I've read in at least one source that the sobbing of Josette's ghost was done by Lela Swift (the director).  Always wondered whether that was true.

G.

I just love this episode.

I love Parker's expression as Cassandra when she catches sight of Stokes in the Evans cottage. The shocked trembling of her lower lip is really well done.  Maybe she'd been studying Johnny Karlen.

Thayer had so many great lines in this one.  Stokes is my favorite character of his which is sheer sentimentality because I also adore him as Count Petofi and PT 1970 Tim Stokes.  I love all his work in the series but these three are my favorite characterizations because all three are just so... out there.

G.

I have this vague but persistent memory of van Helsing saying that a vampire could appear in the sun at noontime.  It is confusing because earlier on, Harker sees Dracula "sleeping" in his coffin in the crypt of the Castle.  There is a clear urgency for the vampire to seek the refuge of his coffin (AND his original burial soil) before daybreak.

There was an episode in the 1897 storyline in DS where Barn went to his coffin at dawn (in the basement of the Old House) and something happened and then he was running around for quite sometime after the sun had presumably risen though we never saw him confronting daylight.  I think this was simply the result of sloppy scripting and production but it always bemuses me when it comes up.

G.

I would guess this video was done sometime in the 1990s.  Matthew Hall discusses his personal connection to DS and his experience working on the 1990/91 series.  This is one of the few occurrences of which I am aware in which someone close to the show has actually described Dan Curtis as "the head writer" of the series.  I still think DS (the original series) was so good *in spite of* Dan's input... people who are really close to a project often take a different view from those who are spectators--or have a more objective vantage point:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WKA3CztzUY

G.

and it just occurred to me that perhaps Juliana was trying to acquire some BarnaDepp DNA via the most natural means available to her... lol.

G.

Hi Patti, the DS sets were designed and built by Sy Tomashoff for DS in the Spring of 1966 (presumably May-June).  Nobody has bothered to quote a year for this Twlight Zone episode but from what Midnite wrote it sounds as if it was done in the 1950s.

I often see old house sets on ALFRED HITCHCOCK and BORIS KARLOFF'S THRILLER that seem reminiscent of the look Sy drew upon for Collinwood, but I think it's just a general concept of what a creepy old house would look like as established in the horror and suspense genres of the mid 20th century.

According to MB, set elements from DS were re-used on other ABC soaps after DS ended, notably ONE LIFE TO LIVE.

G.

Hi Patti, I think the clothing for the 1990 DS actually got closer to what was worn in 1790 New England.  I seem to recall having read that the costumes for the 18th century sequences in the original Sixties shows came from work that had commissioned for a production set in the mid 18th century.  I'm not an authority and it would be interesting to know for sure.

I always think the Countess's clothing in the 1967-68 shows was way out of date, more 1760s than 1790s, although I love how Grayson looks in the clothing.

The main 18th century costume that just does not work for me is what they gave Barnabas to wear.  I'm sure it was researched and was accurate but it just looks awful on camera, particularly in combination with the wig and the makeup.

Of course tastes differ--just giving my opinion.