  600 pages  and 60 some chapters later, and here we are.  I'd like to take a minute right now just to thank anyone who has ever perused our little saga, or followed along with us faithfully from the get-go ... you know who you are, and we the writers appreciate it ... oh yes indeedy we do!  So ... thanks!  

(And a special thanks to Schmoopie for letting me read it aloud for over an hour while she endured a migraine ... you're the best cyber-fiancee a gay Montanan farm boy ever had!)

So this is the way the world ends ... not with a bang, but a whimper, as Vicki and Co. discover as they face off against Petofi ... again ... and again ... and again.  The evil rotten jerk has taken over the body of the man Vicki loves (past, present, and future), and she has to brave the darkness she never knew lay within herself to get him back.  Meanwhile, in the present, as Barnabas lies in stasis while the I Ching does its time travel thing, Julia Hoffman (or the ghost of said dead doctor) has to protect her beloved from a pair of no-goodniks who are ... well ... up to no good.  

Nothing will be the same for anyone again.  Times are changing.  Relationships are changing.

And there's still big darkness ahead.

Check it out at the archive we owe completely to Tim "Mastermind" Choate:

http://members.tripod.com/~MrJuggins/shadows/wall.htm

Hey kids,

Just in time for Halloween, Chapter 61 of our ongoing round robin, "Shadows on the Wall", has been posted at Tim Choate's archive (which has grown frighteningly large, I just noticed).  Anyway, it's been written by the masterful Collinskid, and here's how it goes:

Angelique wages one last battle against the man who stole her powers; Laura Collins wages one last battle against the man who never stole her heart; Quentin and Vicki deal with their pretty twisted relationship in a not-so-twisted way; Beth Chavez makes a big decision.

Here's the URL ... have fun, and Happy Halloween (just a few days early):

http://members.tripod.com/~MrJuggins/shadows/wall.htm

I was always very intrigued by Maggie's new jet-black 'do post-Mass (hair tips from Cassandra, perhaps?) especially considering the same thing happened to poor Willow on "Buffy" last spring.  That old' black magic, I guess.

Nicky

Just out of curiosity, Vlad -- where in 1840 does it make explicit that Angelique is not the reincarnation of Miranda, but Miranda with a new name?  When I was writing a DS novel in early 1997, I studied that time period because I wanted to make sure that Miranda had or hadn't become Angelique eventually, and I honestly don't recall any reference to the issue of reincarnation either way.  

Nicky

It's interesting you should mention "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", Mark, because I was just thinking of it while reading about slasher films in other responses to this topic.  I saw it for the first time two summers ago, and rewatched it with my friends this past spring.  It's the most recent film that has scared me consistently throughout, and you're right:  that sense of dread that permeates the entire film is palpable.  "TCM" is one exception to the "slasher films aren't generally scary" rule.

I'm a big fan of old ghost movies in general:  "The Innocents" and "The Uninvited" are two examples.  As far as other ghoulies, ghosties, and long-legged beasties, werewolves hold the title.  Vampires, I've always thought, are sexy as hell, but werewolves are just plain terrifying, mostly cuz they just wanna eat you.  When I was 7 or 8 I was mesmerized by "American Werewolf in London" and "Silver Bullet", both which scared the living hell out of me.  They still do.  Werewolves, man ... brrrrrr.

Nicky

PS -- Luciaphil darling ... good point re: Stephen King in Danse Macabre.  I love the man and adore 85 percent of his work (and I really can't say a bad word about him; when I was in 2nd grade, the man sent me an autographed copy of "Cycle of the Werewolf" with the script included, knowing full well I was a 7 year old kid in MT, so I think I owe him considerably), but you're right ... he points out how scary it is not to rip the door off, and then promptly rips the door off every friggin' time.  Go figure.

Chapter 56 of our ongoing round robin has been written by Collinskid and posted at our archive hosted by the inimitable Tim Choate.  

In this little go-around, we find the saga of the Phoenix drawing to a close, as Laura Collins battles Angelique (in her guise as Miranda DuVal) and Quentin for the lives of her children.  But the events play out a little differently than we saw them in 1969.  And while everyone is occupied with the Sweet Bird of Youth, Count Petofi secures a certain item that may grant him the power to destroy the lives of all the Collinses in the future.

Involve yourself with the action in Jason's new chapter, or catch up with chapters you've missed, but please join us at:

http://members.tripod.com/~MrJuggins/shadows/wall.htm

Nicky

Cassandra -- Ah, poor dear, doomed Cassandra.  I have a thing for bewigged blonde actresses in the 60's (witness Serena and Jeannie II), and Lara Parker proves no exception.  Her clothes are to die for (sometimes literally), she gets the wackiest spells ("Do you know what your problem is, and always has been?") and she gets aged, not once, but TWICE!  I've never admitted this to anyone (!) but I get a little bored by the end of this storyline, just because I hate seeing Cassandra subservient to Nicholas Blair, tho the turnaround is fair play principle comes to the rescue later on.

VampAng -- Yawn.  I think someone here was talking about how she spent all her time in the House by the Sea waiting for victims.  Yup, that pretty much sums her up.

Angelique Rumson -- My true favorite.  Her appearances are few and far between, making them much more highly anticipated, at least for me, and besides, Mrs. Rumson figures prominently in my favorite DS episode of all time -- when the Leviathan crap hits the fan ... Sky tries to torch Ang, she flees to Collinwood, gets all hot and bothered, then puts the whammy on Maggie and Quentin.  I still get all tingly watching her do that spell outside on the terrace -- "I am what I was and what I shall always be.  I call upon the powers of darkness to help me once again ..."  Brrrr.  And she gets some great cat-and-mouse scenes with Jeb and Nicholas.  And the clothes are great again.

Valerie -- I hate the transition from ... ahem ... "good" to "bad".  Very little coloring, shading, or depth, and I HATE the fact that she doesn't remember the present.  Plus all the revisionistic crap -- and what was with that sorry excuse for a Miranda DuVal plot development??? -- rankles the purist in me.

1897 Ang DuVal/DuBois -- I enjoy her a great deal.  She's all-powerful (for the most part) and pops in and out at will, again, whetting my appetite for her return.  Unfortunately they've saddled her with two dresses.  I kid you not.  Maybe there's three.  She spends the majority of the time in a green dragonlady dress.  I hope they paid the wardrobe mistress handsomely, at least for LP's sake.  Love the catfight with Laura, and some of the waltzing in and out of the shadows that Ang perfected in this time.  One of my favorite scenes occurs when a David-possessed Jamsion (don't ask) recognizes Angelique as Cassandra, and she delights in vaguing up her explanation for a confused Quentin.  

Let's not talk about PT.

Nicky