Into 2009...

2009 promises to be another exciting year for Dark Shadows, as the development of the Johnny Deep movie continues, and the original series lives on in special events, new merchandise and DVD releases. The recent release of Dark Shadows: The Beginning Collection 6 now means that the entire Dark Shadows archive is finally available on DVD, and the Big Finish range of CDs continues to expand, with the recent release of The Path of Fate, and a host of new titles due out throughout the next year.

In 2008, we sadly said goodbye to some members of the extended Dark Shadows family, including longtime director John Sedwick, movie production designer Trevor Williams and most recently Mary Cooper, who played Josette Collins in the 1841 storyline. Yet, hearteningly, Dark Shadows seems to quietly tick along in the public consciousness. With vampires suddenly becoming hot property in entertainment with HBO's True Blood and Twilight doing big business at the cinema, the media have picked up on their debt to Dark Shadows in numerous articles, while everyone from Johnny Depp to Julianne Moore has proudly shared their enthusiasm for the show in interviews.

As for myself, I'm currently busy with a co-writer on the second series of full-cast Dark Shadows audio dramas for Big Finish, which is going to be brilliant mad adventure reuniting plenty of great characters, plus I'm editing on the second edition of Craig Hamrick's book Barnabas & Company: The Cast of the TV Classic Dark Shadows. Craig was a very talented journalist and photographer, who had wrote about the show extensively up until his death in 2006. With Craig's blessing, I'm working with his partner Joe Salvatore to edit the book from his almost completed manuscript, and we should have that out later in 2009.

And for the faithful viewers, Collinwood will always remain that elusive, glorious kingdom where hearts are broken, things go bump in the night, and the demons come out to play. Make no mistake, Dark Shadows lives on.