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The Television Horrors of Dan Curtis: Dark Shadows, The Night Stalker and Other Productions, 1966-2006

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HOLLYWOOD--"The Television Horrors of Dan Curtis" is a great book that was published by McFarland Publishing, a company that specializes in books for film students and people interested in the educational and historical side of entertainment.

Dan Curtis is a name that is synonymous with the ABC Television series of the late 1960s "Dark Shadows." That series which lasted until 1971 remains one of the most famous soap operas in television history. To this day fans meet annually for a "Dark Shadows" reunion, which include invitations to many of the show's cast members who are still living.

Dan Curtis however was a lot more prolific than many of his fans realize. After "Dark Shadows" became a cult classic, Curtis was sought after by television executives who wanted him to bring that monster, horror genre to primetime with television movies. In addition to films like "Gargoyles" (1972), "Satan's School for Girls" (1973), "The Dark Secret of Harvest Home" (1978), Curtis also was the brains behind "Miss Jane Pittman" (1974) and "The Legend of Lizzie Borden" (1973).

Curtis became acclaimed for horror and it led him to create a movie "Burnt Offerings" (1976), which he produced and directed. This would be one of the final films that starred the legendary Bette Davis. My friend Ed Begley, Jr. guest starred in "Dead of Night" in 1977. But television fans also remember his second television cult classic "Night Stalker" (1972). Curtis perhaps built his name with this series, because being a nighttime series the audience was much larger.

This book chronicles in excellent detail the career of the legendary director from 1966 through 2006. The author Jeff Thompson seems not only impressed by the distinguished career of Mr. Curtis but he also seems to grasp the fascinating imagination and mindset of a great director who created a whole new genre in television. During the 1960s Westerns were a dying genre for TV, but Curtis reinvented and reinvigorated fans and critics with his groundbreaking storytelling that not only left chills down the spine, but made us wonder if there was something out there that we weren't aware of. He made people think. Perhaps he brought that type of attitude to what is now considered a television staple. Every show today makes people wonder and think; however, in the past, people saw television as simply entertainment.

This book is filled with little known facts that fans of Dan Curtis would find fascinating, enlightening and educational. This book however reads very easily and the photographs are incredible. The author Jeff Thompson is a professor of English at Tennessee State University in Nashville. He is also involved in literary work that includes film and popular culture. The Foreword is by Jim Pierson.

I could hardly put this book down. It's a must-read.

Some of the most popular and influential television horror fantasy shows have been the work of award-winning director Dan Curtis. Perhaps the most enduringly memorable were 'Dark Shadows' and 'The Night Stalker'. Now the work of this innovative director has been compiled in "The Television Horrors Of Dan Curtis" by Jeff Thomson (Professor of English, Tennessee State University - Nashville). From 1966 to 1971 Curtis was involved with the production of sixteen made-for-television horror films which he produced, co-wrote, and/or directed, in addition to his pioneering Dark Shadows series. Illustrated with sixty-nine period photographs and informed and featuring an informed and informative foreword by Jim Pierson of Dan Curtis Productions, "The Television Horrors Of Dan Curtis" is a unique and highly recommended addition for professional and academic library American Television History reference collections and supplemental reading lists.

What can you say about television pioneer Dan Curtis ? How do you sum it up? If you are having trouble finding the words look no further, they are all in Jeff Thompson's new book. The Television Horrors of Dan Curtis provides an in depth ( and a very well researched) look at the career of one of the great and generally underrated geniuses of the small screen. Inside you will find all kinds of information about Curtis' early work as an innovator from his early days with the CBS Golf Classics , to the creation of his cult classic soap opera Dark Shadows and epic mini series Winds of War and War and Remembrance . Not to mention the multitude of prime time movies and series for which Curtis lent his parituclar brand of style and cahrisma. Including quotes and insight from those who worked with the man through out his career and knew him best. Though Curtis may no longer be with us, the "Curtis magic" lives on in this new volume. Informative, entertaining and well worth the money ...Buy the book!!!

Were it not for Dan Curtis, horror on network TV during the 1960s and 70s would almost have been non-existent. This pioneering director was almost single-handedly responsible for terrifying American TV viewers through his gothic soap-opera "Dark Shadows"; made-for-TV gothic classics like "The Picture of Dorian Gray", "Frankenstein" and "Dracula"; and "Movie of the Week" entries "Trilogy of Terror" and "The Night Stalker" which introduced us to monster-hunting reporter, Carl Kolchak.

Jeff Thompson introduces us to Curtis in the opening chapter, providing an overview of his career from his classic horror films to his WWII epic mini-series' "The Winds of War" and "War and Remembrance". Chapter two delves into the world of Dark Shadows, the soap opera that ran for five years on ABC. You'll see how Curtis managed to film five episodes per week on a mere $70,000 budget. It was Curtis' own daughters who suggested he turn the series from a mystery into full fledged horror with the vampire, Barnabas Collins, who Curtis intended only as a short-term series villain.

In chapter five, Thompson provides the history behind Carl Kolchak and the Night Stalker film and its sequel, The Night Strangler. Written by jeff Rice and adapted for TV by the legendary Richard Matheson, The Night Stalker, airing in 1972, still remains one of the top rated made-for-TV films of all-time. Thompson also provides a detailed look at "Trilogy of Terror" and it's most memorable segment featuring the murderous Zuni doll that comes to life to attack Karen Black. Still a powerful and terrifying film almost forty years later.

Thompson does a great job of fleshing out Curtis' entire career including many of his non-horror projects. This is a well-researched book!