Three years ago, I broke down the degrees of Dark Shadows Fandom. I’m posting this as a separate reference as people keep asking me about it. Yes, I’m a Dark Shadows fan and put myself in the first classification. I’m fairly boring and normal.
Regular Dark Shadows Fans – Old or new, these are ordinary fans with a well-developed interest in the show. Reruns may bring back fond memories for the older set. More recent fans have just discovered Dark Shadows on streaming and love it. Regular Dark Shadows Fans may buy and sell memorabilia, like reading fan fiction and going to Festivals but aren’t obsessive. They realize this is just an old TV show, a fun piece of Americana, and the actors are no longer 20 years old.
Dark Shadows Fans™ –This second group is comprised of both old and new, but with a more significant proportion of the original fanbase. Many “ran home from school” to watch the original telecasts. These fans are more serious about the show. More likely than not, they will attend Festivals. They are also more serious about collecting memorabilia, frequently driving up prices to $500+ for rare items on eBay. Having invested more time watching the show, Dark Shadows Fans™ like discussing trivia, recalling the episode numbers, air dates, and every goof and blown line in the entire series. Many write fanfiction, debate alternative story arcs, and fill plot holes. A few are possessive of the show and actors and lapse into fangirl/boy “I’m the greatest fan!” behavior on occasion. This category can stand light-hearted points of view, criticism, and parodies, though a minority will stamp tootsies and sulk if you laugh at something.
True Dark Shadows Fans™ – These fans are different. This isn’t a TV show; it’s a way of life. Dead serious, there is no room for criticism or other points of view; any mention must be made with reverence because Dark Shadows is perfect, even when the sets fall apart, and Barnabas misses his cue. Not only do they know the number, tape date, and air date, but they can also recite all dialogue for all 1225 episodes. They attend Festivals come hell or high water. A few will alarm security. New fans are barely tolerated. Any laughter is not!! Deviation from the perceived norm will cause a meltdown. True Dark Shadows Fans™ will never sell their memorabilia; it will be willed to heirs or buried with them. Parodies are anathema. These fans remember that fanzine satire you wrote back in the 80s, still want to argue about it 35 years later, and they still hate you. Though many have transitioned to social media, a few will post on Usenet, a lone shrill voice speaking in the darkness of an empty cyber tomb. A tiny fraction, perhaps 1%, keep nightly vigil, waiting for Barnabas to turn them into a vampire. Ditto, a new reboot of the show with the entire original cast all looking just like they did in 1967, with the same story arcs. Sometimes they send mysterious letters, written in pencil on lined paper, with a return address of Collinsport, Maine. You forever wonder who they are or how they got your address. [Yes, this actually happened to me. I’m still mystified two decades later.]
