35th Anniversary Dark Shadows Memories (Paperback)

~ Kathryn Leigh Scott (Author), Alexandra Moltke Isles (Foreword), Lara Parker (Author) "ON A RAINY FEBRUARY AFTERNOON IN 1986, I SAT LOOKING THROUGH OLD FAMILY PICTURES WITH MY PARENTS..." (more)
Key Phrases: Doctor Hoffman, Gordon Russell Lela Swift, Sam Hall Lela Swift (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Fans of the ABC daytime soap opera Dark Shadows (1966–1971) will be swept back almost four decades when Robert Cobert's spooky main theme opens this audiobook. His distinctive compositions from the series play throughout, complementing Scott's warm recollections. The landmark "spook opera" became a ratings hit when it broke serial conventions by introducing vampires, werewolves, ghosts and ghouls as main characters. Scott cheerfully recalls her happy memories playing multiple characters ("I died so many times in those various incarnations, only to return in another time period as another character," she laughs). She affectionately remembers special effects mishaps and bloopers recorded on film because of the hectic daily shooting schedule ("We never stopped tape in those days.... Drafts blew out candles, secret panels sometimes needed an extra shove to open magically."). Scott reveals the inside scoop on why vampires always exited coffins off-camera, how fake fingernails sometimes substituted for missing fangs, and how the cast filmed both a daily TV show and two theatrical films concurrently. Scott is an engaging, melodious and supremely knowledgeable tour guide;her publishing company has released a dozen Dark Shadows books. Based on the Pomegranate paperback. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Product Description

Dark Shadows was the show every kid ran home from school to watch. This book incorporates many of the fascinating facts, anecdotes, and trivia about the series that delighted fans in My Scrapbook Memories of Dark Shadows, and delivers all-new text and photos.

Product Details

• Paperback: 276 pages
• Publisher: Pomegranate Press; 35 Anv edition (July 10, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0938817604
• ISBN-13: 978-0938817604
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #745,518 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Dark Shadows Memories" reviewed by T. Choate, September 10, 2001

By	Timothy S. Choate "mrjuggins" (MO, USA) - See all my reviews

"Dark Shadows Memories" - by Kathryn Leigh Scott
A Review - by Tim Choate

This book is an updated version of the Kathryn Leigh Scott's
1986 book, "My Scrapbook Memories of Dark Shadows."

"Dark Shadows Memories" contains the following:

1. Acknowledgements and A Table Of Contents
2. A Foreword - by Alexandra Moltke (Victoria Winters)
3. My Memories of Dark Shadows - by Kathryn Leigh Scott
4. A Conversation With David Henesy (David Collins)
5. The Dark Shadows Story - by Kathleen Resch
(a synopsis of all the plots)
6. A "House of Dark Shadows" plot summary (the first DS movie)
7. A "Night of Dark Shadows" plot summary (the second DS movie)
8. The Museum of Televion & Radio Tribute to Dark Shadows (03-08-01)
9. The Legend of Dark Shadows - Jim Pierson
10. Behind The Scenes Photo Gallery
11. Episode Guide - by Ann Wilson

Approximately 6 X 9 inches, 302 pages plus 16 pages for the
Acknowledgements, Table Of Contents and Foreward.

Her original book, "My Scrapbook Memories of Dark Shadows"
contained the following:

1. Acknowledgements & Table Of Contents
2. Dark Shadows Memories - by Kathryn Leigh Scott
3. Pictures From The Album
4. The Dark Shadows Story (a synopsis of all the plots)
5. The "House Of Dark Shadows" plot summary (the first DS movie)
6. The Dark Shadows Cast (Performer, Character and Time Period)
7. The Dark Shadow Staff & Crew
8. In Memoriam

Approximately 7 X 9.75 inches, 152 pages. Thick glossy paper.

What's new in "Dark Shadows Memories":

1. Added a Foreword by Alexandra Moltke
2. Slightly revised and updated her Dark Shadows Memories article
3. Added an interview with David Henesy (done via email)
4. Slightly revised the Dark Shadows Story
(a synopsis of all the plots)
5. Edited "The House of Dark Shadows" movie summary (much better)
6. Added "The Night Of Dark Shadows" movie summary
(it was barely mentioned in the original book)
7. Added "The Museum of Television & Radio Tribute To Dark Shadows." There are pictures, a summary and comments made by the Dark Shadows stars at the event. (March 8, 2001)
8. Added a short article by Jim Pierson detailing the many facets of Dark Shadows: the show itself, the merchandise, spanish versions of the episodes, the Sci-Fi Channel adding Dark Shadows to it's schedule and the recent tribute mentioned above.
9. Added "The Episode Guide" by Ann Wilson. It is available as a separate book from Kathryn Leigh Scott's publishing company, Pomegranate Press. It has been edited and included as part of this book, leaving out who did the voiceovers for each episode, ABC-TV's volume number for each episode, and the MPI video volume number for each episode.

The "Dark Shadows Cast" and "Dark Shadows Staff & Crew" listings have been removed along with the "In Memoriam" list but that's because all of that information is now in her book, "The Dark Shadows Almanac."

All of the pictures in Dark Shadows Memories are new - literally hundreds - some in color but her first book, "My Scrapbook Memories of Dark Shadows" was on a much higher quality of paper and that made all of the pictures breathtakingly beautiful. Her new book uses a lower grade of paper and although the pictures look very good, they are still a slight disappointment. But I suspect that the cost of doing a book like that now made using the higher grade of paper out of the question.

In conclusion, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND her new book, "Dark Shadows Memories."

"My Scrapbook Memories of Dark Shadows" is now unfortunately out-of-print. There is always the chance that someone might sell there copy but most likely at a very high price.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Mixed Bag, July 12, 2001

By A Customer

I have mixed feelings about this book. It's got some lovely photos that I've not seen before; the color ones are especially worth the purchase of the book. However, I strongly feel that this could have been a better effort by Pomegranite Press.

There's an episode guide which contains not only a one or two sentence synopsis of each episode but also a listing of the characters, writer and director involved in each.

The history of the show has been seen elsewhere, but it fits and it's worth the read if you don't happen to have the out-of-print books in which it was first published. I prefer the original version of the history which was written with more awareness of the absurdities to which the show was often subject.

Ms Scott has obviously made some much-needed corrections to her narrative that first appeared in "My Scrapbook Memories of Dark Shadows," but there are still any number of factual mistakes. They detract.

The paper quality and the black and white photos could have been better considering the price of the book.

Still, this has quite a few plums for anyone interested in Dark Shadows or certain facets of television history.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Memories of Darker Shadows..., June 29, 2001

By	S. Manning - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Pomegranate Press has chronicled and paid tribute to the "Dark Shadows" mythos for nearly 15 years now, and as the 35th Anniversary of the show draws close, "Dark Shadows Memories" becomes the latest in a long line of commemorative tomes.

The book is made up of cast remembrances and factual commentary, including a lengthy excerpt from Kathryn Leigh Scott's long out-of-print memoir, "My Scrapbook Memories of Dark Shadows". Scott speaks with warmth and anecdotal wit, feeling encouraged to comment warmly of the series that launched her career. This is an unashamedly subjective overview of the series, written with gratitude and nostalgia, leisurely trawling through happy times, but still manages to offer some occasional surprises along the way.

Perhaps the most interesting element of the book is its subtle shift in tone from its predecessors. Whereas past books have taken a firmly reverent, nostalgic look at the actors and their lives, this book seems more willing to acknowledge some of the disappointments and pain that the "Dark Shadows" cast also faced. Alexandra Moltke sets the tone in her foreword, in her comments about Thayer David. Presented warmly, but with pragmatism, they emerge as a commendation for the actor, delivered without malice or judgement.

Similarly, David Henesy's contribution shares a welcome candour with readers, delivering healthy doses of nostalgia and gossip with aplomb. Where previous books tiptoe coyly around sensitive areas, David gleefully shares stories of cosmetic surgery and narcotic substances with moments of genuine insight. In many ways, his contribution is the highlight of this book, and thus seems frustratingly brief. His memories are vivid and detailed, and he clearly has a lot of unique things to say about the "Dark Shadows" phenomenon. I hope that he will be encouraged to share some more memories soon.

Complimenting the text is an excellent range of previously unpublished photographs, married with two sumptuously reproduced colour inserts. The colour sections are made up of full-page portrait shots of the actors, with some genuinely stunning treasures included.

Around a third of the text is composed of episode synopses and plot summaries, which seem to jar oddly with the more emotional, nostalgic material elsewhere. For many fans, these sections will seem superfluous, such information having already been made available in several other books. However, for new devotees freshly drawn in from SciFi Channel reruns, they will probably be gratefully accepted.

Ultimately, the book scores most strongly when it concentrates on people and their stories, which prove far more compelling than any episode guide. And by letting these stories play in a more pragmatic, less sugar-coated way, they prove genuinely illuminating. On that note alone, "Dark Shadows Memories" claims a place as one of the most important books published about the series, and it would be rewarding to see future "Dark Shadows" references build on this promise.