Have yourself a scary little Christmas

During a feature about the #ShareKindness campaign this morning on THE TODAY SHOW, a piece of music closely associated with DARK SHADOWS made an awkward appearance: Josette's Theme. Yeah, it kinda/sorta sounds like Christmas music, but context is king. It's likely that many a DARK SHADOWS fan spit out their egg nog when they recognized the melody.

THE TODAY SHOW appeared to be Robert Farnon's version of the tune. This was a piece of stock music purchased by Dan Curtis Productions during the initial "Barnabas Collins" storyline in 1967, making its first appearance in Episode 236. Curtis later commissioned Robert Cobert to write an original composition, likely because it was cheaper than paying licensing fees in perpetuity. (Note: Farnon's melody was also used in an episode of THE PRISONER, "Dance of the Dead," later in 1967.)

You can watch THE TODAY SHOW segment below. The melody begins around the :45 mark.