It was reported on social media today that another announcement made at the Paley Center thing was that Lara Parker will have a vampire themed short story in a new horror anthology, one based around a podcast. From the podcast's page: "The first Castle of Horror Anthology-- the first anthology to carry the Castle of Horror brand-- is now available for pre-order! Come on into the Castle of Horror! Featuring stories from amazing writers including Dark Shadow's Lara Parker, Kevin J Anderson, PJ Hoover, and many more!"

The book, entitled CASTLE OF HORROR, volume 1, has a pre-order link on some online retail sites now.

G.

A fan who attended the Paley Center event stated that Jim Pierson confirmed the release of the Ross audiobooks. This was reported today on social media.

G.

Think you'll never read something about DS that will mention the words "phallic frenzy"? Think again.

http://www.collinsporthistoricalsociety.com/2019/04/the-dark-shadows-daybook-april-10.html

cheers, G.

Interestingly, this set (originating from Spain, but on sale here on German Amazon) says it's 4 x 3. But it's not clear whether the original English soundtrack is an option. It's only around 16 Euros which is a lot cheaper than the one on US Amazon.

https://www.amazon.de/Shadows-VAMPIROS-VOLUMEN-Spanien-Sprachen/dp/B075FBB585/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_2?__mk_de_DE=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&keywords=%22dark+shadows%22+19
91+dvd&qid=1554850401&s=gateway&sr=8-2-fkmrnull

My friend found this--he said there are some others available from European manufacturers/distributors. The main thing if you buy it is to try and determine if it does offer the original US language and music track.

VAMPIROS... what an original title for it!

G.

For anybody on these boards who is attending, Lara Parker writes on her social media page today:

Kathryn, Marie, and I will be at the Paley Center on Saturday at noon to greet and chat with any early arrivals. With such a short time to be with everyone, we thought we would come early. Hope to see you there.

G.

So, this is the set my friend wrote me about. I am sure you heard about this at the time since I think you have some kind of thing set up where you receive alerts whenever somebody mentions DS in any context online:

https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Shadows-Complete-Ben-Cross/dp/B00P7ZD578/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_1?keywords=%22dark+shadows%22+1991+dvd&qid=1554826351&s=gateway&sr=8-1-fkmrnull

He did say that the color grading in the day-for-night scenes is still not quite right; still not as good as the VHS. I have no idea why this is so problematic. It seems as if these HD whackos who do the authoring for these home video releases now just have no idea at all about cinematography 101. Particularly when dealing with "legacy" materials.

Unfortunately this 2015 set almost immediately went OP. Because as everyone knows, we can't have nice things.

Best, G.

Fans, professional writer Daniel McGachey, who lives in the UK, was discussing with me his love of DS, which he originally learned about thanks to a 1980s TV broadcast of NIGHT OF DS. He was only able to start watching the series when the UK Sci-Fi channel starting showing it in the 1990s, though I think he mentioned getting hold of at least one videotape before that.

Daniel shared this synopsis of a short DS pastiche serial he wrote for a teenage girl's magazine (or possibly, a parody of a teenage girl's magazine), back in 2002. All the characters were named after actors on the show.

I'm pasting in the synopsis below.

Best wishes, Gothick

The Mansion of Strange Shadows - Bunty Annual 2002
Illustrated by Keith Robson

Chapter One - The House Through the Woods
Lara, Kat and Alex are amongst the class who have been taken to view the restoration work being undertaken on Nightshade Mansion. Legends have it that in 1795, mad Lord Jonathan, the 13th Lord of Nightshade Mansion, put a curse on the house and vanished, spiriting away the family treasure as he went.
In the basement, beneath the slabs, the museum team have uncovered a massive metal door with no keyhole but spaces for carved symbols to be placed.
As the girls break off from the school party, they find themselves in a room full of dusty old ornaments, before Kat seems to vanish into thin air.

Chapter Two - Cold Comfort
An amnesiac girl finds herself wandering toward the old house through a snowstorm. The house's inhabitants insist she is their cousin, Miss Kathryn, and all seem under the influence of their butler, Mr John. The family are prisoners for, every time the try to leave, there is a loud rumbling and a storm that shakes the house. Could the answer lie in the room full of precious things, amongst the ornaments and crystals and snowglobes?

Chapter Three - The Ghastly Gallery
Still looking for Kat, Alex and Lara split up and Lara finds herself in the family portrait gallery, where certain portraits seem more than lifelike. And when a mysterious artist restores the portrait of a young girl, Lady Denise, she begins to escape from her picture. But, if she escapes, she'll need someone to take her place. And why does the artist want to keep Lara away from the covered portrait of Lord Jonathan Nightshade?

Chapter Four - Out of Time
Alex follows a winding staircase up to the clock tower, where the ancient mechanism has been frozen for centuries. But, when she removes the strange metal symbol that has become trapped in the gears, the clock starts running... backwards. Phantom figures come and go as Alex is taken back, as a ghost, to the very night when Lord Jonathan Nightshade, fleeing a mob accusing him of witchcraft, places his curse on the old mansion, leaving it trapped within his evil shadow. He then disappears into the vault beneath the house, his power becoming complete and trapping Alex in the past.

Chapter Five - The Vault of Shadows
Having both recovered mysterious symbols during their adventures, Kat and Lara slot them into the huge door in the cellar floor, opening two of the locks and weakening Lord Jonathan's power so that Alex is restored to her rightful time. With the third key, they open the vault and descend to face the strange shadows within!