It's been a bit since I listened to one of the Dark Shadows audio tales. A recent vacation gave me quite a bit of drive time with which to listen to audios, so needless to say, the next CD of short stories was on the top of my list! Dreams of Long Ago features four new tales of the characters that I have grown to love over the years, and hearing the (mostly) original actors reprise their roles from the series is always a real treat. I also enjoy the fact that these stories build on previously released audio tales, as well as set up brand new stories that we will hopefully have sequels to in the future.
The CD set opens with "The Reflected Man," featuring the return of Sabrina Jennings. This story has a loose connection to an earlier audio story, "The Enemy Within," which featured Sabrina and Cyrus Longworth. This short tale fills in a bit of the gap between the time when Sabrina and Chris Jennings were married and the time she moved to Bangor. Chris is dead, having been murdered on their wedding night, and Sabrina is now working as a waitress in New York City just to make ends meet. She has yet to make peace with her husband's death, and it seems the dark shadows that have been cast over her life aren't done with her - for out of nowhere, Sabrina begins to be haunted to the image of a man in the reflection of windows ... mirrors ... and any other reflective surface. Someone seems to be watching her from the other side. Just as she is about to have a complete breakdown, that reflected man makes contact - and Sabrina soon discovers that not everything is what it seems! While I do love this story, and the fact that it deals beautifully with the grief felt when a loved one is taken away from us, it does bother me that this story does not quite fit with the dark revelations from "The Enemy Within." Perhaps at this juncture, Sabrina is completely unaware of the dark secrets revealed in "The Enemy Within," but I think there should have been at least some kind of hint in this story as to the horrors in store for the poor woman...
The next story, "Old Acquaintance," features the return of Quentin Collins. An interesting tidbit about this story is that it is written by Matthew Waterhouse, an actor who portrayed Adric back in the day on BBC's Doctor Who, and who has also voiced a few characters in the Dark Shadows audio tales. As with many of Quentin's stories, this one provides a glimpse into his past, where he makes a choice that will have dire consequences in the present. It is New Year's Eve in Collinsport (1971), and while Quentin is celebrating at the Blue Whale, a creature he escaped from over fifty years ago is about to make a reappearance. Quentin does what he always does to protect his loved ones and the villagers of Collinsport, and this time he has a bit of help from an unexpected source (no, I won't spoil that surprise). I would say of the four stories, this one is probably my least favorite. I don't know exactly why, but Quentin is not really a favorite of mine, so his stories feel tame and somewhat bland (even though there is some rather graphic descriptions in this story that might create some bloody visuals in your head!). But, I suppose fans of Quentin Collins might enjoy the tale.
The third story features Andrew Collins reprising his role as Barnabas Collins in "Devil's Rock." Since taking over the role of Barnabas (after the passing of the irreplaceable Jonathan Frid), Collins (coincidence??) has managed to assume the character, and his accent rather reminds me of Ben Cross from the '90s television show. In this story, Barnabas and Willie are off to find Dr. Julia Hoffman. But they are barely started when they stop in a small town in Maine that has some secrets of its own. The two stumble across a body that is about to be swept out into the ocean, and unwittingly, by rescuing the body, they set in motion a series of events that will lead them to uncover the dark secret behind the small town's longevity and prosperity. This story takes a page from the final tale of the television show, in which the characters are chosen by lottery to face a certain fate - only, in this story, they must be sacrificed to the sea or the town faces the retaliation of an insatiable demon. The only thing is, when these villagers decide that Barnabas will take the place of their intended sacrifice, they are unaware of his own secret - one that could spell disaster for them all!
The final tale on this CD is "Cobwebs," which, quite frankly, is the darkest of all the stories, as it delves into the human psyche and just how fractured and frightening it can be. Written by Aaron Lamont, who was a co-writer for the Bloodline full cast audio drama, this story picks up after the events in Dreaming of the Water, in which Sebastian Shaw finds himself a patient at Wyndcliff Sanitarium, after having brought Maggie Evans there to escape the horrors of Collinwood. Now, in "Cobwebs," we find that Sebastian has sunk deeper into darkness, as he slips in and out of consciousness, unable to tell the real world from the dreaming world. His only companions are a tiny spider, a burned man he meets outside of his room, and the mysterious new doctor who, it turns out, is providing him with new therapy - electric shock therapy! Christopher Pennock, who played Sebastian Shaw on the television show, reprises the role here, and his descent into insanity is uncanny and frightening. As he tries to keep it together and focus on what he can only guess to be real, he soon discovers the secret of the burned man, and for long-time fans of Dark Shadows, it will come as no surprise when a long-time villain of the show makes Sebastian an offer her can't refuse ... culminating in that wickedly evil laugh that only she can do!
Overall, the CD offers a satisfying set of tales, but again, I do miss the full length audio stories which feature two or more characters. I'm hoping the cast is working on a sequel to the Bloodlust and Bloodline stories, because I can't be the only fan wanting to know what's next for the denizens of Collinsport!
RATING: 9 shattered coffee pots out of 10 for continuing in the spirit of the television show and providing fans new stories from the multitude of characters in the Dark Shadows universe!
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