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350
Number

346

Timeline

1968

Narrator

Grayson Hall

Writer

Ron Sproat

Director

Lela Swift

Broadcast

October 27, 1967
(Friday)

Recorded

October 23, 1967
(Monday)

Video

Complete: Disc 38
Collection 4: Disc 2

350 Gallery
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Carolyn is determined to find out if David is telling the truth, so she goes to the basement of the Old House where she finds a coffin and an aged Barnabas, who bites her.

Synopsis

Teaser

A cold, piercing night wind whistles around Collinwood, and its chill somehow seems to penetrate the walls of the great house. For this promises to be a night of danger. One girl may learn a terrifying secret tonight, and that knowledge could cost her her life.

David Collins finds Carolyn Stoddard gazing out of the window in Collinwood's drawing room. He carries with him the toy soldier given to him by Sarah Collins for protection. Again, he insists his cousin keep it with her all the time. Carolyn tries to convince David she isn't in any danger. But David makes her promise to take the toy solider. As he starts to head back upstairs to his room, David gasps in horror at the aged Barnabas Collins staring at them outside the window.

Act I

Carolyn turns to see what has frightened her cousin... but Barnabas has disappeared. Elizabeth Collins Stoddard hurries into the room when she hears an anguished David trying to convince Carolyn of the old man he saw. Neither Elizabeth or Carolyn believe him, which only depresses the troubled boy more. Dejected, he returns to his room. Alone with Carolyn, Elizabeth despairs over how helpless they are where David is concerned. Carolyn tells her mother about her encounter with Sarah. Elizabeth is stunned by the news.

Act II

Not knowing what to believe anymore, Elizabeth becomes even more worried for David. His tales about Barnabas seem too far fetched, but, as Carolyn points out, Sarah is very much real and not a figment of David's imagination. Elizabeth cannot accept David's accusations about Barnabas, and, unbeknownst to her, David overhears when she declares her nephew to be mentally unbalanced and that she has no other choice but to send him away from Collinwood.

Across the estate at the Old House, Julia Hoffman awaits Barnabas' return. She questions him, worried over the vampire having taken a victim. Barnabas tells her he plans to do so tonight. But it will not be Victoria Winters. Instead, he will attack a stranger. Julia, deeply in love with Barnabas, offers herself to him.

Act III

Barnabas, taken aback by her suggestion, calls Julia by her given name for the first time. Julia is happily willing to relinquish her free will if it means restoring Barnabas. However, he refuses. If Julia submits, she will no longer be able to function as a doctor, and he might still have need of her in that area. Julia, visibly upset, goes downstairs to her laboratory in the Old House cellar on the pretext of attending to some work.

Back at Collinwood, David finds Carolyn alone and asks her if thinks he is crazy. Carolyn firmly believes he is sane. Again, out of fear for her safety, David tries to convince his cousin the stories he told about Barnabas were a lie. But Carolyn is contemplating going to the Old House and checking things out for herself. This upsets David greatly, and Carolyn promises him she won't go there. After she sends David to bed, Carolyn contemplates what the truth really is. Leaving the toy soldier on the foyer table, she grabs her coat and heads out into the night for the Old House.

Act IV

Sneaking inside the Old House, Carolyn finds it empty... but is startled when she hears a shutter banging against the window. Carolyn, calming herself, picks her way down to the cellar where she is shocked to find Barnabas' coffin. She opens it carefully, but the coffin is empty. Carolyn screams when Julia catches her. Julia urges her to leave, but it is too late... Barnabas has found them. Carolyn is horrified to discover the decrepit old man is Barnabas. The vampire grabs her and sinks his fangs into her neck.

Memorable quotes

Barnabas: What are you doing here, Carolyn?
Carolyn: I...I came to see Cousin Barnabas.
Barnabas: And now you see him.
Carolyn: But you can't be Barnabas.
Barnabas: But I am!
Carolyn: What's happened to your face? You're...so old...
Barnabas: It won't be old much longer! (Grabs Carolyn; she screams) You may scream all you want, but no one will hear you. Now don't be afraid of me, my dear, I'm not going to hurt you. I wouldn't do anything...to hurt my own flesh and blood! (bares fangs)
Carolyn: (bloodcurdling screams)

Dramatis personae

Background information and notes

Production

Story

  • When Barnabas contemplates finding a victim to rejuvenate himself, he only contemplates young women. Surely a young man's blood would have the same desired effect? (He probably feels it's safer to target women as a man might more forcefully fight back, making for a greater chance of being discovered.)
  • Barnabas talks about waiting to find his next victim until he can "move safely through the darkness," but we've already seen that he can turn into a bat and even appear through closed windows without opening them, so there really shouldn't be any need for him to wait. (He clearly has his "vampire powers" since appearing in Vicky's room after becoming a bat, so this is probably just a way to avoid telling Dr. Hoffman about his almost biting Vicky.)
  • When talking to Carolyn, David refers to her mother as "Elizabeth" rather than the usual "Aunt Elizabeth."
  • The door to the basement isn't locked, although it had always been locked in previous episodes. The front door of the Old House was also unlocked. (This may be due to Willie no longer being around to watch over Barnabas - perhaps Julia is not nearly as careful about these things as he was?)
  • INTERNAL MONOLOGUE: Carolyn: David's fear of the Old House.
  • TIMELINE: Day 134 begins, and will end in 351.

Bloopers and continuity errors

  • A boom microphone hovers into shot during Act I as Carolyn and Elizabeth talk together after David leaves to go to bed.
  • As David walks across the foyer during Act III, a loud grinding of metal can be heard off stage.
  • When Carolyn is in the Old House and heads to the basement, she moves in the opposite direction of the hallway that leads to the basement.

External Links 

Dark Shadows - Episode 350 on the IMDb

Dark Shadows Everyday - Episode 350 - Grumpy Old Man

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