The music on Lang's tape is Mozart...

More horrifying than anything imagined thus far in this thread...

A lot like this:

There be spoilers here.

In and of itself, S. E. Hinton's HAWKES HARBOR is not a bad book; as an entry in the DARK SHADOWS novel series, it would have been a flop.

I enjoyed Hinton's prose, and she developed a convincing background for Jamie (Willie Loomis) Sommers. It's easy to envision Karlen in the role and Dennis Patrick playing Kellen (Jason McGuire) Quinn in flashback fashion, particularly in their travels around the world. Her delving deeply into Jamie's psyche, the devastation he feels being a victim of a vampire, is masterful, and that rich character development is what keeps the novel going.

The other characters, however, are a complete bust. I have no idea how much she altered them to make HAWKES HARBOR a stand-alone novel, but the character of Grenville (Barnabas) Hawkes is so far removed from anything Jonathan Frid would have portrayed that one -has- to forget the novel's origin as an entry in the DS series -- not so easy when you consider that Jamie Sommers and Willie Loomis are virtually interchangeable. Mind you, in some scenes, I can see Ben Cross delivering Grenville's lines, but even that becomes a stretch after a while. I honestly don't know if Hinton purposefully worked the dialogue so that there'd be no real resemblance to Barnabas or if it was due to a lack of understanding of the character; given her sharp portrayal of Jamie/Willie, the latter seems doubtful.

Louisa (Julia Hoffman) Kahne bears some slight resemblance to her television counterpart, though she tends to be more sharp-tongued and self-centered than the "real" Julia. While most of the other characters are recognizable as Collins family members and Collinsport townspeople, none of them are developed to any great extent. While both Grenville and Jamie are quite smitten with Katie (Maggie Evans) Roddendem, apart from an "unusual" moment of sex with Jamie, she's almost a non-entity, generally in the background, occasionally intruding on the main characters' thoughts.

(There is a blooper already discussed around here, in which Roger Collins and the Collins Shipping Co. are mentioned by name.)

Structurally, the book tends to be a little disjointed, due to scenes occuring in non-linear fashion, an aspect that works when there's a point to it, but if there is one in this case, it's fairly muddled. Action and suspense there is none (with the possible exception of a few scattered moments during Jamie and Kellen's sea voyages). I think even fans who care less about DARK SHADOWS' occasionally over-the-top action than its rich characters would be disappointed by HAWKES HARBOR's -very- sedate pace and lack of adrenalin-inducing moments.

I give it a marginal recommendation as a novel of dark fiction, with a nod to Hinton's stylistic prowess.

--M
http://home.triad.rr.com/smrainey

Thanky much. I've actually got a pretty good mess of stuff coming up this year, and more in the works.

I started reading Hawkes Harbor the other day and am close to finishing it. Will post a review here when I'm done.

The World-Fantasy Award-winning publisher Sarob Books (UK) has picked up my novel, The Nightmare Frontier, to be released as a signed & limited hardback edition in September 2006.

While it's not a Dark Shadows novel, as so often mysteriously happens in my books, there are a few subtle nods to DS that readers "in the know" will pick up on.

This isn't going to be a domestic mass-market release; it's more geared to collectors of fine books. Still, the publisher is very prestigious and may open the door for a U.S. publisher to pick it up.

The revival did a lot of things right, which made its shortcomings appear all the more glaring. Ben Cross was at his best when not in vampire makeup. I always looked forward to the times Frid's fangs came out because he was impressive as a vampire. Cross came off silly.

I didn't have any problem with the House of Dark Shadows scenario opening the series; it set things in motion well enough and then the story took off on its own momentum, striking a balance between events from the original series and new imaginings. The 1790 scenes were often among the high points in the show, especially Vicki's trial. It had an intense quality that rivaled the contemporary courtroom dramas of the time.

Anyone who's read a post of mine before knows that I'm a big fan of Joanna Going; she was everything Vicki was supposed to be. I didn't mind her being Josette's reincarnation; given the characterizations of the revival, she was far more appropriate than Maggie. And I distinctly did not care for Ely Pouget's portrayal of Maggie. The whole psychic thing rang false, as did her relationship with Roger.

Joseph Gordon Levitt as David frequently made me want to find a set of goalposts, set him on a tee, and kick his young ass up for a field goal, if not something worse.

The show should have been given its chance to continue; it was near the end of its run that it was actually hitting its stride, and I think it would have proven a winner in the long haul.

I'm a big fan of the BBC/Louis Jourdan Dracula. Your observations pretty much reflect mine, especially the eerieness of many of the scenes. It's my favorite production of Drac, bar none, despite the fact that Jourdan isn't anything like the novel's depiction, at least physically. Regardless, he plays the part with just the right flair. Frank Finlay also makes the best Van Helsing since Peter Cushing. I detest Anthony Hopkins' portrayal in the Coppola farce.

I only have it on VHS, and it's been years since I've watched it. I used to look at it pretty regularly at Halloween, and it's a tradition I need to renew. I might not wait till this coming Halloween to start, though.

Yep, Dracula and The Great Pumpkin -- pretty much the perfect Halloween double-feature.