Dark Shadows

It is said that blood is thicker than water.

It is what defines us.

Binds us. Curses us.

Come, my love. Let's go.

Come, Barnabas.

For some, blood means a life of wealth and privilege.

For others, a life of servitude.

Angelique, how many times do I have to tell you not to stare at him?

Remember your place.

When I was but a boy...

...my father took us to the New World to expand the Collins family empire.

We brought English industry to the wilds of Maine...

...and built a fishing business...

...the likes of which America had never seen.

A man should take pride in what he builds.

But remember, Barnabas, family is the only real wealth. Hm?

As our business grew, the town of Collinsport grew with it...

...and we decided to put down permanent roots.

We spent the next 15 years building our beloved home:

Collinwood.

But not everyone shared in our family's success.

Let me hear you say "I love you, Angelique. I want you."

Angelique...

...I am sorry, my dear...

...but you would be hearing a lie.

Make the high and mighty low

Arrogant creatures, down you go

Convinced my parents' death was no accident...

...I became obsessed with dark magic and ancient curses.

"Lo! Above the gates of hell...

...he found a single letter.

A letter proclaiming Satan's true name.

Mephistopheles."

But even then, in the depths of my grief, not all was darkness.

For I had found my one true love.

Promise we'll be together forever.

God as my witness, Josette...

...I swear it.

Of all the servants I could have spurned...

...all the hearts I could have broken...

...I got the one with the secret.

I got the witch.

if he doth another choose

To lend his heart an eye

Then magic shall the slighted use

So all he loves will

Die

Caught in Angelique's spell...

...my beloved Josette wandered helplessly towards Widow's Hill...

...where many a despondent soul had leapt to their death.

Josette!

Josette!

Josette.

Help me.

Josette!

What have you done?!

Angelique had cursed me to be a vampire...

...so that my suffering would never end.

There's the monster.

Resolved that I would never belong to her...

...Angelique turned the townspeople against me...

...and condemned me to suffer my anguish alone in the dark...

Let me out!

...for all time.

Let me out, I say!

Release me!

Hello. My name is Maggie Ev--

Hello. My name is Victoria Winters.

Please, call me Vicky.

So where are you from, Veronica?

New York. And it's Victoria.

"And it's Victoria." I love this chick, man.

New York's a trip, huh?

I guess.

What about you?

What brings a New York girl out to the sticks?

An old friend.

- Be cool. - Have a nice day.

- Catch you later. - Take it easy, Veronica.

Hello. I'm Victoria Winters.

Congratulations.

I'm here to see Ms. Stoddard about the governess position.

Oh, yeah. Been expecting you.

Come on.

Sorry I didn't grab you down at the station.

Damn wagon's been acting up.

Miss Elizabeth won't spend the money to get her fixed.

It's beautiful.

A bitch to dust is what it is.

This place was designed for a staff of a hundred.

Now they got a staff of me.

Me and Mrs. Johnson.

She's about as useful as a bucket without a bottom.

Still, not every family has a house like this.

Or a whole town named after them.

Come again?

Collins. "Collinsport."

Never got that.

Who's that?

Barnaby, maybe.

Something with a "Barn" in it.

One of the real important ones from way back.

Back when they were rich, rich people.

Barnabas.

His name was Barnabas Collins.

And he was the finest man this family ever knew.

Welcome to Collinwood.

You'll have to imagine us on a better day.

The house has some 200 rooms...

...most closed off to save on heating.

We don't even go in the old wing anymore.

Sit.

There are only seven of us, after all.

My daughter, Carolyn, and I.

My brother, Roger, and his son, David.

Willie, who you've met.

Mrs. Johnson and Dr. Hoffman...

...who I suspect is sleeping off one of her legendary hangovers.

And where is David's mother, if you don't mind my asking?

Laura was lost at sea...

...when David was 5.

He's had a rather difficult time accepting her passing.

I brought Dr. Hoffman here to work with him for a month.

That was three years ago.

There are just a few questions, if you don't mind...

...that were not on the application.

Of course.

How do you feel about the president?

Never met him.

The war?

I don't watch television.

Do you think the sexes should be equal?

Heavens, no.

Men would become unmanageable.

I think we'll get along just fine, Ms. Winters.

Vicky. Please, call me Vicky.

Carolyn.

Carolyn, this is Ms. Winters.

Sick of hanging around your pad

You're from New York?

I am.

What's Manhattan like?

I'm going to live there when I'm 16.

Carolyn has a fantasy that I'm going to allow this.

And Mother has a fantasy I won't run away if she doesn't.

So you're here to babysit the loony.

What have I told you about using that word?

I'm here to teach David.

Good luck.

None of the others have made it past a week.

Ms. Winters.

Please, call me Vicky.

Chop-chop, Willie, I'm starving.

And God help me if it's another bone-dry pot roast--

Who's this?

Ms. Winters, this is my brother, Roger.

Roger, Ms. Winters is to be David's new governess.

Please, call me Vicky.

It's nice to meet you.

Yeah. Yeah. Nice to meet you.

That it's strange

You're a liar.

I can tell, you know. Just from a person's face.

Yours says:

"I might look sweet and innocent, but I have secrets.

Secrets that'll make the hairs on your arms stand straight up."

Leave her be, Julia.

You're the doctor.

Yeah. And you're "the nanny," and she's "the bitch."

How do you ever expect us girls to advance...

...if we keep reducing each other to labels?

So, Vicky, where'd you c--?

Carolyn! Will you please turn that noise down?

David, this is Vicky.

She's going to be your new governess.

You ruined it!

I was gonna scare her.

Damn it. What have I told you about cutting holes in the sheets?

Those are Egyptian cotton.

I was gonna scare you.

Were you scared?

Terrified beyond belief.

You don't have to be nice to him just because he's nuts, you know.

Carolyn...

Carolyn touches herself. She makes noises like a kitten.

- David. - You little shit.

Carolyn. Enough, both of you.

If I may, what is the family business?

Seafood, Ms. Winters. We had a large cannery in town.

We still own a few fishing boats.

Rusty old boats that no one will hire.

And David's mother's at the bottom with one of them.

Carolyn, go to your room.

Everybody in this house tiptoes around him, but no one cares how I feel!

She didn't die.

- She can't. - Enough, David.

Yes, David believes his mother has some kind of...

...cyclical immortality.

Fascinating, really.

I feel her.