Yes, it’s been far too long since I’ve blogged. Since 2026 looks to be as terrible or worse than 2025, I may as well write something before the world explodes.
As reading something insane helps me feel assured of my own sanity, I popped over on Facebook to check out that completely nutty fandom known as True Dark Shadows Fans™. There is major news causing lots of chatter on social media.
Collinwood Sold
Klaxon! Carey Mansion/Seaview Terrace, the old real estate in Newport, RI, used for exterior stills of the Great House of Collinwood, has been sold. The deteriorating manse has been on the market for years. First listed at $30 million, the price has fallen drastically recently. Finally reduced to a fire-sale price of $16 million, a little leprechaun of an artist named Hunt Slonem purchased the masion a few days ago. Hunt makes millions by painting rows of colorful bunnies, butterflies, flowers and such. Currently, Neiman Marcus sells merch with his designs at premium prices. Slonem’s hobby is buying old, dilapidated mansions and redecorating them. A bit of an eccentric (read: kooky), he consults psychics and holds seances in these acquisitions. The price dropped, the bunny hopped, and the hand having writ a check moves on. Carey Mansion/Seaview Terrace now belongs to a magic munchkin.
Fandom’s reaction is mixed. Some fans are glad, some are sad. A frightening number of people wondered if the new owner would “restore the house to look like it did on the show.” Bless their hearts. They still don’t understand that Dark Shadows, taped in a studio in Hell’s Kitchen, NYC, has nothing to do with the real-life house in Newport, RI. How have they lived this long without getting hit by a bus? Too, Hunt’s restorations exceed many historical restoration rules to the point of being garish.
Others tried to make some tenuous connection between the artist and the show. “He must be a fan! He was born in Maine and holds seances!”, they hyperventilated. At least one woman asked whether he was single. Sorry, Shug, I don’t think he’s interested in a wife.
One big change is apparent, though. As Slonem lives in his many homes, Carey/Seaview will no longer be open for any fans. The former owners were more lenient, allowing a few fans to rent a small area for occasional reunions. That option is now off the table.
Farewell, Great House of Collinwood. Hello bunnies!
Kiss Us Goodbye, Redux! Dark Shadows Festival Ends
In a one-two punch, the long-running Dark Shadows-centric fan convention, the Dark Shadows Festival, announced one last final event this summer in Los Angeles. There is one more gathering of fans and actors to celebrate the show’s 60thanniversary, then that’s all. Fin. The final event is July 31 – August 2 at the Los Angeles Airport Westin Hotel.
Starting on the West Coast back in the mid-1970s as ShadowCon, the yearly festival expanded to major cities. Sadly, as DS fandom receded into the background along with memories of the show, the convention became a general SciFi event. When Dark Shadows resurfaced in syndication in the 1980s and then on cable TV, the fandom gathering was reborn. Rebranded as the Dark Shadows Festival, it’s primarily an East Coast-centric event focused on the NYC/NJ area. Since Lara Parker’s death, events are now held on the West Coast every other year.
Kathryn Leigh Scott, the de facto spokesperson for the remaining Dark Shadows cast, posted the official announcement, including guests and the itinerary, on her page yesterday.
I will give credit where credit is due. The actors involved with Dark Shadows have long been exceedingly accommodating to their fans, far more than any fandom I know. For 60 years, they dutifully make time for those aging kids “who ran home from school to watch Dark Shadows.” Many fans have formed long-lasting friendships over the decades, giving the old soap a tight-knit community. These are Regular Dark Shadow Fans. I have made some good friendships with these folks over the decades. Too, I’ve never known an ensemble of actors so patient with their audience for over half a century – particularly when a portion of that audience has “issues” and still thinks it’s 1969.
But time marches relentlessly on. Some of the remaining cast are well into their 80s. Fans are aging, too. Many are now in their late 60s and 70s, and travel can be difficult. It’s getting harder for everyone to travel. As most of the remaining actors live on the West Coast, organizers decided to hold the final festival in Los Angeles. It’s one last chance for everyone to meet, greet, and say “farewell” as the curtain falls on Dark Shadows one last time. Surely the fans would understand.
Now, who would complain about such a special event? True Dark Shadows Fans™, that’s who!
These fans are stamping their feet for an East Coast show, a show in that hellhole known as Atlanta, GA, and other infantile complaints. Some are in absolute denial that this is the very last Festival. They’ve read it’s the last show, but, because the light is out in that particular room in their minds, they have failed to comprehend the finality of the event. This public fight broke out on the Dark Shadows News Page on day one, when plans for a festival materialised in December. As this FB page is public, I’ve not redacted names. It’s out there for all and sundry to review. Woof!
When the tickets went on sale yesterday, and the website went down, Kathryn Leigh Scott was bombarded with complaints from irate fans, even though she has nothing to do with ticket sales. And so it goes. I’m half-expecting someone to ask if Jonathan Frid will appear. This post I saw today was close, though.
Lordy. Amidst all this news, someone missed a chapter.
Please use the link below to register for the event. No, I will not be attending. I’m not a fandom person; I’m a person who sells fandom and have since retired. I did have the pleasure of meeting Kathryn Leigh Scott and Lara Parker in 2014. Once was enough because there are other fans who would like to see them, too. I’m not going to hog their time. The one thing that struck me about the actors is their genuine affection for their Dark Shadows fans. Their patience is far greater than mine. I would have told everyone to get lost 40 years ago. If you do go True Dark Shadows Fans™, please behave, leave the whinging at home, and respect the attending cast. For the Regular Dark Shadows Fans I know, have a blast and drink a toast to everyone one last time.
Hail and farewell, Dark Shadows!
Tickets may be purchased at the Eventbrite page. To date, most of the ambulatory cast will be attending. Nancy Barrett and David Henessy have not been added as of this writing. Neither are partial to Dark Shadows fan events, so their absence is understandable.
