I hadn't heard of this production -- excellent cast, not even counting the DS actors -- Melvyn Douglas, Scott, Dewhurst, et al. It was surprising that Thayer David and Clarice Blackburn were both in the promotional clip! (Had Lara Parker never been cast as Angelique, it would have been interesting to see what Tuesday Weld would have done with the role.)

Didn't Quentin's portrait overlap several other storylines than just 1897? It comes up again, briefly, in 1995 . . .

No doubt there are many significant gaps in this online guide. I was wondering how Quentin came to be in present-day Collinwood and then in my recent watching of the "1995" sequence, Quentin's portrait came up. So I remember that there was a portrait but don't recall when it was painted, etc. Searched this recent online guide and there's no mention of it! A pretty significant omission, wouldn't you say?

The 1840 storyline has been my favorite, but so many years have passed since I last watched it, the details of how it all fits together escape me. Recently, I've had the opportunity, the first in many years, to re-watch some DS. I didn't know where to start, so I randomly pulled out a DVD case from my DS storage bin and saw that it was the brief 1995 storyline - one that I remember as the most bleak of the entire series. With Collinwood in ruins, many of the Collins family dead, and the survivors emotionally and mentally scarred for life, I think that's a fair assessment. And then even those survivors die for the most part, except for Quentin. It's such a brief sequence but sets up the mystery that is to follow with the Summer of 1970. A few of the questions that came to mind as I was watching: in an early episode when Barnabas and Julia find themselves in 1995, someone relates to them that a young couple went to the ruined Collinwood on a dare and something terrible happened to them. I think the girl's name was Jean. A framed photo of Jean is shown, and I thought it looked like a young Grayson Hall. Does anyone remember seeing that photo, and if it was Grayson? Also, not so much a question, but a comment, things happen so quickly and with so little reflection - for example, Mrs. Johnson is frightened to death by Gerard - but no one mentions this or anything about her in any of the following scenes. Some depth is lacking; the 1995 sequence seems all about plot points. Even so, there are touching moments showing Carolyn in more depth, such as when she is looking at old photographs and doesn't recognize herself. Barnabas gently points out that the photo is of her, but a few moments later she has already forgotten. This is poignant to watch, and for those of us who have watched a loved one slowly lose their memory, it is also emotionally very real.

And as I said, 1995 does set up the mystery that is to follow. I'm now at the point in 1970 when the night of the sun and the moon occurs, the first clue Carolyn struggles to right down as she searches her memory for what led to the disaster that overtook Collinwood in 1970. Another event she writes down is the "unfinished horoscope." "the night I sang my song," and then there is "Rose Cottage." I found these very intriguing and satisfying mysteries in previous viewings, and I find myself puzzling now how some of them work out. For example, Elizabeth has just received her horoscope for the remainder of the year, but how will this become "unfinished" I wonder? David and Hallie are beginning to be haunted by Tad and Carrie, though they (and we) don't understand it at this point, and in going through some old letters and notes of the children, mention is made of Rose Cottage. The ghost of Daphne is frightening them, but if I remember correctly, Daphne was governess and protector of Tad and Carrie, who sought to shield them from Gerard. But their haunting of David and Hallie is unsettling because, if I remember correctly, they want to possess them in order to live in the physical world ... which seems like a callous and even evil thing to do. I don't know whether that issue is addressed or resolved. I thought Rose Cottage was the most fascinating aspect of the mystery.

I'm pretty sure I bought that on DVD and only watched the very beginning (which didn't seem to hold very true to Poe), then set aside a few years ago. But if it really is a precursor to "Dark Shadows," I'll give it another try. I was interested in Tryon as an author at the time ("The Other") and was curious about his acting career.

I was disappointed with what I watched of "The House" on youtube, which I only viewed halfway through and wonder if it got any better or more DS-like. It seemed like the holy grail to me years ago when it seemed it would be forever out of reach, and I never saw it at the DS festivals I was able to get to. Since I believe it's on the recent "Dark Shadows - Dan Curtis" DVD, perhaps I should get that DVD for the sake of completion.

I don't want to get my hopes up for anything faithful to the book. I would say the closest adaptation is the BBC version with Louis Jourdan, even though I didn't find him quite the right choice for the role. That version followed the story line of the book very closely as well as depicting Dracula's evilness. British adaptations of classic works in the past 15 years (or more) that I've seen just don't want to stick with the original; they want to "improve" and reinterpret for today's audiences, who apparently can't relate to anything not from their own generation.

Such a sad ending for her ... R.I.P. Remembering the real talent she had as a child actor, which is fortunately well preserved as her legacy.

Does anyone who has viewed the disk have any comment on Art Wallace's "The House"? That was mentioned earlier in this thread, but yet somewhere else it was mentioned with the comment that it can be seen on Youtube. I have wanted to see this for years. Now, I've watched the first 15-minutes (about half or a little more) on youtube and have to say it's a bit of a letdown after all these years of anticipation.

This was the first time I had ever heard that "The House" was an episode on a series called "The Web," which I had likewise never heard of. Also, I hadn't known (or don't remember hearing) that the episode is basically an early version of the Jason Maguire storyline. The actor is not very appealing and the episode, at least to half way point, is not exactly compelling. So I'm feeling less than inclined to purchase the DVD (it is available in regular DVD format, isn't it?).