When I was in Kindergarten in 1968, kids loved to watch TV after school (if you had TV-we didn't so I had to go to the neighbors' house). But did we get cute cartoons? Oh no! What awaited kids was a show that that's I'm still convinced is the most terrifying ever made: Dark Shadows. My heart is in my throat thinking of it 43 years later. Just the name Barnabas Collins sends chills down my spine.
What was the secret behind these early creep shows that still terrifies us today? I maintain as do others my age, that these shows offered a unique kind of horror. Dark Shadows relied on subtle sensory details-- light, music, sound and, well, shadows. To my knowledge, we never saw anyone injured or killed. It was all implied. That's how it's done in the best film noir shows. Want to create a Gothic Halloween haunted house based on Dark Shadows? Here's one worthy of Edgar Allen Poe. This type of haunted house could be adapted easily for a theater or literature class. How to Create a Gothic Haunted House
