Big Finish Productions are pleased to announce that the release of the next Dark Shadows short story collection has been brought forward to February, and there’s a trailer to listen to as well…
“We’ve had to move a few stories around due to recording delays,” says co-producer Joseph Lidster, “but this meant we realised we had a collection ready so why wait?”
Joining the previously announced Last Orders At The Blue Whale and In A Broken Dreamare The Scarlet Bride and On The Line.
The Scarlet Bride sees the return to Dark Shadows of Andrew Collins as tortured vampire Barnabas Collins. Barnabas, played by Jonathan Frid in the television series and Johnny Depp in the recent Tim Burton film, was turned into a vampire by his spurned lover Angelique in 1795 and has spent the years since battling his curse.
“What I love about Barnabas,” says Lidster, “is that he’s genuinely a troubling and fascinating character. He’s often described as tortured because he doesn’t want to be a vampire but that doesn’t mean he sits around just brooding about his fate. He has adventures! He’ll do anything to protect his family and friends but he can also be incredibly selfish, sadistic and cruel. He’s genuinely fascinating.”
In 2006, Big Finish cast Andrew Collins as Barnabas in The House of Despair. Andrew, best known for his role as Jarrett Maxwell in The Bold and the Beautiful, has since appeared in a number of stories, and in 2015 reprised the role in the acclaimed The Curse of Shurafa.
“It was Andrew’s performance in Shurafa that made me determined to feature him in our short story collections,” continues Lidster. “As well as being a fantastic actor, he’s got such a compelling voice which is perfect for telling horror stories.”
The Scarlet Bride is written by Doctor Who Short Trips producer and writer Ian Atkins. The story sees Barnabas and his close friend Julia Hoffman caught up in the life of a young girl about to marry into a family that might not quite be what it seems…
“In my early teens, my best friend and I used to read all sorts of those ’10 True Ghost Stories’ Harper Collins paperbacks, and collected the Unexplained and watched Arthur C Clarke’s Mysterious World religiously,” says Atkins. “And I loved the idea that there was a world where all these things happened. Turns out it was right there in Collinsport, a place it’s been a joy to visit it as a writer, where I could take one of those highly dubious monster stories and turn it into something much darker and heartfelt.”
On The Line is written by Ian Farrington and sees the return of Nancy Barrett as Carolyn Stoddard. “I’d written for Echoes of the Past and it had been an amazing experience,” says Farrington. “I’d really enjoyed working with Joe and Davy, was very proud of the story, and thought David Selby did a fantastic job performing it. So when the opportunity arose to pitch again, I was thrilled. I’ve always loved Carolyn Stoddard – who doesn’t, frankly? – so wanted to do something about her time in Salem. And I had an idea about a phone call that I thought would give her a challenge, and put her through the wringer!”
“Carolyn is one of my favourite characters in Dark Shadows,” says Lidster. “She started off as a spoiled little rich girl but was then terrorised by all manner of supernatural creatures. She then got married and widowed and turned to the bottle before turning her life around in 2013’s The Flip Side. This story is set during her time at Salem University where, determined to take control of her life, she’s studying the supernatural! Ian has written a stunning script, it’s a two-hander with Nancy playing both Carolyn and… Carolyn. It’s clever but also very funny and sweet.”
Further details for the short story collections will be announced over the coming months, with all four (Dark Shadows – Phantom Memories, Dark Shadows – Dreams of Long Ago, Dark Shadows – Love Lives On and Dark Shadows – Shadows of the Night) available to be pre-ordered now for £12.99 on Download and £14.99 for a two-disc CD set which also unlocks digital access.
The most recent release – December’s Dark Shadows – Haunting Memories – is now out at the same price.
Ogun Bat is a Japanese superhero created by Takeo Nagamatsu in 1931 and is considered to be the first Japanese superhero. The anime ran 52 episodes between April 1st 1967 and March 23rd Read more
Released in December 1980, Zork: The Great Underground Empire - Part I aka Zork I was an interactive fiction video game written by Marc Blank, Dave Lebling, Bruce Daniels and Tim Read more
The CW has released a new extended trailer for The Flash, offering up some new footage from several upcoming episodes and teasing the unmasking of Zoom:
Zoolander is back but a lot has happened since 2001! Rest assured the Ben Stiller comedy features familiar faces and a few new ones with plenty to get you excited. Read more
At a dinner party with their wives, NASA scientist Dr. Keith Ritchie (Tony Huston) reveals to his colleague Dr. Curt Taylor (John Agar) that he has secretly been in communication Read more
In Italy during World War II, an American military patrol discovers a spaceship that has crash-landed in the woods, along with its alien crew. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hm9fnNfLg8M A nearby Nazi unit also Read more
Zone Fighter was a tokusatsu science fiction/superhero television series produced by Toho Company Ltd. It aired from April 2nd 1973 to September 24th 1973, with a total of 26 episodes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdhcjsVLDQY The series follows Read more
Zone 414 is an upcoming American science fiction thriller film written by Bryan Edward Hill and directed by Andrew Baird. The film stars Guy Pearce, Matilda Lutz, Jonathan Aris, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson, Olwen Fouéré, Colin Salmon, Antonia Campbell-Hughes, Read more
It is the final episode of Season 1, and as expected following the somewhat calmness of last week's episode this week is about to go off the scale. Our crew Read more
Episode 5 of Zomboat! is the penultimate episode of Season 1 and it gave the audience a chance to catch their breath before the grand finale. Instead of the fast Read more
In Zomboat! Episode 4 we discover that even a shopping trip can be hazardous to your health in post-apocalyptic Birmingham. With the boat moored and apparently safe Amar (Ryan McKen) Read more
After our diversion last week our Zomboat crew begin travelling in the right direction and end up back where they first got on the boat. This also happens to be Read more
Zomboat! burst onto our screens last week and while we loved it we noted that it felt "a bit rushed with lots crammed in." As Episode 2 washed over us Read more
Debuting on ITV2 in the UK, Zomboat! is filmed in the 2.35:1 widescreen ratio of most zombie movies and answers the life long question of what would happen if you Read more
When the government's latest crime deterrent, obmoz, goes completely off the rails and starts to destroy everything from the underfunded super team Planetronix to the president himself, who ya gonna Read more
Homemade horror-comedy feature Zomblogalypse received its UK premiere at Dead Northern Film Festival - in association with Fangoria and Shudder - at City Screen York on 26th September 2021. The Read more
Tony Todd is back in an all new zombie movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBlWz-n-nec When the world is in shambles, plagued by a zombie outbreak, only the strong will survive, but just how Read more
Columbus, Tallahasse, Wichita, and Little Rock move to the American heartland as they face off against evolved zombies, fellow survivors, and the growing pains of the snarky makeshift family... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SL6NTQhEqn4 Read more
In Zombieland 2: Double Tap, Columbus, Tallahasse, Wichita, and Little Rock move to the American heartland as they face off against evolved zombies, fellow survivors, and the growing pains of Read more
Directed by Chris Watson and distributed by Troma Entertainment, Zombiegeddon begins as Satan creates a human-like race called zombies. When the zombies begin taking over the world, dirty cops Jeff Read more
Brett Summers
Founded Cult Faction in 2014. Some would describe him as a teacher, writer, dream weaver, and visionary... some would not...
More Stories
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters gets a second season
New trailers revealed for Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger vs. Donbrothers and Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger vs. Kyoryuger
The Savage Hunt of King Stakh has been fully restored and coming to bluray!