A new fear has struck at Collinwood, and everyone’s a suspect in the murder of Melody Devereux…
One morning when I was in college I flipped to the Sci-Fi Channel (back when it was spelled correctly) to find a grainy soap opera — Dark Shadows. I had always heard references to Collinwood as a kid by my parents whenever we passed a gothic-style home, but until that point I had not been exposed to the wonders of Barnabas Collins and the town of Collinsport. Every morning after, I tuned in or recorded episodes up until the very end of the channel’s run of the series. I realized how corny the show was and how ridiculous the special effects were, but as I’ve said is past blog posts, I prefer this over horrible blood and gore. As an English major, I also saw the correlations with classic novels such as Wuthering Heights, Dracula and The Picture of Dorian Gray.
I watched the revival series as well, and even the Johnny Depp movie (while I try to forget it, I still laugh whenever it’s on television.), but nothing was like that original series. Then came Big Finish.
When I first heard that Big Finish was reviving the show as a radio drama, I was skeptical. It had already been tried twice on television, and the second time the CW turned it down after viewing the pilot. So why did Big Finish believe their take on the series was going to be successful?
After listening to the first 2 seasons of the radio drama, I understood why. Following up 11 years after the series originally ended, the series brought back many of the original actors reprising their roles, including David Selby and Kathryn Lee Scott, with Andrew Scott (Barnabas of the failed CW pilot) standing in for Jonathan Frid.
I recently finished the third season of Dark Shadows, Bloodlust, and immediately started listening again to piece together the beginning of the mystery.
Bloodlust begins with Michael and Melody Devereux arriving in Collinsport on their honeymoon. We are reintroduced to Maggie Evans, the owner of the Collinsport Inn, as well as Ed, the owner of the local pub — The Blue Whale — whose wife was murdered the previous season, and Reverend Trask, the local clergy who spends most of his time drinking his unknown sorrows away.
The first episode ends with Melody’s murder while on a midnight stroll, but the death doesn’t stop here. The show’s title is hardly undefined as with each episode of unraveling Melody’s mystery, more people are found dead with different identifying marks.
Set in 1983, the show hardly feels set in the past. With the exception of Harry’s use of a Polaroid camera and the lack of cell phones or social media, I would expect this tale to happen currently. This made it easier to join the adventure without trying to transport myself to that era in order to understand references as I might for a historical drama.
Was the killer Barnabas — a vampire who has been unable to control his thirst for blood? Angelique — the witch who’s constantly angry at those who defy her? Quentin Collin — the former werewolf who craves the creature’s thirst? David Collins or Carolyn Stoddard — the only Collins remaining in town and running a mysterious dig in the caves under Widow’s Peak?
Listen in to find out.
