Barrettstown

This article belongs to the continuity of the 1991 Revival series.
Barrettstown is a small community in Northern Maine that was founded some time in the early 1600s. An English clergyman named Redmond Swann immigrated to the new world with several colonists and helped to establish the town. Swann, a mysterious man blessed with eternal life, decided that the town would prosper more under a strictly enforced pledge of isolationism. Because of this, families were encouraged to inter-marry and future generations were spawned as the products of inbreeding. Because of the hereditary rules of genetic drift, each successive generation born in the village of Barrettstown harbored great physical deformity. One out of every four children were born an abomination. Swann did not see these products of inbreeding as monsters, but rather, he saw them as God’s chosen children. Through the ages, the healthy population of Barrettstown began to dwindle as more and more deformed children were born.
Barrettstown is home to a reservoir of great mystical energy. Through the ages, many women were able to tap into that energy and came under the notice of the immortal, puritanical Swann. Seeing these witches as a threat to God’s plan, he imitated the practices conduced in Salem and began holding witch trials.
By 1991, the village of Barrettstown was virtually cut off from civilization. Swann maintained his inbred population and proclaimed that all of those who had not suffered from hereditary deformity were the true abominations. One of these families was the Hoffmans. Vincent and Lara Hoffman’s family line extended back several centuries, but neither of them suffered from the birth defects that plagued the remainder of the community.
In January 1991, Vincent sent a letter to his niece, Julia in the town of Collinsport. He informed her that they were in trouble and required assistance. Julia and the vampire known as Barnabas Collins came to Barrettstown to help them. Redmond Swann captured the Hoffmans and Barnabas as well. Barnabas remembered Swann from a chance encounter the two shared back in the late 1700’s. Barnabas and the others escaped from Swann’s clutches and they sealed Redmond and his entire monstrous congregation inside of his church. Vincent Hoffman set the church on fire and nearly everyone inside, including Swann, perished in the flames.
Vincent Hoffman elected to stay in Barrettstown in an effort to rebuild the community.
== Appearances ==
Dark Shadows: Book One #3
Dark Shadows: Book One #4
Category:Locations