Dark Shadows is a Gothic soap opera that originally aired weekdays on the ABC television network, from June 27, 1966 to April 2, 1971. The show was created by Dan Curtis, who tells of a dream he had in which a girl takes a long train ride to visit a large mansion. The story "bible," which was written by Art Wallace, does not mention any supernatural elements. It was considered daring (and unprecedented in daytime television) when ghosts were introduced about six months after it began.

The series became hugely popular when, a year into its run, vampire Barnabas Collins, played by Jonathan Frid, appeared. In addition to vampires, Dark Shadows featured werewolves, ghosts, zombies, man-made monsters, witches, warlocks, time travel (both into the past and into the future), and a parallel universe. A small company of actors each played many roles and, as actors came and went, some characters were played by several actors. Major writers in addition to Art Wallace included Sam Hall, Gordon Russell, and Violet Welles.

Dark Shadows was distinguished by its vividly melodramatic performances, atmospheric interiors, memorable story lines and an unusually adventurous music score. Now regarded as somewhat of a camp classic, it continues to enjoy intense cult status among its followers. Director Tim Burton and pop icon Madonna have both gone on record as fans of the series. As a child Johnny Depp was so obsessed with Barnabas Collins that he wanted to be him[1].

Victoria Winters: episode 1 (June 27, 1966) to 127 (December 20, 1966) Victoria Winters arrives at Collinwood as governess for David Collins and encounters strange goings-on in the old mansion. Elizabeth Collins Stoddard has a secret and never leaves the Collinwood estate. Her daughter Carolyn is staying out to all hours. Roger Collins, David's father, is afraid that someone is trying to kill him. And Burke Devlin has returned to Collinsport.

The Murder of Bill Malloy: episode 46 (August 29, 1966) to 126 (December 19, 1966) Bill Malloy, Elizabeth's right-hand man, threatens to publicly reveal hushed-up details about the feud between Roger Collins and Burke Devlin, and involving Sam Evans. Malloy's body is then discovered floating in the waters at the base of Widow's Hill. The ghost of Bill Malloy appears to Victoria Winters, and later the ghost of Josette du Pres emerges from her portrait at the old house. The spirits of wailing women are heard from Widow's Hill.

Laura the Phoenix: episode 128 (December 21, 1966) to 192 (March 21, 1967) Young David Collins's mother Laura returns after a ten year absence, searching for her son. She is an immortal phoenix, and wishes to have him join her in the sacred fires of the Egyptian god Ra.

Jason McGuire: episode 195 (March 24, 1967) to 275 (July 14, 1967) Jason McGuire, an old friend of Elizabeth's long-missing husband Paul Stoddard, shows up and insinuates himself into the Collins household. He knows a dark secret about Elizabeth's missing husband and, much to the family's dismay, she submits to his demands, which includes allowing his violent drifter friend Willie Loomis to stay at Collinwood.

Barnabas: episode 211 (March 22, 1967) to 365 (November 17, 1967) Barnabas Collins, a nearly two-hundred-year-old vampire, is released from his coffin by Willie Loomis and brings terror to Collinsport. Doctor Julia Hoffman is called to investigate the strange kidnapping of Maggie Evans, a Collinsport waitress whom the vampire believes to be the reincarnation of his long lost love, Josette du Pres.

1795: episode 366 (November 14, 1967) to 460 (March 29, 1968) A séance is held in the great house at Collinwood, during which Victoria Winters travels back in time to the year 1795. In that era, Barnabas is still an ordinary human being, but becomes the object of desire for a deadly witch Angelique Bouchard, who invokes the vampiric curse upon him. Meanwhile, Victoria is accused of witchcraft by the paranoiac Rev. Trask. She's defended in court by Peter Bradford, a man who follows her back through time to the 20th century.

Dream Curse/Adam and Eve: episode 461 (April 1, 1968) to 637 (December 3, 1968) Angelique Bouchard, a witch who tricked Barnabas into marrying her in the 1790s, returns. At the same time, Barnabas and Dr. Julia Hoffman explore the possibility of freeing Barnabas from his curse, by giving life to an artificial being called Adam.

Werewolf/Quentin's Ghost: episode 638 (December 4, 1968) to 700 (February 28, 1969) A werewolf (Chris Jennings) is loose on the Collins estate and the ghost of Quentin Collins is terrorizing the children, David Collins and Amy Jennings.

1897: episode 701 (March 3, 1969) to 884 (November 13, 1969) In order to save the imperilled David and unravel the mystery of Quentin's ghost, Barnabas travels back in time using the I Ching. He encounters Angelique, the phoenix Laura Collins, a gypsy curse, lycanthropy, and the severed hand of the dreaded Count Petofi.

The Leviathans: episode 885 (November 14, 1969) to 980 (March 27, 1970) An ancient Lovecraftian race of beings coerce Barnabas into joining their ranks. Together they attempt to enslave the Collins family and bring the town under the thrall of their mysterious leader, Jeb Hawkes.

Parallel Time: episode 981 (March 30, 1970) to 1060 (July 17, 1970) In a closed-off section of the house, Barnabas and Julia discover a doorway to a parallel universe, where the master of the house Quentin Collins has recently married Maggie Evans, who finds herself threatened by the vengeful spirit of Quentin's first wife, Angelique.

1995: episode 1061 (July 20, 1970) to 1070 (July 31, 1970) Barnabas and Julia travel forward in time to a Collinwood that has been destroyed and the Collins family either dead or mad.

Gerard Stiles: episode 1071 (August 3, 1970) to 1109 (September 24, 1970) Ghosts from the 1840s possess David Collins and Hallie Stokes. Barnabas and Julia try to find a way to prevent the future destruction of Collinwood.

1840: episode 1110 (September 25, 1970) to 1198 (January 27, 1971) Using a stairway through time hidden within the walls of Collinwood, Julia travels back to the 1840s to unravel the mystery of Gerard and Daphne Harridge. When Barnabas joins her they find an unexpected ally in their old foe, Angelique.

1841 in Parallel Time: episode 1199 (January 28, 1971) to 1245 (April 2, 1971) In a parallel universe Bramwell Collins returns home to find that his true love, Catherine Harridge, has married his wealthy cousin, Morgan Collins. The Collins family is under a curse that requires them to hold a lottery, the loser to spend the night in a room that will leave them either dead or insane.

Although the series began as a typical American soap opera with several story threads running open-ended simultaneously, it eventually evolved into a format closer to modern day Spanish-language "telenovelas". There would be one overarching storyline, with several minor subplots tying into it, involving every single character in the show. The storyline would eventually be wrapped up, and a new storyline begun in its place. This was especially noticeable in the various time travel storylines. When Victoria Winters travelled back to 1795, for example, the principal storyline was to show how a human Barnabas Collins was transformed into a vampire and how he happened to get chained up in his coffin. The storyline had a definitive beginning (Victoria finding herself in the past), middle (Angelique placing the vampire curse on Barnabas), and end (Barnabas chained up in the coffin and Victoria sent back to her proper time). Every cast member on the show at that time played a character who had some function in this singular storyline. This was in sharp contrast to the typical American soap which tends to feature at least three or four major storylines simultaneously that might play out over the course of many years, with only a few characters deeply involved in any particular plot-thread.

An unusual feature of this format was that whenever the storyline shifted into a new time and a new storyline was begun, a majority of the cast played all-new characters who would not continue past the conclusion of that storyline. This gave the writers a certain freedom to actually kill off central characters, including the heroes and heroines whom the audience would usually root for, and characters performed by contract players. For instance, Kathryn Leigh Scott, who played Maggie Evans in the modern day storyline, was recast as Rachel Drummond in the 1897 storyline. Although Rachel was a central heroic character throughout the first several months of this particular storyline, her character was killed off halfway through it. Soon thereafter, Scott returned as an entirely different character, Kitty Soames. Then, when the storyline shifted back to the present day, Scott simply resumed her Maggie Evans character and continued with the show. This allowed for a bit more suspense than the normal soap, as no character was off-limits and the audience could not be sure who would actually survive harrowing ordeals.

Mark Allen played Sam Evans
Humbert Allen Astredo played Nicholas Blair, Evan Hanley, and Charles Dawson
Conrad Bain played Mr. Wells, the hotel clerk
Nancy Barrett played Carolyn Stoddard, Millicent Collins, Charity Trask, Carolyn Loomis PT, Leticia Faye, Melanie Collins PT, and Amanda Collins PT.
Lee Beery played Joanna Mills.
Joan Bennett played Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, Naomi Collins, Judith Collins, Elizabeth Collins Stoddard PT, Flora Collins, and Flora Collins PT.
Chris Bernau played Philip Todd.
Clarice Blackburn played Mrs. Johnson, Abigail Collins, and Minerva Trask.
Don Briscoe played Tom Jennings, Christopher Jennings, Timothy Shaw, and Chris Collins PT.
Kathy Cody played Hallie Stokes, Carrie Stokes, and Carrie Stokes PT.
Terry Crawford played Beth Chavez and Edith Collins.
Joel Crothers played Joe Haskell and Nathan Forbes.
Thayer David played Matthew Morgan, Ben Stokes, Professor Timothy Stokes, Sandor, Victor Fenn-Gibbon/Count Petofi, Timothy Stokes PT, Mordecai Grimes, and Ben Stokes PT.
Roger Davis played Peter Bradford/Jeff Clark, Ned Stuart, Dirk Wilkins, and Charles Delaware Tate.
Louis Edmonds played Roger Collins, Joshua Collins, Edward Collins, Roger Collins PT, Daniel Collins, Amadeus Collins, and Brutus Collins PT.
Elizabeth Eis played Nelle Gunston, Buffie Harrington PT, and Mrs. Mildred Ward.
Dana Elcar played Sheriff Patterson.
David Ford played Sam Evans and Andre du Pres.
Conard Fowkes played Frank Garner.
Jonathan Frid played Barnabas Collins and Bramwell Collins PT.
Anthony George played Burke Devlin and Jeremiah Collins.
Robert Gerringer played Dr. Woodard.
Grayson Hall played Dr. Julia Hoffman, Natalie du Pres, Magda, Julia Hoffman PT, Julia Collins (a.k.a. Dr. Julia Hoffman), Julia Collins PT, and Constance Collins PT.
James Hall played Willie Loomis (episodes 199-205).
David Henesy played David Collins, Daniel Collins, Jamison Collins, Daniel Collins PT, and Tad Collins.
Kate Jackson played Daphne and Daphne Harridge PT.
John Karlen played Willie Loomis (from episode 206), Carl Collins, William Hollingshead Loomis PT, Desmond Collins, and Kendrick Young PT.
Jerry Lacy played Tony Peterson, Reverend Trask, Gregory Trask, Mr. Trask PT, and Lamar Trask.
John Lasell played Dr. Peter Guthrie.
Marsha Mason played Audrey, the female Leviathan.
Donna McKechnie played Amanda Harris/Olivia Corey.
Diana Millay played Laura Collins, the phoenix.
Alexandra Moltke played Victoria Winters.
Denise Nickerson played Amy Jennings, Nora Collins, and Amy Collins PT.
Lara Parker played Angelique Bouchard/Cassandra Collins/Valerie Collins/Miranda Duval, Alexis Stokes PT, Angelique Bouchard PT, and Catherine Harridge PT.
Dennis Patrick played Jason McGuire and Paul Stoddard.
Christopher Pennock played Jeb Hawkes, Dr. Cyrus Longworth PT/John Yaegar PT, Sebastian Shaw, Gabriel Collins, and Gabriel Collins PT.
Addison Powell played Judge Matigan, Dr. Eric Lang, and Judge Wiley.
Keith Prentice played Morgan Collins PT.
Lisa Richards played Sabrina Stuart and Sabrina Stuart PT.
Robert Rodan played Adam.
Mitchell Ryan played Burke Devlin.
Frank Schoefield played Bill Malloy.
Geoffrey Scott played Sky Rumson.
Kathryn Leigh Scott played Maggie Evans, Josette du Pres, Rachel Drummond, Lady Hampshire/Kitty Soames, and Maggie Collins PT
David Selby played Quentin Collins (1897, 1969-1970, 1995, 1970), Grant Douglas, Quentin Collins PT (1970 PT), Quentin Collins (1840), and Quentin Collins PT (1841 PT).
Craig Slocum played Noah Gifford and Harry Johnson.
Sharon Smyth played Sarah Collins.
Alex Stevens played The Werewolf.
James Storm played Gerard Stiles and Gerald Stiles PT.
Michael Stroka played Aristede, Bruno, Bruno PT, and Laszlo Ferrari.
Virginia Vestoff played Samantha Collins and Samantha Drew PT.
Marie Wallace played Eve, Jenny Collins, and Megan Todd.
Donna Wandrey played Roxanne Drew PT and Roxanne Drew.
A more extensive list can be found on TV.com's Dark Shadows Cast & Crew page.

During the past thirty years, Dark Shadows has developed a large and loyal fan following. This is due largely to the willingness of former cast members to participate in several gatherings each year, notably the Dark Shadows Festival held alternately in California and New York and a Halloween fright fest centering around the mansion used in taping the stock outdoor footage. Several cast members have written books, and several have appeared on Dark Shadows audio dramas.