Dream projects: Dark Shadows

I have mentioned on my blog having the desire to do an issue or two of Dynamite Entertainment's DARK SHADOWS series. But I also have a dream of doing a proper television revival of the series DARK SHADOWS. 

I am well aware how the recent film version(which I admit I like) has probably soured many people in doing anything further with the program. But that has not deterred me.

On a recent day trip to Rockport Massachusetts, I thought to myself how it would make a great location shot for the fictional town of Collinsport.

The feel of the streets and the buildings just had the feel of Collinsport for me.

Also, my choice for the role of 200 year old vampire Barnabas Collins would be British born actor Paul McGann.

I think the casting would be ideal since Paul was born in Liverpool. The city which Barnabas is said to have been from.

If anything else, to hear him make this speech. Which I think is one of Jonathan Frid's best in the series.

I also would want someone like Kathryn Leigh Scott, Nancy Barrett or Lara Parker as Elizabeth Stoddard-Collins. Just to have that connection with the old series.

I'd also like to bring back the Carey Mansion as Collinwood again.

If it's unavailable, I'd also want to use Lyndhurst Mansion in Tarrytown New York which was the basis for Collinwood in HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS.

I think my biggest problem with the Dark Shadows movie is that it kind of missed a great number of the great characters and story-lines from the show. A lot of that I'm sure due to time restraint.

Also, there was a helluva lot of plot twists and story-lines even before Jonathan Frid joined the cast. Many of them too good to simply just forgot. I feel as though I would try my best to incorporate them all into a new series as well as re-introduce characters like Burke Devlin, Jason MacGuire, Nicolas Blair and Professor Stokes.

I would probably also introduce characters such as Barnabas, Angelique and Quentin a lot quicker than in the series since all of them were introduced over time. With Quentin and Angelique it would be over the course of the first series.

I wouldn't do  the series for laughs. But at the same time, I wouldn't try to make it super dark. The one thing I've learned from Doctor Who's return in 2005 is try and maintain something that made the series popular with the fans. With Doctor Who, it's that level of camp that people enjoyed in the classic series. Despite the silly monsters and dodgy sets, it was always about the cleverness of the writing.

And the same goes for Dark Shadows.

Lara Parker, who has done so much at keeping the series alive with her books would be someone I would immediately contact to write episodes. It only seems right since she has written so much original fiction.

I know so many great writers who I  know to be fans of the show that I would also contact for a potential series.

But Dark Shadows is definitely high up on my list of pet projects I'd love to get my fangs into.

Series you should be reading: The Brenda and Effie Mysteries by Paul Magrs

If you haven't read Paul Magrs's Brenda and Effie Mysteries, then you're missing out on a really great and fun series!!

 

At the moment it is my favorite series of books. And not just because I did the cover for the final installment of the series. But because Paul incorporates everything I love about classic horror. Both in the literary and the Universal Monster Movies sense.

 

We meet Brenda in the first book Never the Bride. We come to find out she is the Bride of Frankenstein. For those of you who have read the original Mary Shelley novel, you may recall Baron Frankenstein creating a mate for his creature but opting tear her to bits and leave her lying on the floor as he and his first creation battle each other to the ends of the Earth.

 

Well, it turns out Brenda wasn't destroyed. Pulled herself together and had been roaming the earth since then. Until she finally settled down in the English seaside town of Whitby where she opened a little bed and breakfast and made friends with Effie. A rather austere old woman who runs an antiques shop nex door. And also happens to be descended from a long line of witches who have lived in Whitby.

 

And if that's not enough, apparently Whitby is where the gateway to Hell resides within the ruins of the old abbey on the hill. And Hell is filled to capacity which means some of the nasties are getting out into our mortal world.

 

And that's not half of it!!

 

What I've always liked about Paul's writing is his balance of the creepy horror with a touch of humor. You'll get the willies but you'll be laughing the entire time from the funny and clever lines Paul writes in his stories.

 

Here is the list of Paul's stories. You can find them on Amazon.com,  Obverse Books and Snow Books:

  

Never the Bride (Brenda&Effie Mystery #1)

Something Borrowed (Brenda &Effie Mystery #2)

Conjugal Rites (Brenda &Effie Mystery #3)

Hell's Belles! (Brenda&Effie Mystery #4)

The Bride That Time Forgot (Brenda &Effie Mystery #5)

Brenda and Effie Forever (Brenda &Effie Mystery #6)

Casque of Amontillado is now up and available on Amazon.com!!

It's here!! And you can purchase your copy at Amazon.com today!! Click on the link below to order:

The Casque of Amontillado

Halloween movies

Since I've been watching a great deal of classic horror in the past month or so, I thought I would share a list of movies that you might want to check out that are perfect for the season:

1.)The Peter Cushing Frankenstein series. The Curse of Frankenstein, The Revenge of Frankenstein and the Evil of Frankenstein in particular.
2.)The Christopher Lee Dracula series. The Horror of Dracula, Dracula: Prince of Darkness and Taste the Blood of Dracula in particular.
3.)Phantom of the Opera (Hammer version)
4.)Vincent Price's Edgar Allen Poe series. Pit in the Pendulum, Fall of the House of Usher and the Oblong Box just to name a few.
5.)Nosferatu. Personally, I like both versions but I think the silent version is superior.
6.)The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
7.)Frankenstein 1931
8.)Dracula 1931
9.)The Witchfinder General (also titled the Conqueror Worm)
10.)Paranoiac
11.)Dracula (the 1970 Jess Franco film starring Christopher Lee)
12.)The Abominable Dr. Phibes
13.)Night Creatures starring Peter Cushing
14.)House of Wax starring Vincent Price
15.)Dr. Phibes Rises Again

So, go down to Newbury Comics, Borders or Barnes and Noble to check them out. Or if you have a Netflix account, put them on your list.

Lugosi's Dracula

Last year (or the year before. I can't remember right now) it was Karloff's Frankenstein for the first time. This year it's Béla Lugosi in Dracula. In all these years, I had never seen either. And I thought it was high time I saw them both.

Much like Basil Rathbone's The Hound of the Baskervilles, you can criticize the 1931 Dracula for both the changes made to the story as well as the stereotypes it created for the character for many years to come. Like the long black cape and the heavy accent which nearly every actor (with a few exceptions) has been imitating when they don the fangs.

But in Lugosi's case, the accent is genuine which makes his portrayal more believable than someone trying to fake it.

And much like Rathbone's Hound, it's a classic for a reason. And a great deal of that is due to lead actor.

For those who are into fast-paced gorefests, you will find this film (much like many films of that era) to be very slow and sleepy. Even though the original novel is even slower and sleepier.

And another thing that makes it strange to watch is apart from the suite from Swan Lake during the opening credits, there is no incidental music throughout the movie. For people who have not watched a silent movie or any old movies, they might find this to be a bit strange to watch at first. But keep in mind, Dracula came out when talking pictures were still a new art form.

Another thing that makes the film great to watch is the atmosphere. There's something about black and white movies that helps us to forgive some of the less than spectacular. But the set design for both Dracula's castle and the abbey are fantastic. The spider webs, the long sweeping staircases. The armadillo's.

Yeah, you'd have to watch the film for that one. But I've seen it and I can't make sense of it. Although, it seems to fit in a strange David Lynch sort of way.

And even the lack of music adds to the tension of scenes. We don't have incidental music following us in real life, so this lack of music does make Lugosi's Count Dracula seem like vampires could be real and this could be happening.

Although, if you're someone who would get somewhat itchy watching a film without any music, there is an option on some of the Dracula releases where you can watch the film with a score by Philip Glass.

I prefer the bare bones version myself.

What I don't like is how they take the mystery out of the character at the beginning of the film. But then again, we all know Dracula is a vampire. It's sort of like most of us know Bruce Wayne's parents are going to get shot and he's going to become Batman.

But there is something about slowly peeling the onion away. Jess Franco's Dracula does that to an extent when they introduce Christopher Lee at the beginning. We suspect that it's the Count picking up Harker at the Borgo Pass. But his face is covered, so we are left with that mystery.

We really do not get to see Dracula until he opens the front door to his castle. And like I said, most of us know the story of Dracula backwards and front. But it does add a level of mystery to add that.

Franco's adaptation is another movie I feel has excellent parts and parts that really fall flat. But much like the Lugosi film, it has a strong lead actor with Christopher Lee as the Count.

Nevertheless, I was very happy to finally get the opportunity to watch both. I find myself liking Lugosi's Dracula a bit more than Karloff's Frankenstein. Both are excellent films and both have great actors anchoring the film. But Lugosi's wins out because of it's set design and atmosphere.

For those of you who do pen and ink art, it'll make you want to race to the drawing board and break out your pens.

Some Halloween movies to add to your Netflix list

All of which are perfect for your Halloween horrorfest:

Cabinet des Dr. Caligari., Das (1919)
Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (1922)
Frankenstein (1931)
Dracula (1931)
The Body Snatcher (1945)
The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)
Dracula (1958)
Also Known As:
Dracula 1958(USA)
Horror of Dracula(USA)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959)
The Mummy (1959)
Pit and the Pendulum (1961)
A Study in Terror (1965)
The Oblong Box (1969)
Nachts, wenn Dracula erwacht (1970)
The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)
The Ruling Class (1972)
Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht (1979)
Murder by Decree (1979)
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Sleepy Hollow (1999)
From Hell (2001)