Stunning, and please don't tell me they intended us to believe that any of that was built before circa 1890/1900.

Of course, the real Collinwood dates to the 1920s, but with older architectural elements re-used...

G.

Wow, the image was updated to show a gorgeous interior of the OH.  I have no memory at all of this. 

I love surprises and I love having a treat to anticipate, so I look forward to the horrifying revelation regarding the coffin of Barnabas Collins!

G.

There was a piece on, I think, the Entertainment Tonight website stating that the series is tanking in the ratings.

They haven't officially put it on the danger list, but in today's climate, if the ratings don't stay consistently high, the suits get all frowny.

What makes all of this so ridiculous is that the show is doing fine in delayed viewing statistics--DVD-R, online viewing, iTunes etc.  which is how everyone I personally know tends to watch television.

G.

I think one more Barnabas scene--maybe the last one?--may be coming up!  Whoo and Hoo.

I didn't realize that Alec Newman had so little to do in this.  It would help if I could remember more about the screening.

G.

PT Samantha also disappears abruptly.  In that case I figured it was simply that Virginia Vestoff's schedule got way too busy to cross town to do the show.  She was appearing in 1776 simultaneously with working on DS for at least a few weeks or months as I recall.

G.

Doctor and K9:

[spoiler]I always thought that Quentin was the one who killed Stella.  David Selby suddenly had to be hospitalized about 2 weeks from the end of the series, and I always thought that the mystery was left unsolved because that was the solution they had for it and they couldn't come up with anything else.  The idea that Melanie was the culprit was, IMO, a red herring.[/spoiler]

G.

This new annotated edition of a selection of Lovecraft's tales looks very cool.  Of the stories chosen, "The Dunwich Horror" was the source material for the DS Leviathans storyline, and "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" had themes that show up in various DS narratives. "Dreams in the Witch House" might have suggested the idea of a "dream curse," although I've always thought the actual source for that was the classic E. F. Benson story "The Room in the Tower" (which has made me sleep with the light on more than once). Note that celebrity DS fan Gahan Wilson (a very talented artist) wrote a blurb strongly praising the new book.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0871404532/ref=s9_psimh_gw_p14_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=19X9847PVVRBK65FT3F1&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1688200382&pf_rd_i=507846

If the link doesn't work for you, just search "The Annotated Lovecraft" on the site.  This book is scheduled to be released in mid-October.

G.

http://www.propstore.com/product/dark-shadows/angeliques-eva-green-hexing-doll/

I know nothing about the vendor or how reputable they are--for that price, presumably the merchandise would come with a certificate, but who knows.  I always think those certificates can be forged just like anything else.  The doll looks pretty cool.  I don't even recall getting such a good look at it, if it was even seen, in the movie.

I also saw a visual, supposedly from this site, of a can of "Collins Catch" sardines which presumably was also made for use in that movie, but again, I don't recall it. I only saw the movie once and it was a fidgety viewing for me.

G.