Since I am of the Ancient Blood (heh heh) my introduction was through the teen mags of the late Sixties.  When I started watching the show, I think it was sometime around July 1968 I happened to be in the supermarket with my Mom and on a magzine stand there was 16 Magazine and it mentioned DS on the cover.  I bought the issue with my allowance and soon was collecting Tiger Beat and some others as well.  The mags would mention fan clubs, and in the book Barnabas Collins: a Personal Photo Album which came out, I think, towards the end of '69, a Frid fan club was mentioned and there was a photo of the President.  But for whatever reason I never managed to get involved.

When I came back from several years of living in Taiwan in 1986, a friend took me on a jaunt to Baltimore and in a bookshop I stumbled across the Grayson memorial zine, A Gift of Memory.  I was stunned to learn she was dead.  A year or so later Scrapbook Memories was published and I saw and bought it at Forbidden Planet in NYC.  It's hard to believe that was nearly 25 years ago now.

It wasn't until sometime around 1993, I think, that I attended a fan convention, and my visit to the first one I attended was really brief. I missed the fuss around the 1990/91 series because I was living in Beijing for 18 months during those years.

And here we are now in 2011 with all the hoopla around the Depp film... what a strange dance it's been.

G.

Wow.  Thanks for all that, MB.  It's really too bad that ALL of this material was cut from the aired episode.  It would have gone far to explain why David behaved as he did towards Vicki.

G.

This is very fascinating, MB.  Thanks for taking the time to write all this AND demo just how dreadfully bowdlerized the official DVD release of this series was.

Now I really want to see that VHS tape with the extra scenes....

G.

I have to admit I am fascinated with that image of Jean Simmons you've just posted.  I have never seen the "extended" redaction of this episode.  I was never really clear just how "extended" it was--I thought if it was just a couple of fiddly bits here and there, why bother, since I was less than enthused with what I had seen already--but now I am intrigued...

G.

To Sara Monster:

That loop of 1967 Carolyn swinging her biker-chick hair and Buzz swinging his ... moneymaker (!) is practically the best New Year's Eve treat I could imagine!  Thank you so much!

Gawd--was 1966 really 45 years ago?  That's more horrifying a thought than any of the cliffhanger endings we weathered on DS.

New Year's Eve cheers all round,

G.

For fans of this series, there are some interesting new goodies on show on this site:

http://www.maljardin.com

Enjoy!

G.

Love this idea, Cousin Taeylor.  I am sure the result will be a rare gem!

I still dream of someday doing a one-off zine, "Cheekbones: for the Grayson Hall Connoisseur."  I also contemplate doing a short book about various performances of hers and self-publishing it on Lulu.

Has a fund been set up for those who wish to donate on behalf of the restoration of Seaview?  Judging from what I saw on my visits there in the 1990s, it would be a very expensive project, alas.

G.