Dark Shadows

As a kid, I was really into Dark Shadows. I loved watching the stories unfold on the TV screen. However, there was much more to Dark Shadows than the TV show.

First off, there was also a whole series of books related to the show. The author, Marilyn Ross, was actually Dan Ross writing under his wife's name. I probably read most of these books at a young age. A precocious and avid reader, I tended to sneak and read the things I actually wanted to read instead of the more age-appropriate offerings.

I also had two board games that tied in to the series: Dark Shadows and Barnabas Collins.

Dark Shadows was a game in which you moved a token around the board. It was a traditional board game by Whitman, and it was my favorite of the two. As a bonus, it included a wallet-sized photo of Barnabas himself.

Barnabas Collins was different; the object of the game was to collect bones and put the skeletons together. Milton Bradley also included a set of fangs that glowed in the dark.

I also found this cool site about Dark Shadows collectibles. Looking it over, I think I recognize the pink Magic Slate, so it's possible I had one of those. I have no idea why I didn't have the two jigsaw puzzles, since I loved putting them together, but I'm pretty sure I didn't. Still, the one in front looks vaguely familiar, so maybe I really did have that one. My memory is pretty faulty, so I just don't know.

I remember how happy I was when Dark Shadows was revived back in 1991. It was really good, but unfortunately, it was only around for twelve episodes.

I've tried to watch the original series as an adult, but I gave up. It just wasn't the same, so I thought it was best to leave the series in my memories.

So Many Books!

When I was in grade school, my classmates and I had to fulfill a reading requirement outside the classroom. I'm not sure how many years it was required, but I do know it was mandatory in at least the first and second grades.

The requirement was simple. We had to read a certain number of books in addition to the ones we all read in class. These extra books could be anything we wanted, as long as we read the entire book and not just a page or two. I believe the required number was 32.

At the beginning of the school year, we received a pre-printed form on which we (or a parent) were to write down the book titles. Then, at the end of the school year, we turned in the completed form. If we exceeded the requirement, we could continue the list on another sheet of paper, staple the pages together, and hand in the entire list. We didn't get any extra credit for them, but the teacher could see just how busy we'd been.

I was always an avid reader, read far above my grade level, and read just about anything I could get my tiny hands on. It always took me very little time to get through the required number of books. Just 32? No problem!

In the second grade, I was pretty pleased with my list. I'd read well over a hundred books and could easily have told you what happened in all of them if asked. (That was back when my memory was actually quite good, as opposed to now, when I probably couldn't tell you anything about what I read yesterday.)

I proudly gave my teacher the list. She glanced at it, scowled, and asked, "Why'd you read so many?"

Can you imagine?

Fortunately, her sour attitude didn't spoil my love of books.