Johnny Depp Prepares for Barnabas

British tabloid newspaper The Sun claims that Johnny Depp has embarked on a weight loss regime as he prepares for his role as Barnabas. The newspaper reports that the actor is keen to "look as gaunt as possible" and hopes to get his weight down to 10 stone (140 lbs) with a diet of green tea and low fructose fruit before filming begins in April. To read the full article, click here.

Jonathan Frid Announces Movie Involvement

Original Barnabas actor Jonathan Frid has announced via his official website that he will be involved in Tim Burton's upcoming Dark Shadows feature film. Jonathan writes:"I will be participating, in a modest way, in the world of Dark Shadows starring Johnny Depp, produced largely in England. I look forward to this invitation to reflect in some way on this new storyline of Dark Shadows."It's

40 Years Ago, Saying Goodbye

40 years ago today, episode 1198 of Dark Shadows aired on ABC-TV and viewers saw their final glimpses of Barnabas and Julia as they returned to the present day. The show would continue for another couple of months, but for much of the audience, this was the end of Dark Shadows as they knew it. By now, Barnabas and Julia's exploits were the heart and soul of the stories and without them, the 1841

Win a Signed Audio Script

It's competition time again, and up for grabs is an original production script from the Dark Shadows audio drama Clothes of Sand. The story featured Kathryn Leigh Scott as Maggie with Alec Newman as the mysterious Sandman, and both actors have signed the title page. Alec previously played Barnabas in the 2004 Dark Shadows pilot, and has since recorded several audio dramas for Big Finish. For your

Tim Burton Begins Location Hunt?

Some potentially interesting news about the new Dark Shadows movie has surfaced online, which suggests that location scouting is currently taking place on the south coast of England. Illfracombe People reports that director Tim Burton paid a visit to the village of Ilfracombe, Devon by helicopter on Tuesday January 18 to look at locations for an upcoming project, believed to be Dark

Movie Production Designer Announced

Rick Heinrichs has been confirmed as the production designer of the new Dark Shadows feature film, as pre-production gets underway. The Oscar-winning designer's previous credits include several collaborations with director Tim Burton, including Batman Returns and Sleepy Hollow. His most recent assignments have been The Wolfman and the upcoming Captain America movie. Heinrichs has also previously

The Revival Series: 20 Years On

This week marks 20 years since the Dark Shadows revival series aired on NBC. Across 12 episodes, a new cast recreated the original stories with lavish production values and a brooding nighttime sensibility. Scheduling headaches and Gulf War pre-emptions saw the show cancelled after one brief season, but now seems like a good time to look back at Dark Shadows' first stab at reincarnation.The

David Selby Appearance

Los Angeles' New Beverly Cinema is to host a special presentation of David Selby's (Quentin) 1974 movie The Super Cops. After the screening, David will be discussing the film onstage alongside screenwriter Lorenzo Semple Jr., moderated by Edgar Wright, director of Shaun of the Dead and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. The event takes place on January 19, and tickets can be purchased online by

Third Classic Comics Collection

Dark Shadows: The Complete Collection Volume 3 has been confirmed for publication on June 14. The 224-page hardcover cover book includes issues 14-21 of the classic Gold Key Dark Shadows comic book, digitally restored with bonus content. Amazon are accepting orders for the book, which is offered at a 30% discount. To pre-order, click here. Volume 2 is on out on February 11 and can be ordered by

News in Brief

Christopher Pennock (Jeb) is about to star shooting Four Horsemen, a new independent film. The Idyllwild Film Festival recently presented Chris with their Lifetime Achievement Award.Several Dark Shadows personnel are featured in Horror Hound magazine's recent countdown of the Greatest Names in Horror of the last 100 years. At 22 is Dick Smith, whose pioneering make-up aged Barnabas for television

New Audio Dramas for 2011

Big Finish Productions have confirmed that a third series of Dark Shadows Dramatic Readings will be released in the summer, featuring original cast members performing all-new audio dramas. The six CDs will be available from May to July.May's stories are The Blind Painter, starring Roger Davis as Charles Delaware Tate with Nicola Bryant, and The Death Mask starring Jerry Lacy as Tony Peterson and

Retro Big Finish

A while back I had the idea of reinterpreting some of the recent Big Finish audio dramas in the style of the 1960s Paperback Library Dark Shadows novels. I love those old covers, with their unmistakeable olive green 'gold' jackets and brash, flowery typography. Back when I was first discovering Dark Shadows, those musty books offered a distinctive oval window into the world of Collinwood. I was

Half Price DVD Sale

Amazon are holding another Dark Shadows DVD promotion, with the entire range of episodic box sets reduced to half price. Each four-disc set contains up to 40 episodes, with bonus interviews and other features on selected sets. The sale runs for a limited time. Here are individual ordering links for the sets:Dark Shadows: The Beginning (pre-Barnabas episodes): Collection 1, Collection 2,

Josette's Lost Music

Over the years, several readers have written in asking about the original theme used for Josette's music box during the early Barnabas episodes in 1967. This track was taken from a library record published by Warner/Chappell, and so is one of the few music cues on Dark Shadows not written by regular composer Robert Cobert.By 1968, when the show had moved onto its 1795 flashback, to save paying

Into 2011

Happy New Year! In 2011, Dark Shadows celebrates its milestone 45th Anniversary with the production of a brand new movie adaptation from director Tim Burton, starring Johnny Depp as Barnabas Collins. In recent months, the site's traffic has risen steadily as the new project has begun to receive more media coverage, so a belated hello to all our new readers.For fans of Johnny Depp and Johnny Depp

News Catch-up

ShadowGram reports that a new series of Dark Shadows comic books are in the works, featuring new stories continuing on from the original series. David Selby (Quentin) is to appear in a new LA Theatre Works production of Dracula, produced in radio play format. The staged reading takes place in Brentwood, Los Angeles from May 19-22. For more information, click here.Condolences go out to Christopher

2011 Dark Shadows Festival

The 2011 Dark Shadows Festival has been confirmed to take place from August 19-21 in the New York City area. This year's event celebrates the 45th Anniversary of Dark Shadows, with special guests Jonathan Frid (Barnabas) and David Selby (Quentin). The exact venue and registration details should be announced in the coming months, along with the full guest list. For more information on the Dark