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Post by barnabasbytes on May 20, 2017 22:34:27 GMT
CAN'T LET IT GO "Old Acquaintance." The music is this one is absolutely stunning. I've just listened to it again and more fully appreciated the audioscape. Aside from the voiceover for the first section sounding a little rushed, the song choice was inspired (I never thought of that as wintery before now). The music chosen for Quentin's dreaming, then the music foretelling of the witch's entrance -- all the way to the climactic "Night of the Pentagram" (which I never thought I'd enjoy hearing again, but did) all result in an intelligent, mature "Dark Shadows" for old and new fans to enjoy.
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Post by Audio Watchdog on May 21, 2017 23:41:18 GMT
I finished up "Cobwebs" a few minutes ago. This short story anthologies get stronger with every release. I still want me some Bloodline but I have also fallen in love with this series. As a range Dark Shadows moves from strength to strength. Thanks to everyone involved.
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Post by Deleted on May 22, 2017 0:29:54 GMT
I don't have a lot of free time right now, but I finally got a chance to listen to Cobwebs and God, it's fantastic, BF. Very well-played . The best of a brilliant release.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 22, 2017 0:31:12 GMT
Devil Rock - Oh, I loved this. AND IT'S POST-BLOODLINE! It really isn't. According to the website, Devil's Rock is post Shurafa. Not Bloodline. There are no Bloodline spoilers therein. Trust me.
Whoops Thanks for the clarification, Rob Morris
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Post by silverednickle on May 22, 2017 15:47:00 GMT
All the audios were quite enjoyable. Was it me or was there a number of rhymes in narration of Old Acquaintance not connected to the retelling of the spoken words. I thought it added some appropriate word play.
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Post by Trace on Jun 4, 2017 23:00:23 GMT
Lovely sinister looking cover with the jigsaw pieces and the crimson tone. And sinister is also what I'd call Matthew's intro to the trailer Devil's Rock sounds particularly up my street though Chris Pennock sounds great on Cobwebs. And the way the puzzle pieces fit into the gates of Collinwood. Was there ever a set on the original show for the Collinwood gate? Or were the only external Collinwood sets the Collinwood, Old House and the cottage exteriors, the forest, Widow's Hill, the beach and Eagle Hill Cemetery? I'm just returning to this thread as I just finished this amazing collection...and needed to answer a couple of the posts. I'm not seeing the puzzle pieces fitting into the "gates of Collinwood" on the cover. Are you sure your active imagination isn't working overtime there? I think these are just puzzle pieces, sans gates! Now, to your other question about exterior sets at the Collinwood mansion--yes, to the filmed kind in year one...and if you mean studio sets, there were the ones you've mentioned, plus the front door under the porte-cochère, the outside of open windows, the roof/widow's walk, the back terrace with fountain, the gazebo....there's some! There are possibly more I'm not thinking of yet.
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Post by Trace on Jun 4, 2017 23:48:12 GMT
These four stories were SO good! Man, what more can be said that hasn't already? And you realize just what's been said after you go back to the thread and really read every post--something you didn't really do before. I always "scan" these spoiler threads as they're written, but try to stay away from in-depth descriptions until I've actually listened myself. Just a few brief thoughts--
The Reflected Man: some very uneasy moments before realizing you've just heard something really quite lovely. Sabrina needs Chris. Amy needs Chris. WE NEED CHRIS. Chris needs to return. I don't care how it's done.
Old Acquaintance: the Welsh mythology, the beautiful writing, the gorgeous voice...I worship at the altar of the DEVINE Matthew Waterhouse.
Devil's Rock: Someone else mentioned Lovecraft....also a bit of Shirley Jackson...and thus, a bit of an 1841PT influence as well. No TV series spoilers from me, for those that aren't there yet ....loved it!
Cobwebs: Damn near sent me hurling, screaming into the black abyss. Ok, not really. But Pennock's frenzied reading of this trippy, dreamlike story definitely made me envision being hurled screaming into the black abyss! And it felt wonderful!
Bravo!! More please!
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bobod
Chancellery Guard
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Post by bobod on Jun 5, 2017 9:27:58 GMT
The Reflected Man: some very uneasy moments before realizing you've just heard something really quite lovely. Sabrina needs Chris. Amy needs Chris. WE NEED CHRIS. Chris needs to return. I don't care how it's done. Oh nonononono... I think The Reflected Man is a lovely ENDING to Chris's story.
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Post by omega on Jun 5, 2017 9:44:53 GMT
The Reflected Man: some very uneasy moments before realizing you've just heard something really quite lovely. Sabrina needs Chris. Amy needs Chris. WE NEED CHRIS. Chris needs to return. I don't care how it's done. Oh nonononono... I think The Reflected Man is a lovely ENDING to Chris's story. I wouldn't mind some of these short stories focusing on Chris being read by Michael Shon. How he changed back after Barnabas took the iChing to 1897 (it's not mentioned in the Leviathan storyline and Chris staying the wolf after the moon is gone is never brought up as a potential risk again), or when he first transformed. Finding out how Chris, Tom and Amy were orphaned in the first place would be another story I'd like to hear. Stephanie Ellyne tackling Amy and Prof Stokes battling the undead in Cairo is another gap.
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Post by Trace on Jun 6, 2017 2:46:42 GMT
The Reflected Man: some very uneasy moments before realizing you've just heard something really quite lovely. Sabrina needs Chris. Amy needs Chris. WE NEED CHRIS. Chris needs to return. I don't care how it's done. Oh nonononono... I think The Reflected Man is a lovely ENDING to Chris's story. It's lovely for sure...but I don't put much stock in pat "endings" in soaps. Not permanent ones. And above all else, DS is still a soap. Back from the dead characters are de rigueur across the genre. And when the soap features the supernatural in almost every plotline, they don't even have to rewrite history! There can always be more character appearances, even if it's as jbmasta mentioned...additional backstory. But I would still love to hear Chris again--for an added dimension in Sabrina and Cyrus's tale, for Amy, her son and stepson, for Carolyn... How many times has Barnabas bid farewell to Josette--finally "freeing" her spirit to rest in peace, and yet we know we haven't seen the last of her. Maybe it's because I've 'known' Chris a lot longer than you! I've had longer to build an attachment. LOL. EDIT: Ultimately, it doesn't matter to me. When I'm a fan of a series, I'm a fan for life. I have loved the journey that these stories have taken us on, and I enjoy the ride regardless of the direction it takes. For a longtime fan like me (since the late 80's), it's been a dream come true. These anthology short stories have been so great, and the writers amaze me! They tell stories that are new and fresh, and have such respect for the source material!
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Post by davidxbrunt on Jun 22, 2017 18:18:14 GMT
A few thoughts on this series, ported over from GallifryBase, for what they're worth. Spoilers to follow, albeit more on tone and mood than plot specifics. Still, better warned than not.
The Reflected Man was an almost heart breaking lovely piece of work. A strongly visual mystery story, that couldn't be told half as effectively in any other format, that fades into something tender and touching and romantic. A Dark Shadows story a gentle, kind heart that still makes use of the supernatural elements that we have come to expect. I particularly like that the what and who of the mystery at the heart of this story aren't explained away because it's the who and why that matter here. There are no explanationS offered for the manifestation, and none needed when the story is told so well. Not everything, in life or Dark Shadows, needs an explanation. The story also makes a strength out of its setting away from Collinsport and makes a virtue out of the familiar music of the show.
Old Acquaintance is as bold and epic in scale as The Reflected Man is small and personal. Lots of characters get little spotlights, from regulars and minor characters from the original series to characters created by Big Finish. There's something charming and fannish about the way Matthew Waterhouse uses the characters but they all serve a purpose to make Collinsport feel like a populated community in a way it rarely does. Obviously this is Quentin's story but another fan favourite has a nice, meaty part in the narrative which was an unexpected bonus. The story does feel like it fits after the series ended, and is almost a companion piece to The Ghost Watcher. The flashback structure gives it scope but it's still a significant personal moment for Quentin, filling a significant gap in his time line. With the present day material, plus a flashback to Quentin's original travels and other sequences filling us in on the villain this feels like Dark Shadows on a large canvas but the story is just the right length, neither rushing from incident yo incident or padded. Just like I hope to hear more from the Cunninghamses via Matthew Waterhouse's performances I would welcome more from him as a writer.
Just as there are contrasts between the stories on disc one the readings, performances really, differ too. Where Lisa Richards is appropriately intimate and tender David Selby turns in an energetic, muscular performance. I am half Mr Selby's age and there were moments when I was breathless just listening. The gusts he brings to the material is impressive.
I lingered outside work finishing the story as I was so caught up. Can't wait to finish off the rest on the commute home later.
Oh, and I did not.well up listening to The Reflected Man on the bus. I had just been chopping onions, and there was dust in my eyes, and...
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Post by davidxbrunt on Jun 22, 2017 18:19:21 GMT
Devil's.Rock by Kate Webster is a relatively simple story told well and all the better for the fact that it adheres so well to the tropes and archetypes of the sub genre of horror it belongs to. I'm a little biased because I am a sucker for this type of story so from the moment I began to realise exactly what type of narrative Willie Loomis and Barnabas had wandered into I was grinning from ear to ear.
With a story like this hearing it unfold is part of the fun, working out how our heroes will escape their predicament (if they can, no spoilers here) is another part. The resolution to the dilemma is pleasingly logical in as much as logic applies to anything Dark Shadows.
The straight forward, traditional story allows time to focus on Collinsport's Odd Couple, to reflect on their relationship and where they are in the post Bloodlust world. Setting them off on a quest to India in search of Julia Hoffman gives them a reason to be on the road and, hopefully,.we will hear more stories about these two on their journey. They run into trouble here before they have even left the state so an intercontinental voyage is bound to throw more hazards in their way and Jaipur, their intended destination, is.a nicely exotic location ripe with story potential.
Andrew Collins' reading combines first person narration that puts Barnabas inner thoughts on display like rarely before and also switches to third person with ease. The simple change of voice makes it easy to follow but also shows how much of a performance his turn as Barnabas is. It's a rich, textured performance that honours what has come before but is equally his own creation. Is it heresy to say that Jonathan Frid is not the only Barnabas? In what is really only a handful of episodes compared to The Friddler's tally he has claimed his stake to the vampire of.Collinwood (an unfortunate term perhaps in the context). He doesn't try to invoke John Karlen when reporting Willie's words but captures some of Karlen's hesitant rhythm of speech as Ma Loomis' boy. It isn't needed,.especially when,.at a pivotal moment we hear the real deal on the sound track.
It's not easy to replace an actor like J.Friddy but they got the casting spot on back when the range launched. Just as without the presence of Friddlesticks in the original series it's hard to imagine it surviving and being remembered it's hard to see the audios taking off without Collins in the ensemble.
Regarding the soundtrack, the setting of a small fishing town allows for a soundscape of crashing waves which punctuate the dialogue and create a moody ambience alongside simple, well chosen music and that rich voice of Collins'. This is Dark Shadows at it's simplest, and when it's done this well that's more than enough for me.
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Post by davidxbrunt on Jun 22, 2017 18:19:49 GMT
And Cobwebs. A story with some echoes of personal experience, so much so I had to listen to it twice to be able to listen it clearly. Well that and it's really good. Christopher Pennock raved about it on Facebook (between political rants) saying he couldn't wait to record it and it was an actors dream of a challenge. He doesn't use social media to sell his wares or for self promotion, he seemed genuinely thrilled to be involved in the telling and that comes across. There's a repeated section of dialogue in the piece and the difference in the way he plays it is telling, performance adding so much to the story being told. And it's a proper character performance, as with Collins' first person material on Devil's Rock. Sebastian is a very different figure to the much more familiar Cyrus and Pennock easily delineated the two.
To talk much about the story would edge into spoiler territory but the imagery it plays with is reminiscent of the character of Renfield from Dracula which is all kinds of appropriate for Dark Shadows in general and Sebastian in particular. It's also grounded in relatable, tangible fears as well as the standard fare of magic and horror. To be trapped in a hospital when alone and afraid is shiversome enough. There's something very satisfying about the way this connects to the wider picture of Dark Shadows but, as ever, continuity is lightly handled and it works as a complete piece of story telling
As a whole the collection is a winner and there's a surprisingly large amount of happy endings here, at least by the standards of Dark Shadows! Is it time for the next release yet?
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bobod
Chancellery Guard
Likes: 2,759
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Post by bobod on Jun 23, 2017 6:34:24 GMT
davidxbrunt, are these what we've been missing out on while you've not been here. Damn!
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Post by davidxbrunt on Jun 23, 2017 15:38:12 GMT
Aye, I do waffle sometimes.
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bobod
Chancellery Guard
Likes: 2,759
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Post by bobod on Jun 23, 2017 17:24:53 GMT
Aye, I do waffle sometimes. All reviews cut and pasted over by 7pm. Chop chop. X
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Post by davidxbrunt on Jun 23, 2017 18:46:03 GMT
I think that's pretty much the only extended reviews I've slapped up, mostly it's just random praise. I would be tempted to be porting over some of the waffle I've written about the show in broader terms but I wouldn't know where to stick them.
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Post by barnabaslives on Oct 31, 2017 12:15:48 GMT
Today's Dark Shadows Unheard Short Story Trick-or-Treat was Cobwebs, which was more of a treat than I could have imagined. I loved the story and the surprise ending, but best of all Chris Pennock was amazingly engaging here. This may sound strange, but for me to listen to a story about Sebastian Shaw and be so engrossed that I don't wonder once the whole time whether they're letting him wear his astrological adornments, when those have to be the very first thing that comes to mind when I hear his name? That is one awesome actor and a heck of a story too.
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Post by barnabaslives on Nov 2, 2017 2:51:53 GMT
And the big finale of the Halloween Short Story Catch up was of course Devil's Rock. Imagine being so engaged in story entirely on its own merits that you're taken by surprise by the oldest trick in the book. Once again, absolutely fantastic storytelling by both the author and particularly by the star of the story himself. Practical considerations aside I suppose, why on earth is a Barnabas Collins Chronicles spin-off range not an actual thing already?
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Post by Zagreus on Dec 2, 2017 23:38:30 GMT
Oh hey I know what this is thanks to this release!
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