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Review:
The Dark Shadows Almanac |
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The Dark Shadows Almanac: A 30th Anniversary Tribute is a masterful mosaic of anecdotes, facts, rare photos, trivia and salutations published in 1995 by Pomegranate Press. However, the project did not materialize without its unfair share of stress, as editor Kathryn Leigh Scott explains:
A
host of cast members and several colleagues from the production
crew along with several prominent fans breath added tributes and
contributions. The rest is a cleverly dispersed grab-bag of goodies
from trivia, to the Collins Family Tree, to a profile of the show's
creator and producer Dan Curtis. Also in the mix are plenty of photos
including amateur snapshots of the stars and full-page colour portraits
of the characters. Elsewhere, the usually reserved Lara Parker takes a front row seat to applaud the fans with some elegant and sincere sentiments. During intermissions the focus shifts to action behind the lens, including some show business bits from associate producer George DiCenzo, a look at creating Collinwood by scenic designer Sy Thomasoff, Mary McKinley-Haas' concepts for the 1841 Parallel Time costumes, and the magic of Dick Smith's pioneering old-age make-up for Barnabas. A
trio of original series fans, Michael Culhane, Walter Miller Jr.
and Debbie Smith tell of their childhood fascination with the series,
which led to the feel of Frid's fangs for Culhane, some regular
studio visits for Miller, and a job later for Smith as Curtis' When
one considers the magnitude of the project and its sense of ambition,
The Dark Shadows Almanac triumphs as a tribute to the series'
fans. Order this book from Amazon.com Original Content and Design © Copyright Stuart Manning Dark Shadows © 1966 Dan Curtis Productions, Inc. All rights reserved. |
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"It
was a huge challenge, and Jim Pierson, Ben Martin and I worked our
butts off putting it together...Thanks to Jim, we had a wealth of
great information that the fans had been asking about at every Festival,
but coordinating that material and checking the facts was a headache.
It was left to Ben to format the text and make some sense of it.
I'm sure that no one knows that Ben, Jim and I all met at Ben's
house in North Carolina, and worked together for four solid days
preparing the camera-ready pages for the printer. It was a nightmare!
We were barely speaking to one another by the end of it, and I burst
into tears more than once. I was sure no one would want the book
and, at the last minute, reduced the print run. It's hard to believe
that only three years later, Ben, Jim and I set about doing another
Almanac!"