The following is from DARK SHADOWS ALMANAC, 1995 Pomegranate Press:
SHADOWS SOURCES
The following literary works inspired Dark Shadows storylines:
Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre (Victoria Winters, 1966; Jenny Collins, Rachel Drummond, 1897)
Arthur Miller's The Crucible (Reverend Trask, Abigail Collins & Victoria, 1795)
Edgar Allan Poe's The Cask of Amontillado (Barnabas & Trask, 1795)
Author unknown The Dream Deceivers (The Dream Curse, 1968)
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (Adam, 1968)
Edgar Allan Poe's The Premature Burial (Elizabeth Collins Stoddard,
1968)
Henry James' The Turn of the Screw (The Ghosts of Quentin Collins & Beth Chavez, 1968-69; The Ghosts of Gerard Stiles & Daphne Harridge, 1970)
Edgar Allan Poe's The Tell Tale Heart (Quentin and Edith Collins, 1897)
Charles Dickens Nicholas Nickleby; Dotheboys Hall (Worthington Hall, 1897)
Edgar Allan Poe's The Pit & The Pendulum (Aristede & Quentin, 1897)
Guy de Maupassant's The Monkey's Paw (Count Petofi's hand, 1897)
Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray (Quentin's Portrait, 1897)
H.P. Lovecraft's The Cthulhu Mythos (The Leviathans, 1969-70)
Greek Mythology: Orpheus In The Underworld (Quentin & Amanda, 1969-70)
Daphne DuMaurier's Rebecca (1970 Parallel Time & Night of Dark Shadows)
Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (Cyrus Longworth/John Yaeger, 1970 Parallel Time)
Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights (1841 Parallel Time)
Shirley Jackson's The Lottery (1841 Parallel Time)
When Roger Collin's is under the spell of Angelique's portrait in 1968, he recites to the painting from Matthew Arnold's poem Dover Beach.
The Dark Shadows writers didn't always remember everything they had established on previous episodes. For example, during the latter part of the series, the 1795 period was often erroneously referred to as 1797.
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The only ones I haven't read are: The Dream Deceivers, Frankenstein, and Nicholas Nickleby. I used to teach The Crucible, Poe, and The Lottery. Wuthering Heights, Rebecca, and Jane Eyre are my favorites, but they are all good. Rebecca is a good place to start. She also wrote The Birds.