Debra, I remember doing something rather similar! I first remember watching the show at the age of seven during the PT1970 storyline.
[spoiler]The scene of Angelique coming back to life and killiing her twin sister Alexis scared the living crap out of me![/spoiler]
My cousin, who'd watched that scene with me, was scared witless too. We took to calling Angelique "the lady" and used to taunt each other with threats: "the lady is going to come get you!"
Soon after on a stormy night, I couldn't get that scene out of my head. I was just sure that the lady was hiding in my closet, waiting to 'get' me. I had recently stopped sleeping with my teddy bears, which my mother had put away in the attic. Anyway, I begged my dad to go up to the attic in the middle of the night to get me all three of my teddies so that they could stand guard over me in the night, and keep "the lady" at bay!
I too was told "No more Dark Shadows!" But neither that nor my night of fear stopped me watching the show whenever I could, on the sly of course!