The Television Horrors of Dan Curtis

Before award-winning director Dan Curtis became known for directing epic war movies, he darkened the small screen with the horror genre’s most famous soap opera, Dark Shadows, and numerous subsequent made-for-TV horror movies. This second edition serves as a complete filmography, featuring each of Curtis’s four-dozen productions and 100 photographs. With the addition of new chapters on Dark Shadows, the author further explores the groundbreaking daytime television serial. Fans and scholars alike will find an exhaustive account of Curtis’s work, as well as a new foreword from My Music producer Jim Pierson and an afterword from Dr. Mabuse director Ansel Faraj.

Jeff Thompson is a professor of English at Tennessee State University in Nashville. He contributes articles on film and popular culture for magazines and books, as well as websites dealing with Dark Shadows and horror cinema.

Jeff Thompson
Foreword by Jim Pierson
Afterword by Ansel Faraj
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 280
Bibliographic Info: 100 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2019
pISBN: 978-1-4766-7502-2
eISBN: 978-1-4766-3633-7
Imprint: McFarland

Foreword: The Fearless Master by Jim Pierson 1
Preface and Acknowledgments: Life from a Coffin 3
Introduction: Dan Curtis and Television Horror 9
I. The Career of Dan Curtis: An Overview 19
II. Curtis’s Dream: Dark Shadows 80
III. Big-Screen Shadows: House of Dark Shadows (1970), Night of Dark Shadows (1971) and Dark Shadows (2012) 107
IV. Dead of Night: A Darkness at Blaisedon 127
V. Curtis and the Classics: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Frankenstein, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dracula, and The Turn of the Screw 132
VI. The Kolchak Papers: The Night Stalker and The Night Strangler 162
VII. In the Night Stalker Vein: The Norliss Tapes and Scream of the Wolf 176
VIII. A Trilogy of Trilogies of Terror: Trilogy of Terror, Dead of Night, and Trilogy of Terror II 185
IX. Curtis’s Pre-War Farewell to Horror: Burnt Offerings and Curse of the Black Widow 203
X. Intruders: They Are Among Us 215
XI. Lost in the Shadows: Productions That Never Were 222
XII. Master of Dark Shadows: The Dan Curtis Documentary 229
Conclusion: Dan Curtis and Television Horror and Drama 233
Afterword: The Fearless Pioneer by Ansel H. Faraj 238
Chapter Notes 241
Bibliography 249
Index 257

Reviews of the first edition:
• “Thompson has done his homework—this comprehensive career biography of TV legend Dan Curtis covers everything the man produced. Thompson writes with a clear love for his subject and an accuracy that’s impressive”—VideoScope
• “Highly recommended”—Examiner.com
• “Unique and highly recommended”—Midwest Book Review
• “A superb book, a must read for all Dark Shadows and Dan Curtis fans”—Scary Monsters Magazine
• “Excellent detail…fascinating, enlightening and educational…photographs are incredible. It’s a must-read”—Canyon News
• “Thompson does a great job of fleshing out Curtis’ entire career…a well-researched book! Grade A-”—mania.com
• “Enjoyable reading and lots of fun”—www.meetup.com