Barnabas Collins (MGM)

Barnabas Collins was a distinguished member of the Collins family raised during the latter half of the 18th century. The son of Joshua and Naomi Collins, Barnabas lived at the original family mansion, commonly referred to as the Old House.
== History ==
Exactly how Barnabas was transformed into a vampire was unclear - Barnabas indicated that more than one person was responsible (see notes). Under unrevealed circumstances Barnabas was chained in his coffin in 1797, which was hidden inside a secret antechamber within the bowels of the Collins family mausoleum. He remained trapped here for nearly two hundred years.
== Resurrection ==
In June of 1970, Willie Loomis, a handyman working at the modern Collinwood estate, discovered an old riddle alluding to the location of the missing jewels of Naomi Collins. Willie deciphered the riddle and discovered the secret crypt beneath the Collins family mausoleum containing a chained coffin. However, upon opening it, he did not find the missing jewels - instead, he found the vampire Barnabas Collins. Barnabas attacked Willie and drank his blood. Rather than kill Willie, he enslaved him and forced him to assist in acclimating himself to the modern era.
That same evening, Barnabas attacked Daphne Budd, a secretary working for the Collins family who was on her way home from work, and drank her blood.
Barnabas acquired a modern business suit and introduced himself to the family members of Collinwood. He claimed to be a descendent of the Barnabas Collins that lived on the estate in 1797. In order to engender trust in his distant relatives, he proffered forth the missing necklace of Naomi Collins. He presented it as a gift to Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, the head of the Collinwood household who closely resembled Naomi. At this time he also met Dr. Julia Hoffman and Professor Timothy Eliot Stokes, both of whom were close friends of the family. Barnabas was leery to answer too many questions about his past, stating only that he lived on Cadogan Square in London, quickly changing the subject when Professor Stokes mentioned people he knew in that area.
As the Collins began to welcome him into their lives, Barnabas expressed an interest in moving into the Old House. Elizabeth was concerned about the idea due to the state of disrepair that the ancestral home had fallen prey to. Barnabas assured her that he would be very content living there, and was prepared to restore the mansion to its original condition. Roger gave Barnabas a tour of the Old House ruins, and within a fortnight, he had moved in. He had his coffin brought over from the mausoleum and placed inside the basement of the Old House. Barnabas “hired” Willie Loomis to work as his personal handyman in helping to restore the house. He also contracted a crew of workmen to assist Willie during the daylight hours while Barnabas slept.
Elizabeth's daughter, Carolyn Stoddard went to the Old House and discussed the life of the "original" Barnabas Collins with Barnabas. She asked if his ancestor had lived in Barnabas' house on Cadogan Square, but Barnabas explained that he had settled in Coventry because the family home had been destroyed during the war.
A few nights later, the Collins family hosted a large costume ball in honor of Barnabas' arrival. The theme of the party required all of the guests to dress in costumes indicative of the styles worn in the 18th century. Barnabas attended it wearing the formal clothes that he had been buried in for almost two hundred years. At this time, he met the Collins family governess, Maggie Evans and her boyfriend, Jeff Clark. Barnabas became instantly infatuated with Maggie, and convinced her to remain at Collinwood when he discovered that she was in the process of quitting her job.
Shortly after the party, Barnabas returned to the Old House with thoughts of Maggie in his mind. He believed Maggie to be the reincarnation of his lost love, Josette, and he began developing a plan to make Maggie his vampire bride. During his rumination, Carolyn entered the room. She overheard everything. Carolyn wanted Barnabas for herself and did not want to share him with Maggie Evans. She threatened to expose Barnabas unless he devoted himself only to her. Fearing betrayal, Barnabas leapt upon Carolyn and drank her blood to the point of death. Willie tried to stop him, but was unable to save Carolyn’s life. Barnabas ordered Willie to get rid of her body. Willie dragged Carolyn’s corpse back to Collinwood and left it in the foyer. The housekeeper, Mrs. Johnson, discovered the young girl’s corpse.
== The cure ==
Following Carolyn's funeral, Dr. Hoffman began analyzing samples of Carolyn's blood and comparing it to those taken from Daphne Budd. She detected an unidentifiable cell that had been acting as a virus in their respective bloodstreams. Professor Stokes suggested the idea that the creature responsible for killing Daphne and Carolyn was a vampire. Julia disbelieved him at first, but learned the truth for herself one evening when Barnabas failed to cast a reflection in her compact mirror. Julia felt that she could successfully cure Barnabas of his vampiric affliction.
She went to the Old House at dusk and told Barnabas that she knew he was a vampire. Barnabas was prepared to kill her, but she further spoke of the chance of a possible cure. Barnabas had little faith in Julia's ability to actually cure him, but he was not prepared to let such an opportunity slip away without at least giving her the benefit of the doubt. Julia prepared a series of antiviral injections that she administered to Barnabas once every evening. Within a few weeks time, the process began to yield positive results, and Barnabas was able to walk about in the daylight. He still suffered from his vampiric cravings for blood, but the desire to drink human blood was significantly decreased.
With a renewed sense of hope, Barnabas found the inner strength to pursue Maggie Evans with even greater ardor. He arranged for Jeff Clark to be out of town for a few days, thereby allowing himself the ability to win Maggie over. They went on frequent walks in the sunshine on the grounds of the estate. Maggie was slowly beginning to fall in love with him. He gave her the music box that once belonged to Josette DuPres.
Julia meanwhile, had likewise found herself falling in love with the vampire. She was devastated to discover that Barnabas only had eyes for Maggie Evans. In a jealous rage, she deliberately sabotaged one of Barnabas’ antiviral injections. This resulted in Barnabas’ body aging at an extremely accelerated rate. Barnabas learned that Julia had betrayed him and he attacked her at the Old House, strangling her to death.
== Wedding plans ==
He then raced back to Collinwood to collect Maggie Evans. He bit her throat and drank her blood until she was practically insensate. With the infusion of fresh blood, the effects of the advanced aging began to subside, and Barnabas regained his natural appearance. He brought her limp body to an old chapel monastery on St. Eustace Island to prepare for a wedding ceremony. He dressed Maggie in the wedding gown that once belonged to Josette.
By this point, the remainder of the Collinwood household was aware that Barnabas was a vampire. Roger Collins, Jeff Clark and Professor Stokes conspired to track Barnabas down and put an end to him. Stokes and Roger went directly to the chapel while Jeff went about searching for Maggie. Barnabas attacked them, turning them both into vampires.
Professor Stokes attacked Jeff Clark on the marshes surrounding St. Eustace Island. Jeff shot him in the chest using a bullet made of silver. He then went to the ruins of an old castle where he found Roger, who he destroyed by impaling him with a sharpened piece of wood left upon the floor.
Jeff then learned that Barnabas had taken Maggie Evans to an old chapel monastery located somewhere in the castle. He tracked them down and hid in the second floor balcony while Barnabas laid Maggie Evans upon an altar. Jeff used a crossbow and fired a bolt into the back of Willie Loomis. Barnabas spun around and used his vampiric hypnotism to force Jeff to stop, summoning him down into the nave of the church as a witness for the wedding of Barnabas and Josette. Willie, bleeding to death, attacked Barnabas, but Barnabas finished him off by strangling him. Miraculously, Jeff found the inner strength to resist Barnabas' mind-control. He picked up the crossbow bolt that had felled Willie Loomis and drove it into the vampire's back, piercing his heart. Barnabas fell backwards upon the floor of the church, dead.
After the film's credits, Barnabas' body turns into a bat and flies out of frame.
== Barnabas' victims ==
: In chronological order
Daphne Budd
Nancy Hodiak
Carolyn Stoddard
Julia Hoffman
Collinsport deputy
Professor Timothy Eliot Stokes
Roger Collins
Willie Loomis (see notes)
== Notes ==
* In the continuity of the original Dark Shadows, the witch Angelique Collins was responsible for turning Barnabas Collins into a vampire. In the movie, House of Dark Shadows, the origin of his vampire curse is never provided. In one scene, Barnabas says, "When they put this curse upon me,", suggesting that more than one person was responsible for Barnabas' condition. It is possible that Barnabas is referring to the Leviathans as the originators of his curse in this timeline, as these creatures had recently been used on the television series to restore the vampire curse to Barnabas. Alternatively, and perhaps more likely, Barnabas could simply have been using "they" as a gender-neutral singular and thus only referring to one person.
* Barnabas Collins maintained all of the trademark apparel that he utilized in the original Dark Shadows including: His black signet ring, his wolf's-head cane, his Inverness coat and his portrait, which hung in the gallery room at Collinwood.
* The biography of Barnabas Collins, as described here, is adapted from a plotline in the original Dark Shadows series, which ran from episode 210 to episode 265 – the long-term repercussions of which, extended even beyond that.
* In the House of Dark Shadows movie, Jeff Clark killed Willie Loomis single-handedly. In the novelization of the film, Willie survived long enough to attack Barnabas, but Barnabas grabbed Willie by the throat and finished him off. In the film Willie did attack Barnabas. The info above is incorrect.
Category:House of Dark Shadows Characters
Category:Vampires