Dark Shadows: The Greatest Episodes Collection, Fan Favorites

Timed to coincide with the release of Tim Burton's blockbuster film Dark Shadows, each of the nine “fan favorite” episodes collected here from the original 1966–71 gothic TV soap-opera are introduced by actress Kathryn Leigh Scott, who took on several roles in the series. Among the highlights offered here is the first episode (actually number 212, shot in black-and-white) that was fully devoted to the brooding romantic vampire Barnabas Collins (Jonathan Frid), who resurrected previously moribund ratings for the show. Others include a séance at Collinwood that results in a present-day character switching with another one from the distant past (one of the show's many low-tech time-travel tricks); a segment in which Quentin Collins (David Selby) is a zombie of the traditional walking-body-without-a-spirit sort, not the flesh-eating ghoul familiar to contemporary horror fans; and another in which Barnabas and ally Dr. Julia Hoffman (Grayson Hall) time-travel to 1995 only to find Collinwood Manor in ruins. Without any useful “For Dummies” explanations connecting these milestones (the extra-less disc has no fan comments telling us what makes these chapters such standouts), newbies to the series won't be able to follow much of the tangled Collinwood mythology. On the other hand, this is an economical option for collections not able or willing to spend the $600 for the entire 1,225-episode (whew!) serial. Optional. (C. Cassady)