The Dark Shadows Wiki
Register
Advertisement
327 Gallery
327
Number

323

Timeline

1968

Narrator

Alexandra Moltke

Writer

Gordon Russell

Director

Lela Swift

Broadcast

September 26, 1967
(Tuesday)

Recorded

September 13, 1967
(Wednesday)

Video

Complete: Disc 36
Collection 3: Disc 4

327 Gallery
We have 15 images of Dark Shadows 327

David figures out that the coffin he saw in his dream was in the basement of the Old House. Sarah warns him not to go there and says that Willie did not kidnap Maggie.

Synopsis[]

The warmth and radiance of the sun that shines down on the great house of Collinwood cannot remove the ominous shadow that clouds our lives. We remain concerned for young David Collins, who has not recovered from the effects of a terrifying dream.

Dr. Julia Hoffman attempts to use her jeweled medallion to hypnotize David into forgetting his fear toward Barnabas Collins. However, David realizes that Julia was the faceless woman in his nightmare, and he throws open the drawing room doors, backing away from Julia and shouting for Victoria Winters to help him. Victoria and Elizabeth Collins Stoddard hurry to his side, and Elizabeth demands an explanation from Julia. Julia, feigning innocence, claims to have only been showing David her jewelery. But David, terrified, flees upstairs to his room.

Act I

Although David's behavior mystifies Elizabeth, Victoria points out that David dreamed of a woman holding a jeweled medallion, and Julia's must have frightened him. She recalls having seen Julia's medallion before - at the Evans cottage - and that it is exactly as David described from his nightmare. Julia chalks it up to being nothing more than a coincidence. Victoria goes upstairs to check on David, while Julia apologizes to Elizabeth for having failed to help David.

Victoria finds David staring into his crystal ball in an attempt to find Sarah Collins. He tells Victoria that both the medallion and Julia were the same as in his dream. David believes there's something frightening about Julia, and he doesn't want to be anywhere near her. Suddenly, David finds a clue to Sarah's whereabouts in his crystal ball. But Victoria prevents him from leaving; the last time David left the house, he got lost. David pleads for her to allow him to go and even promises to divulge the secrets he and Sarah share if Victoria agrees. With great reluctance, she gives him an hour to find Sarah and return to Collinwood.

Act II

Later, Burke Devlin pays Victoria a visit, and she tells him about David's nightmare. Burke finds it interesting that David has experienced two terrifying dreams about Barnabas. He also confides his suspicions of Julia's alleged historical research to Victoria. Burke surmises that Julia has been spending most of her time at the Old House due to a "mad crush" she probably has on Barnabas. He is appalled to learn that Victoria allowed David to go outside on his own. Burke decides to look for the boy to be sure he's safe.

In the woods, David is searching for Sarah... who appears after he hears London Bridge playing on a recorder. Sarah reveals she knew that David saw an image of her in the crystal ball.

Act III

David tells Sarah about his nightmare and wonders if she can help him understand it. Just as David is beginning to get the answers he's looking for, they are interrupted by the sound of Burke calling him. Sarah is anxious to leave, but David begs her to stay while he tells Burke he must talk to her alone. However, Sarah disappears as Burke arrives on the scene. David is upset that he didn't get to learn more about his nightmare. Burke urges the boy to relate the dream to him. David reveals that Sarah is actually a ghost. Burke, of course, dismisses this... only to find himself puzzled when David points out how quickly Sarah disappeared when Burke showed up.

Act IV

Having returned David to Collinwood, Burke speaks with Elizabeth and Victoria about their encounter. Burke refuses to believe the supernatural is the cause of David's worries, and Elizabeth ponders whether her nephew should be seen by a doctor. Victoria, however, believes David is telling the truth: Sarah is a ghost. She points out how Sarah mysteriously comes and goes, that she knows things no one else does, and that she gave Maggie Evans a 150 year old doll. Burke pooh-poohs this. An incensed Victoria offers her stubborn fiancé a challenge: to find out who Sarah is and where she comes from, and then produce her in the flesh. Only then will Victoria admit she's wrong.

Meanwhile, Sarah appears to David in his bedroom. David asks her about the room with the coffin in it from his dream. He realizes it is the Old House cellar. Sarah warns him to stay away from it. She then goes on to tell him that Willie Loomis is an innocent man. Before she disappears, Sarah, again, warns David not to go near the Old House.

Memorable quotes[]

Burke: Maybe Julia spends more time at the Old House because she has a mad crush on Barnabas Collins.

Dramatis personae[]

Background information and notes[]

Production[]

  • This is the first episode in which the ghost of Sarah Collins is depicted disappearing on screen.

Story[]

Bloopers and continuity errors[]

  • In the narration in the teaser, Alexandra Moltke speaks in the first person ("we" and "us") as if she is speaking in the voice of Victoria Winters. However, by this point, the opening narrations are no longer voiced by characters within the story.
  • David states that he hasn't been outside for over a whole week; the last time he went out, he became trapped in the Collins mausoleum. However, the on-screen passage of time would suggest it has been fours days since then (although David could be exaggerating).
  • At the beginning of Act IV, Anthony George comes out of the upper hallway leading to the bedrooms onto the landing, closes the door, then reopens the door, goes back into the hallway, closes the door, then reopens it again and comes out of the doorway once again before he walks down the stairs. Throughout all this, offstage voices can be heard. [After he first enters the upper hall one of the offscreen voice says "go in (inaudible)" and Anthony reopens the door and disappears from view. His actions appear to be the result of bad directions. As he reaches the stairs the voice can be heard again (inaudible) and Anthony looks up slightly as if he is trying to figure out what is being said.]
  • In Act IV, as the camera is panning to David in his bed, in the lower right corner opposite the foot of the bed a black placard with the letters ABC is visible. This may be a microphone.
  • While David was in the mausoleum, Sarah showed him the coffin that he later saw in his dream. He opened it and hid inside it for a time. He was trapped for a day in the secret room, which contained only that coffin - yet he seems not to remember that the coffin he saw in his dream is that same coffin from the secret room, and suddenly is convinced that the coffin is in the basement of the Old House. (He is correct, of course, but it might have made more sense if his dream had taken place in the basement.) [David spent a great deal of his free time pre-Barnabas exploring and playing in the Old House. We can easily attribute his sudden recognition to finally remembering one of the times he explored the basement.] [Addendum: There are two coffins: one in the secret room in the mausoleum and one in the Old House basement. We don't know that the coffin in the dream is necessarily the one in the secret room.] [This is a dream sequence and you can tell it is the cellar in the old house by the placement of the steps and the position of the coffin.]

End credits announcements[]

External links []

Dark Shadows - Episode 327 on the IMDb

Dark Shadows Everyday - Episode 327 - David vs the Goldfish People

Dark Shadows Commentary- Episode 327: Snap! Like that.

Dark Shadows Before I Die- Episode 327: 9/26/67

Advertisement