I may have mentioned this before, but for me, Dark Shadows audio goes back to my earliest roots with the show. I have very vague memories of a few eps during the original run. I saw a handful of episodes in syndication in '76,77. WLVI had it on a 11:00PM, much too late for me to watch regularly. I generally got to see it on Friday nights, when I could see it at all. My main exposure then was through the Ross novels and the comics. When I was in college, some fans copied audio tapes for me. For years I had most of the series on audio tape, all of the first year of syndication, and most of the rest of the series, but with many gaps. It was still considerably more than half of the episodes, with some time periods virtually complete. When I first got access to a VCR, it was on a limited basis. The dorm had one to share among 300 or so people. It was in the office and a staffer would put your tape in the machine, if it was not in use. Your offering would then be broadcast throughout the dorm via the antenna system. When I did get VHS tapes, I focused on episodes that were pivotal or visually exciting. Kathy Resch also sent me her 6 hour condensation of 1795. But aside from that, it was an audio medium for me. So for me having DS without the visuals is nothing new. In fact it can be refreshing. My imagination is not hampered by effects that go wrong.
