...Angelique, when Barnabas finally professes his love for her.
When I first saw these episodes, it occurred to me that Barnabas could have saved himself a whole lot of trouble if he would have just realized he loved Angelique back in 1795... or 1968... or whenever. But now I realize that this isn't that Angelique; he could never love her! But this one's not so bad, really. Actually they both deserve each other. I 'ship Barnabas with Angelique and Julia with Stokes (and now I can't get "Grandma Hoffman's Ribbon Candy" out of my mind).
But it looks like Melanie's father is dying, which means there will be another lottery.
Yes, this whole next (and final) arc is based on "The Lottery", a short story by Shirley Jackson. I've read it. It's okay for a short story, but I wouldn't base a soap opera on it. Then again, the whole "Blackmail of Elizabeth" subplot came from "The House", a half-hour episode of a TV anthology series which Dan Curtis stretched into more than a year's worth of episodes. (If you're interested, it can be found on the Master of Dark Shadows DVD.)
And.. it seems like that where we're going to leave the main cast for good.
Indeed we are. That little scene set in present day Collinwood is the last we'll ever see of the Collins family... until Big Finish, that is. the series concludes in 1841 parallel time. I'd like to tell you that it gets better from here, but it doesn't really. This is not as good as it has ever been, but it's as good as it will get from here on out. Up until now I have avoided (or at least tried to avoid) setting expectations for upcoming storylines, but I hate to think of you sitting there hoping for Dark Shadows to get better and it never will. I do think you should finish watching, however; I mean, you've come this far. There are five big reasons often cited as to what finally killed Dark Shadows, and I thihnk a big one was letting Jonathan Frid play a role other than Barnabas Collins.
The Baron > Jeff of Earth-JSeptember 20, 2025 at 3:43pm
"The Lottery" is one of my all-time favorite short stories, but I'd agree that it wouldn't make good soap opera fodder.
I really liked "The Lottery" too -- but I read it in middle school, so who knows what I'd think of it now? But I've read The Haunting of Hill House as an adult, so I've got plenty of respect for Shirley Jackson's writing.
Jeff of Earth-J > Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)September 22, 2025 at 5:21pm
Since I last posted, I checked the short story collection I thought contained "The Lottery." I found the book, but the story wasn't in it. both Tracy and I know we have it in the house somewhere, but we're not sure where. (Cap's precept, "If you can't find it you don't own it," comes to mind.) A few years ago we watched that TV mini-series based on The Haunting of Hill House and loved it. I bought a copy of the book and started to read it, but it was so different from the TV version that I experienced cognitive disconnect. I decided to set it aside until the TV show had faded from my mind, and it's been on my "stack of shame" ever since.
Jeff of Earth-J > Jeff of Earth-JSeptember 28, 2025 at 2:56pm
"The Lottery" - I just finished reading "The Lottery" for the first time in thirty years and the second time ever. The plot was exactly as I remembered it, but I appreciated it more this time through, knowing in advance what to expect. It's very low-key, more moody than outright scary. Still don't see why Dan Curtis thought it was a good idea to stretch it out into a ten week-long soap opera storyline. It didn't take me just too long after I last posted here to track it down. I don't have many short story collections in my library, it was just a matter of locating the specific one. I might kee[ this book out for a while and read some others. It has some good stories in it, some of which I have read, some of which I have not (but really should). Or maybe I'll move on to The Haunting of Hill House. We'll have to see.
The Baron > Jeff of Earth-JSeptember 28, 2025 at 3:00pm
On a side note, there's several different videos on Youtube of people reading the story, some doing better than others.
Replies
...Angelique, when Barnabas finally professes his love for her.
When I first saw these episodes, it occurred to me that Barnabas could have saved himself a whole lot of trouble if he would have just realized he loved Angelique back in 1795... or 1968... or whenever. But now I realize that this isn't that Angelique; he could never love her! But this one's not so bad, really. Actually they both deserve each other. I 'ship Barnabas with Angelique and Julia with Stokes (and now I can't get "Grandma Hoffman's Ribbon Candy" out of my mind).
But it looks like Melanie's father is dying, which means there will be another lottery.
Yes, this whole next (and final) arc is based on "The Lottery", a short story by Shirley Jackson. I've read it. It's okay for a short story, but I wouldn't base a soap opera on it. Then again, the whole "Blackmail of Elizabeth" subplot came from "The House", a half-hour episode of a TV anthology series which Dan Curtis stretched into more than a year's worth of episodes. (If you're interested, it can be found on the Master of Dark Shadows DVD.)
And.. it seems like that where we're going to leave the main cast for good.
Indeed we are. That little scene set in present day Collinwood is the last we'll ever see of the Collins family... until Big Finish, that is. the series concludes in 1841 parallel time. I'd like to tell you that it gets better from here, but it doesn't really. This is not as good as it has ever been, but it's as good as it will get from here on out. Up until now I have avoided (or at least tried to avoid) setting expectations for upcoming storylines, but I hate to think of you sitting there hoping for Dark Shadows to get better and it never will. I do think you should finish watching, however; I mean, you've come this far. There are five big reasons often cited as to what finally killed Dark Shadows, and I thihnk a big one was letting Jonathan Frid play a role other than Barnabas Collins.
"The Lottery" is one of my all-time favorite short stories, but I'd agree that it wouldn't make good soap opera fodder.
Maybe I'll have to re-read it. I've read it only once, and that was years ago.
I really liked "The Lottery" too -- but I read it in middle school, so who knows what I'd think of it now? But I've read The Haunting of Hill House as an adult, so I've got plenty of respect for Shirley Jackson's writing.
Since I last posted, I checked the short story collection I thought contained "The Lottery." I found the book, but the story wasn't in it. both Tracy and I know we have it in the house somewhere, but we're not sure where. (Cap's precept, "If you can't find it you don't own it," comes to mind.) A few years ago we watched that TV mini-series based on The Haunting of Hill House and loved it. I bought a copy of the book and started to read it, but it was so different from the TV version that I experienced cognitive disconnect. I decided to set it aside until the TV show had faded from my mind, and it's been on my "stack of shame" ever since.
"The Lottery" - I just finished reading "The Lottery" for the first time in thirty years and the second time ever. The plot was exactly as I remembered it, but I appreciated it more this time through, knowing in advance what to expect. It's very low-key, more moody than outright scary. Still don't see why Dan Curtis thought it was a good idea to stretch it out into a ten week-long soap opera storyline. It didn't take me just too long after I last posted here to track it down. I don't have many short story collections in my library, it was just a matter of locating the specific one. I might kee[ this book out for a while and read some others. It has some good stories in it, some of which I have read, some of which I have not (but really should). Or maybe I'll move on to The Haunting of Hill House. We'll have to see.
On a side note, there's several different videos on Youtube of people reading the story, some doing better than others.
-
389
-
390
-
391
-
392
-
393
of 393 Next