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Post by Zagreus on May 11, 2017 15:25:54 GMT
It's actually my last week of vacation before my next contract starts, so this was aptly timed for me to have plenty of time to listen and gather my thoughts So yeah, let's get this party started! Dark Shadows: Dreams of Long Ago: The Reflected Man( Sabrina Jennings - 1971) First of all, the incidental music in this is great, and the language used, recalling The Scarlet Bride, put me in a particular horrific state of mind as this continued. Some neat foreshadowing of future stuff with Sabrina, though it's not the main thrust of the story. This is a nice character peice for Sabrina, showing her coping with Chris' death, and beginning to move on. I don't really have a whole lot to say about it. It's a fairly straightforward tale, it's nicely written, nicely produced, full of a range of emotion. Also, I see they found a way to sneak the Blue Whale music in there heheh. And, oh, oh dear, that ending, so happy in the story, so... ominous in the broader context of the series hahah.
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Post by Zagreus on May 11, 2017 16:22:29 GMT
Dark Shadows: Dreams of Long Ago: Old Acquaintance
(Quentin Collins - New Years Eve, 1971)
It's so nice to hear Selby's voice. He's got such a great timbre and range for audio.
Creepy incidents at the Blue Whale, intersected with flashback, to another New Years, in Wales, 1914, as Quentin flees The Great War.
A creepy local custom has, of course, it's seed in truth, as Quentin is visited by a strange apparition. I kind of want to make one of those Maries. Sounds delightfully ghoulish.
Quentin certainly does seem to catch the attention of some strange characters on his wanderings. This flashback is rather robust, and is a nice little tale that slots in nicely between The Skinwalkers, calling back to it, and Blood Dance.
And back in the present, Cassandra Collins has gotten tangled up in it all.
It feels like this story is setting up something grander. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see some of this stuff pop up again in the full-casts somewhere down the line...
This was such a great piece. Delightfully horrific. Waterhouse has written a yarn worthy of Dark Shadows.
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Post by Zagreus on May 11, 2017 17:38:29 GMT
Dark Shadows: Dreams of Long Ago: Devil’s Rock
(Barnabas Collins - 1983)
Set after The Curse of Shurafa, and nestled in between the September and Halloween segments of Tainted Love, Barnabas and Willie set out to find Julia after the events of Bloodlust.
And of course, they're barely out of town before literally stumbling over a dead body. Good times.
The town where Barnabas and Willie stop off at is almost called Hawkes Harbor. Instead, Ham Harbor, just on the other side of Logansport. So close. So close.
And of course, there's more to Ham Harbor than it seems. The fish is good, but at what cost?
I admire Barnabas' bloodyminded tunnel vision. He wants to get back to Julia, and doesn't particularly what's going on around him. But poor Willie inadvertently gets caught up in the town's sinister goings on.
We get some nice interplay between Barnabas and Willie, and we get some nice insight into how Barnabas think of his long time companion.
In previous stories in this set we've had some nice use of background sounds, a jukebox tune here, some other stuff there, lifted from the show and played subtly behind the narration. In this, I don't know where they lifted it from, or if it's recorded new, but we get some nice Willie clips playing under Andrew Collins' narration at one point to good effect.
I love how faithful and steadfast Willie is, despite everything he's been through. Brings a smile to my face.
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Post by barnabasbytes on May 11, 2017 20:14:16 GMT
I've only heard "Old Acquaintance" and am going to digest it for a day or so. There is a lot here to digest. It's elaborate. I'm relistening to it now. Waterhouse is good at remembering so many details. He has a good sense of -- I don't know a word for this -- but his placement of characters, like an omnipotent puppeteer. One moment reminded me of Stephen Mark Rainey's "Labyrinth of Souls." It was just a flash of insight, where I knew that this author knows these characters. Like the realization that This is real. Funny, one piece of music in the first 10 minutes had me thinking, Oh, this is from "Kingdom of the Dead." Really it's from Dark Shadows. 19m into it - David Darlington's extending one song by subtly stitching it to itself over and over, then merging it into another song. Very smooth.
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Post by Zagreus on May 11, 2017 20:27:24 GMT
Dark Shadows: Dreams of Long Ago: Cobwebs( Sebastian Shaw - Sometime after Dreaming of the Water) Ah Sebastian Shaw. I haven't met him in the show yet, and have only encountered him in a couple audios. God, this short is trippy. This isn't a reading, it's a one-man play. With a second actor. I'm not even sure how to describe it. Anyone get a chance to play the Silent Hills demo on PS4 a couple years back? It's about a man who is trapped inside a house that he continually walks around and around in a circuit, with creepy things happening and him waking up in the same room and starting again and again. Sometimes, things are ordinary. Sometimes, things are surreal. Sometimes, there's a strange scary woman stalking him from around the corners. This release is like the audio-only version of that. Sebastian's still dreaming, but no longer of the water, this time someone's been burnt. Lord it's hard to get a handle on what's going on here. I'm not sure if things are happening now, or if Sebastian is remembering what happened before. Or if he's been remembering what happened in the future, and has finally arrived at the point he's been seeing in his precognizant flashbacks. Oh. Oh dear. Hot damn, this is right before Return to Collinwood. Jesus Christ Angelique you tortured the guy in his own mind for decades until he agreed to be your slave
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Post by Zagreus on May 11, 2017 20:46:34 GMT
So I'd like to thank all the writers, readers, editors, and other staff involved, as this release continues the tradition of top-notch Dark Shadows releases. I'm not sure I could honestly say there's a bad piece among the range.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 11, 2017 21:05:13 GMT
I've just listened to The Reflected Man and, despite future events for the character, I found it ultimately rather moving, touching. I love these bite-sized character pieces, and this is as well written and well played as any of them. Lovely, creepy stuff.
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Post by chapwithwings on May 12, 2017 18:56:30 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2017 3:33:27 GMT
I FINALLY AM GETTING TO LISTEN TO THIS TODAY! I HAVE BEEN BUSY, MY LIFE HAS BEEN IN MOTION!
I just finished listening to The Changing Man. Oh, nicely played with the title, BF. Nicely, nicely, nice played, BF A fantastic expanded look at Sabrina's grief over Chris and what I imagine is some proper closure for fans who have seen the TV series. The twist is nicely played and slightly redirected for a moment, until: that's it. The story. A last goodbye. Making it all the more horrible given that we know actual means of Chris's fate. And the ambiguity here is also incredibly haunting: did Chris know that Sabrina unknowingly killed him? Is he giving her the life she offered him? A fantastic start to this set. And, I see what your doing there, BF. When are we going to learn the means of how Sabrina was cured, eh? Eh? Eh? When are we hearing that story?
Sorry, review of all stories later, but I was just really impressed by The Changing Man that I had to write this. Thanks for making my day brighter, BF. I needed this.
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Post by omega on May 14, 2017 4:12:15 GMT
I FINALLY AM GETTING TO LISTEN TO THIS TODAY! I HAVE BEEN BUSY, MY LIFE HAS BEEN IN MOTION! I just finished listening to The Changing Man. Oh, nicely played with the title, BF. Nicely, nicely, nice played, BF A fantastic expanded look at Sabrina's grief over Chris and what I imagine is some proper closure for fans who have seen the TV series. The twist is nicely played and slightly redirected for a moment, until: that's it. The story. A last goodbye. Making it all the more horrible given that we know actual means of Chris's fate. And the ambiguity here is also incredibly haunting: did Chris know that Sabrina unknowingly killed him? Is he giving her the life she offered him? A fantastic start to this set. And, I see what your doing there, BF. When are we going to learn the means of how Sabrina was cured, eh? Eh? Eh? When are we hearing that story? Sorry, review of all stories later, but I was just really impressed by The Changing Man that I had to write this. Thanks for making my day brighter, BF. I needed this. As for Sabrina'a cure, take a ride on the Carriage of the Damned.
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Post by omega on May 14, 2017 7:42:57 GMT
Dark Shadows: Dreams of Long Ago: Cobwebs( Sebastian Shaw - Sometime after Dreaming of the Water) Ah Sebastian Shaw. I haven't met him in the show yet, and have only encountered him in a couple audios. God, this short is trippy. This isn't a reading, it's a one-man play. With a second actor. It's actually a full cast (three actors) with archive clips from Dreaming of the Water.
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Post by Zagreus on May 14, 2017 7:44:55 GMT
Dark Shadows: Dreams of Long Ago: Cobwebs( Sebastian Shaw - Sometime after Dreaming of the Water) Ah Sebastian Shaw. I haven't met him in the show yet, and have only encountered him in a couple audios. God, this short is trippy. This isn't a reading, it's a one-man play. With a second actor. It's actually a full cast (three actors) with archive clips from Dreaming of the Water. {Spoiler}Four actors (a certain someone's laughter)
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Post by omega on May 14, 2017 7:50:51 GMT
It's actually a full cast (three actors) with archive clips from Dreaming of the Water. {Spoiler}Four actors (a certain someone's laughter) {Spoiler} I was counting the archive clips of KLS as separate from the other actors.
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bobod
Chancellery Guard
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Post by bobod on May 14, 2017 10:37:30 GMT
SRandom was right in the first place. It's a one man play. With two actors. What a lovely description.
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Post by omega on May 14, 2017 10:59:34 GMT
SRandom was right in the first place. It's a one man play. With two actors. What a lovely description. So was the Angelique laughing at the end archive footage like the KLS clips, or material Lara recorded especially for this? And was that John Karlen at one point in Devil's Rock, calling out "Barnabas!"?
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Post by Zagreus on May 14, 2017 16:09:44 GMT
Even if it was all archive clips, they're doing a rather splendid job of putting such things to good use. I think such background stuff could wonderfully flesh out scenes.
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Post by Audio Watchdog on May 14, 2017 21:01:43 GMT
The Reflected Man was sweet. Kind of touching even.
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Post by Audio Watchdog on May 14, 2017 22:48:14 GMT
Old Acquaintance is as good as anything I've heard this year and better than most things I've listened to. If this is a prime example of the kind of writer Mathew Waterhouse is, well, I need to search for things written by him. And please to any and all Big Finish and/orDark Shadows creative team, please get Waterhouse to write more. Also it seemed to me that David Selby was in especially good voice for this. His voice sounded richer & stronger than it has in the past. I wonder if he has been doing a lot of theater work of late. Anyway, top notch. Haunting, lyrical and very, very creepy.
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2017 22:56:17 GMT
Old Acquaintance is as good as anything I've heard this year and better than most things I've listened to. If this is a prime example of the kind of writer Mathew Waterhouse is, well, I need to search for things written by him. And please to any and all Big Finish and/or Dark Shadows creative team, please get Waterhouse to write more. Also it seemed to me that David Selby was in especially good voice for this. His voice sounded richer & stronger than it has in the past. I wonder if he has been doing a lot of theater work of late. Anyway, top notch. Haunting, lyrical and very, very creepy. How strange! I'd just come here to write pretty much the same thing, but you've put it far better than I. Extremely wild and creepy. As if Matthew M and David S had played to each other's strengths - the story seems to have been written especially for Selby to play, and to really allow him to flex acting muscles in only the way he can. Extraordinary and darkly wonderful! How lucky we are to have these excellent releases
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Post by Trace on May 15, 2017 0:36:00 GMT
Old Acquaintance is as good as anything I've heard this year and better than most things I've listened to. If this is a prime example of the kind of writer Mathew Waterhouse is, well, I need to search for things written by him. And please to any and all Big Finish and/or Dark Shadows creative team, please get Waterhouse to write more. Also it seemed to me that David Selby was in especially good voice for this. His voice sounded richer & stronger than it has in the past. I wonder if he has been doing a lot of theater work of late. Anyway, top notch. Haunting, lyrical and very, very creepy. He really is a great writer. I have all his books and they're all excellent. Hopefully he will continue to write for and record for the BF DS range. I want him around Collinsport for years to come.
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