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 Pomegranate
Press has chronicled and paid tribute to the Dark
Shadows mythos for nearly
15 years now, and as the 35th Anniversary of the show draws close,
Dark Shadows Memories
becomes the latest in a long line of commemorative tomes.
The book is made up of cast remembrances and factual commentary,
including a lengthy excerpt from Kathryn Leigh Scott's long out-of-print
memoir, My Scrapbook Memories
of Dark Shadows. Scott speaks
with warmth and anecdotal wit, feeling encouraged to comment
warmly of the series that launched her career.
This is an
unashamedly subjective overview of the series, written with gratitude
and nostalgia, leisurely trawling through happy times, but still
manages to offer some occasional surprises along the way.
Perhaps the most interesting element of the book is its subtle shift
in tone from its predecessors. Whereas past books have taken a firmly
reverent, nostalgic look at the actors and their lives, this book
seems more willing to acknowledge some of the disappointments and
pain that the Dark Shadows
cast also faced. Alexandra
Moltke sets the tone in her foreword, in her comments about Thayer
David. Presented warmly, but with pragmatism, they emerge as a commendation
for the actor, delivered without malice or judgement.
Similarly, David Henesy's contribution shares a welcome candour
with readers, delivering healthy doses of nostalgia and gossip with
aplomb. Where previous books tiptoe coyly around sensitive areas,
David gleefully shares stories of cosmetic surgery and narcotic
substances with moments of genuine insight. In many ways, his contribution
is the highlight of this book, and thus seems frustratingly brief.
His memories are vivid and detailed, and he clearly has a lot of
unique things to say about the Dark
Shadows phenomenon. I hope
that he will be encouraged to share some more memories soon.
Complimenting the text is an excellent range of previously unpublished
photographs, married with two sumptuously reproduced colour inserts.
The colour sections are made up of full-page portrait shots of the
actors, with some genuinely stunning treasures included.
Around a third of the text is composed of episode synopses and plot
summaries, which seem to jar oddly with the more emotional, nostalgic
material elsewhere. For many fans, these sections will seem superfluous,
such information having already been made available in several other
books. However, for new devotees freshly drawn in from Sci-Fi Channel
reruns, they will probably be gratefully accepted.
Ultimately, the book scores most strongly when it concentrates on
people and their stories, which prove far more compelling than any
episode guide. And by letting these stories play in a more pragmatic,
less sugar-coated way, they prove genuinely illuminating. On that
note alone, Dark Shadows Memories
claims a place as one of the most important books published about
the series, and it would be rewarding to see future Dark
Shadows references build
on this promise.
Order
this book from Amazon.com
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Shadows Journal
Original Content and Design ©
Copyright Stuart
Manning
Dark Shadows © 1966 Dan Curtis Productions, Inc. All rights reserved.
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