Joanna Going returning to DARK SHADOWS this summer

Well, this is exciting news!

As you've probably noted in the headline, actress Joanna Going is returning to Collinsport in the upcoming DARK SHADOWS: BLOOD & FIRE. When the first round of casting was announced for the two-hour special a few weeks ago, I noted that there was no name attached to play Laura Murdoch Stockbridge. Diana Millay, who played both incarnations of the character on the original DARK SHADOWS, has been retired from acting for years, so her return could be confidently ruled out ... but I doubt many people were anticipating this.

The 1991 DARK SHADOWS "revival" made me a life-long fan of Going, who found a way to make the veritable "Mary Sue" that is Victoria Winters interesting. It was her turn as Josette Du Pres in the flashback, though, that fully sold me on her acting chops. With all due respect to Kathryn Leigh Scott and Bella Heathcote, that's the only time Josette has ever felt like a real character.

And this time she's presumably playing the villain. BLOOD & FIRE appears to be leaping off some comments made by Barnabas Collins during the 1897 storyline about having met the Laura when he was a child. (<---- Editor's note: Maybe not.) For those of you coming in late, Laura was a monster known as a Phoenix, a succubus of sorts with the nasty habit of marrying into the Collins family, dying by fire and then returning from the dead to murder her own children. She's easily the most disturbing character in the long run of DARK SHADOWS, which might explain why she was used so sparingly.

DARK SHADOWS: BLOOD & FIRE also stars David Selby, Lara Parker, Kathryn Leigh Scott, Mitchell Ryan, Andrew Collins, Daisy Tormé, James Storm, Jerry Lacy, John Karlen, Lisa Richards, Christopher Pennock, Matthew Waterhouse and ... damn, I'm getting winded just typing this.

Here's the official summary for BLOOD & FIRE, which is due out in June:

The year is 1767. Young widow Laura Murdoch Stockbridge is to marry Joshua Collins, heir to the Collins fortune. Meanwhile, Joshua’s sister Abigail is in love with disreputable sailor Abraham Harkaway. But the course of true love never did run smooth… especially when the witch Angélique Bouchard is around. For Angélique has been sent back in time. And she has one mission… To destroy the Collins family forever.

You can pre-order it HERE.

Barnabas + Victoria 4EVR

An interesting piece of original art from Innovation's DARK SHADOWS comic series has gone up for auction on Ebay.

The 20" X 30" painting shows Joanna Going and Ben Cross as Barnabas Collins and Victoria Winters as they appeared in the 1991 "revival" series. I'm a little unclear on the purpose of this artwork, though. Artist Jason Palmer did a lot of work for Innovation, creating the covers for the company's LOST IN SPACE series ... but I don't think he ever worked on DARK SHADOWS. It's possible this art is a rejected cover, was created for promotional purposes, or was a personal commission. (The auction merely says its a "poster art painting.")

The auction ends in three days. You can see the full artwork below.

Via: Ebay

Counting down TV's "sexiest undead"

Most of the news clippings that get shared here date back to the original broadcast of DARK SHADOWS. Generally, those are the most interesting to me because they feel the most connected to the series. But DARK SHADOWS' cult following means its cast and characters often find themselves introduced in some unusual places ... such as this TV Guide feature from 2008. The theme seems a little confusing, it's heart is in the right place. And it gets bonus points for including no fewer than three actors associated with either DARK SHADOWS or the 1991 revival series.

COUNTDOWN:
Vampires, demons and zombies! We're loving TV's sexiest undead creatures 

TV GUIDE: Oct. 20, 2008
By Damian Holbrook

DEAN WINCHESTER (Supernatural)
Hell got much hotter when the ripped and roguish demon hunter was sent way south to pay off his Faustian deal with the devil. Though he's back on this mortal coil now, you know part of him died down there. And word is we'll find out what part that was during November sweeps.

LILY MUNSTER (The Munsters)
That flowing Cruella hair! The luminescent green skin! The way she rocked a hooded cape! Even if her husband could crush us with his Frankenstein feet, we wouldn't kick the First Lady of 1313 Mockingbird Lane out of the coffin for eating crackers, OK?

VAMPIRA (The Vampira Show)
As Maila Nurmi, she was just another 1940s pinup girl. As a Bettie Page from the Beyond, with her glamour-length press-on nails and a 90210-worthy waistline, she was the horror-movie hostess who gave us really bad dreams and laid the groundwork for Elvira to put the "boo" in boobs.

LUCAS BOYD (Point Pleasant)
Yes, he was Satan's immortal minion and fine, he was sent to Earth to help the boss' daughter do all sorts of dirty deeds to a Jersey beach town in this short-lived Fox series. And we're OK with that, because this devilishly charming chap looked exactly like Grant Show. Is that wrong?

BILL COMPTON (True Blood)
You gotta give this Civil War vamp some credit. He prefers synthetic blood to the real deal, is totally protective of telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse and has the kind of hypnotic gaze that could make even vegetarians want to grab a bite with him. Let's hope his attempts to fit in with regular folks aren't in vein.

JOSETTE DUPRÉS (Dark Shadows)
Whether it was the classic soap's Kathryn Leigh Scott playing her or the short-lived revival's Joanna Going, this ghostly gal had it going on. Goth-hot and yet so innocent; it's no wonder that sucker Barnabas Collins was haunted by her memory—and specter—so many years after she offed herself.

MICK ST. JOHN (Moonlight)
Like Angel, this private-eye vein drainer was all about helping the innocent instead of helping himself to them. But more than that, he could brood with the best of them (and those circles under his eyes? Undead giveaway!) Tragically, ol' Mick was felled by something far more fatal than sunlight; anemic ratings.

THE BORG QUEEN (Star Trek Voyager)
More a zombie than anything else, this half-person, half—AC adapter knew that a skintight leather number is all a girl needs to make the fellas see past the jumper cables popping out of her domed skull.

DUNCAN MACLEOD (Highlander)
If you like your scotch finely aged and super-smooth, this 400-year-old blend of sword, sorcery and straight up sexiness should help take the edge off. An immortal with perfect stubble and the power of resurrection, Mac had no trouble making hearts skip a beat. Even if he didn't have a beating one.

ANGEL (Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel)
Tall, dark and deadly never looked so good. From the first night Buffy's 270-year-old bloodsucking beau started lurking on the mean streets of Sunnydale, it was clear that beneath the leather jacket, buffness and super-sharp teeth resided a tortured soul—one legions of fans would risk their neck to comfort.

Collinsport News Bulletins

* CBC (the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) has an update on the bid to win Jonathan Frid a spot on Canada's Walk of Fame. The late actor didn't make the cut during last year's campaign, but organizers hope to win him a spot in 2014.

“His Canadian identity was very important to him, and I think this would be the most important thing for him as a legacy,” campaign organizer Elena Nacanther told them. “He lived in New York for 40 years and he never got his American citizenship because he was so loyal to Canada.”

Read the entire piece at CBC-Canada.

* Joanna Going, "Victoria Winters" from the 1991 DARK SHADOWS series, has a lead part in season 2 of HOUSE OF CARDS. Going plays First Lady "Patricia Walker" in the Netflix original series, which became available Feb. 14.

Stephanie Ellyne

* Stephanie Ellyne returns in March as "Amy Jennings" in DARK SHADOWS: THE HAPPIER DEAD. The Big Finish audiodrama is written by Adam Usden and directed by Darren Gross, and is scheduled to go on sale March 31. Here's the official plot summary:

But no one is dying at Collinsport Hospital, even those who wish to. When student parapsychologist Amy Jennings is rushed into intensive care, she reluctantly begins to investigate, and soon finds the hospital morgue is anything but empty. But who is behind it? And what could they possibly want? Amy might be guaranteed to make it out alive, but she is about to discover there are fates far worse than death.

* On April 30, the world premiere of DOCTOR MABUSE: ETIOPOMAR will be held at the historic Vista Theatre in Hollywood as part of a double feature celebrating the 40th anniversary of DARK SHADOWS creator/executive producer Dan Curtis' DRACULA in a newly-restored print.

ETIOPOMAR stars Jerry Lacy, Lara Parker, Kathryn Leigh Scott and Christoper Pennock are scheduled to attend the event, which will also include a Q&A with the film's director, Ansel Faraj. DARK SHADOWS and DRACULA composer Robert Cobert will be present to sign copies of DRACULA's new CD soundtrack, as well as the film's new Blu-ray release.

For more information, visit the official Facebook event page.

Dark Shadows Facebook Banners

Welcome to DARK SHADOWS REVIVAL SUNDAY! To get things started, here are a few images from the 1991 revival series, created to be used as banners on the new Facebook "timeline"" design. These images use artwork from the Innovation Comics series.