That description seems very accurate from what I saw of the movie.  It didn't have any of the trappings of a "traditional" vampire movie -- this was something up-to-date and unique.  Going by comments on imdb and elsewhere, it's very highly thought of (and with intelligent comments explaining why).

I'm trying to see if the DVD is available anywhere, but not having much luck so far.

I don't have any of my DS resources to consult and I was wondering if someone would be willing to briefly recap for me what role the plague played in 1841 PT.  I remember it being mentioned several times, but I don't remember if the writers reallly went anywhere with it.  Did the plague end up being significant in the events of 1841 PT?  Or was its significance perhaps in the past when the two lovers lived, [spoiler]whose bodies I think were being kept in some odd state of preservation deep in the bowels of Collinwood and were accessed through a secret panel at the back of the "lottery" bedroom?[/spoiler] My memory on all of this is hazy, especially since I missed the last part of 1841 when it aired last time.  I remember I really liked this last storyline.

I've always been fascinated with the idea of a "plague."  The first I remember hearing the term was when an elementary school teacher either read us, or told us the plot, of Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death."  I'm not sure why I've had the fascination, but perhaps I'm not alone as the concept does come up in books and films on rare occasions.  The most memorable to my mind being Bergman's superb "The Seventh Seal," set in medieval Scandinavia.

Recently I re-watched one of my favorites of the Roger Corman Poe adaptations, "Masque of the Red Death."  He clearly borrowed from Bergman the "Death as a hooded figure" motif who interacts with some of the characters -- and to very good effect, IMO.  I'd be curious if anyone has pinpointed exactly what each of the hooded figures represents in the final scene ... e.g. I think the yellow one may stand for cholera, etc. but haven't looked into it further than that.  (I'd also be curious if anyone has an explanation for the three figures that appear in Julianka's Satanic-inspired vision.  One appears to be an Aztec, one an Egyptian priest, and one an Egyptian pharoah.  Unfortunately there is no director's commentary on the DVD, although Corman does provide a good interview.  Also, who was the old man said to have been left alive in the village, and why was he spared?)

The subject of the plague recently came up for me in a way that hit closer to home than I would have guessed.  From time to time I pick up the threads of my family history research, and I only recently learned that the Moselle department of France where my direct bloodline originates was devestated by the plague in the mid-1600s.  (This immediately following the Thirty Years War, which had alone killed off half the population.)  The bishop in touring the area where my family is from recorded that there were only 10 people still alive.  It has been disturbing to know that my own ancestors lived through something so terrible, but it also raises the question of whether they survived the plague through immunity, or whether they were among an influx of people who repopulated the area sometime later from neighboring regions, or if they simply moved back after the plague had passed.

Looking over them I see that they did not come up with a name for Barnabas, even up to the episode before his release.  I am not sure how far in advance  they were written prior to being scripted.    Barnabas is never named in any of these summaries.  He is either referred to as "young Collins" or "the young man" in the descriptions.

I never saw any of the summaries for the week after the last episode I have. I wonder when the name "Barnabas" was first thought out.  The episode Summary Book "History of Dark Shadows: 1966-1967" (a different guide written
by the DS fans) states the writers were  onsidering "Jered" or "Jeremiah" originally for Barnabas.

I'm not sure if I'm following everything in this thread correctly, but surely Elizabeth spoke of Barnabas by name, and not as "the young man" or whatever, many episodes in advance of his first appearance, in reference to his portrait in the foyer ...

Or is that an example of one's memory filling in prior (later?) knowledge?

And I'm less certain of this, but wasn't Jeremiah Collins mentioned quite early on in the series?

I really wouldn't have a problem believing that they picked up the name "Barnabas" from an old cemetery.  After all, hadn't they scouted and even filmed in more than one old New England cemetery for location footage?

The only thing that would surprise me about that explanation (which I remember reading a few years ago) would be if the writer/producer had never heard the name Barnabas before.  I would think it more likely that the name "Barnabas" simply struck a chord given the location and circumstances.  Therefore I think the cemetery explanation is quite likely, moreso than naming the character after a hospital or church.

BTW Luciaphil, what exactly is a "lawn fete", praytell? 

Thanks everyone for your input.  I think SP2 is designed specifically for Windows XP, so if that's the case I wouldn't think none XP users would be advised to download it.

As long as there isn't any urgency, I'll hold off for the time being but will probably go ahead and install it.  I don't think I have any older programs that would be aversely affected. 

This may not be a problem, but ...

I was viewing the board but not logged in.  I wanted to see a photo that was posted; it was one with a "paper clip" icon that you click on.  Because I wasn't logged in I wasn't able to view it, but there was an option to log in to see the photo.  I did that, and to my surprise, the photo opened in my own software, Windows Picture and Fax Viewer.  Or rather, it appeared to download into the picture viewer.

Well, I didn't really want this photo to have downloaded to my computer -- I've just recently apparentlyl contracted a virus downloading something -- and so I tried to delete the photo from within the viewer by clicking on the "X" for delete.  That deleted the picture itself, but then there was a succession of icons, banners, that I tried to delete one by one, but every time I deleted one another one would pop up.  I finally gave up, then spent 20 minutes searching on my computer to try to see where these items had downloaded to.  I wasn't able to find that out.

Does anyone know what all downloaded to my computer when I viewed/downloaded the photo, and where it might have gone to in my system?

Can this be avoided in the future - i.e., just viewing a photo rather than downloading it?

P.S.  Fascinating to learn these details about LP's upcoming DS novel.

I would assume, too, that after all the present-day Collins family had gone through, and with Barnabas having been a close member for several years by series end, that Roger and Elizabeth would have protected Barnabas.  It always bothered me when I read something, I think it might have been Sam Hall's article for TV Guide on "what happened" after the show ended, to the effect that "Roger discovers Barnabas' secret and tries to kill him."  To me, that doesn't ring true.  (But then Barnabas and Julia going off to the Orient had to be tongue in cheek, didn't it?)

I love the ambiguity the series left us with regarding whether or not Professor Stokes guessed Barnabas' secret.  In my view, leaving things up to the viewer/reader to resolve, hash over, discuss endlessly, is a sign of respect for the reader's/viewer's intelligence, rather than spoon feeding us with all the answers.

(Not surprising that I find movies like "Memento" and "Gosford Park" brilliant ... )