The Dark Shadows Daybook: May 5

By PATRICK McCRAY

Taped on this date in 1969: Episode 752

After Quentin’s first evening as the wolf, Beth finds him on the floor of the great hall, dazed, with no memory.  Quentin asks Evan Hanley to intervene on an occult level and he agrees. Evan’s price will be billed when the time comes. For now, Quentin hands Judith back the bribe for him to leave Collinwood and tears up the contract. In the Old House, Magda’s card reading is interrupted by Evan. Magda denies the power of the curse. When Evan wisely tries to buy her pentagram amulet, she demurs. Evan returns to Quentin’s, creating a pentagram on the floor for protection and leaves two black candles for the points. But even these may not help him. After Evan leaves, Quentin is wracked with pain as he transforms before Beth’s eyes!

Werewolves: arguably unique among monsters because they frighten on two levels, in two completely different ways. By night, we see them as monsters and fear for their victims. By day, we see them as frightened victims, themselves, searching desperately for a cure and letting us fear for them. Want to know why DARK SHADOWS only dealt with werewolves for short amounts of time? I would argue that it’s because they lack versatility. A vampire can talk about his condition as a vampire. But the werewolf is an amnesiac. For all he knows, moonlight brings along a painful transformation into the Comcast guy. Whining during the day. Inarticulate attacks at night. But for the relatively brief slice of this story where Quentin is infected, get ready to have fun. They show delights in his narrow escapes. And metaphorically, the curse of the werewolf is an ideal one for Quentin. He is forever alone in a crowd… a wolf without a pack.

May 5, 1969 was a helluva day in the world of DARK SHADOWS. David Selby became a dad; Jamison was born that day. Also, Humbert Allen Astredo returns to the show after an absence of nearly two months. And in the birthday department, we also wish a happy one for the memory of character actor Joe Della Sorte, who plays one of the ghosts in episode 826.  He would go on to work solidly in TV and film, including THE GODFATHER: PART II. Oh, and Norman Mailer won the first of his two Pulitzers. Dan “Marilyn” Ross was robbed again.