First movie and Tv crushes

Dark Shadows was really in it's own category. It was a daytime melodrama (soap opera) that ran 5 days of the week, but it was gothic/horror/mystery. Not a standard soap and not a standard horror movie, more like a hybrid that explored pretty unusual storylines like time travel and parallel universe. Because it was on every day, they had a very short rehearsal and shooting schedule so it does not have cinematic production values. Most scenes were probably done in one take. It was shot on videotape, not on film. The first couple years were black and white. It was low budget for the supernatural genre, and that causes it to feel somewhat dated and cheesy. Unfortunately the movie with Johnny Depp just played up that vintage cheesy 70's vibe which is sad because it misses the dark romantic vibe which is really what I remember it for. Barnabus Collins (played by Jonathan Frid) was a huge heartthrob at the time, you would see him in the teen magazines alongside The Monkees and David Cassidy!
There were a couple of Dark Shadows movies, a lot of paperback novels, a board game.

The vampire character did not turn up until like 10 months into the show, so if you want to try it I would say don't necessarily watch it from the beginning. Start with the episode when Barnabus appears.