Collinsport

Chapter Eight-Willie Loomis-Part one

Picture of actor John Karlen as Willie Loomis in 1967, in 'Dark Shadows'; and Episode 11 of the 1966 TV original first season, in which Caroline Stoddard brings Burke Devlin to Collinsport Manor, (otherwise known as Collinwood in the modern tongue), right in the media section.

Warning: It is rated PG for some supernatural horror violence, adult themes.

You must be 13 years and over to see and hear it.

B/W.

***

They didn't care about Barnabas Collins; they didn't care about how great he was. No; no. He made mistakes; he made me into a Vampire's servant...

...And this is how it started.

***

I wanted to be a fisherman.

It became, as others have told me, a labor.

I loved the ports.

And the fishermen.

And the community of men, women, and boys...and girls. They needed the money to thrive. But, because of the influence of Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, and her family, they decreased my pay because I was not right in the head.

***

Due to the damage she caused, I fell out of sight in 1964. Nothing weird happened; nothing. I was on the street begging.

By 1965, I heard about how Barnabas Collins, a Vampire, was buried. My best friend, a fisherman named Jason McGuire, who was married and had three children.

"Fear those who dwell in the dark shadows".

I nodded.

"But...Can I protect myself with garlic, Holy Water, and a Catholic Crucifix?", I asked. Jason smiled; I also smiled.

"Go to them!".

And he shook my right hand, and let me go.

***

I walked up the creepy house.

The cliffs where Josie threw herself off caused my blood to freeze. No one wanted to alone. And, as I reached the edge, I saw Roger Collins.

He was agitated.

And, as his eyes glared at me, I left him to brood.

"Don't go near Collinsport Willie", he intoned.

"Why am I prevented from visiting your  home?", I asked.

"Because you're not family", he answered.

Then he walked away towards the house just as thunder boomed in the dark sky.

***

The entrance to the Collins' coffins was near the garden.

I moved forward.

I was near Caroline Stoddard's bedroom.

She was with the Governess, a woman named Victoria Winters. I'd heard about her from Sam Evans; I heard about her New York troubles.

But she wasn't the main concern.

***

I noticed the arches.

They were in the cobbled steps that lead to the coffins. There were a dozen of them. Ancient ones from the 18th Century.

I crept through the silver padlocks.

I grabbed a hammer and banged on them.

And, once I heard the thudding noise, I took a long, deep breath.

***

I waited for Caroline to appear.

When she didn't, neither was Elizabeth, Roger, or David Collins. Neither were anyone else who was associated with the most infamous name in Collinsport.

***

I kicked the padlocks away.

And, as I peered into the darkness, I saw one single flashlight on the walls. I took it, placed it on my right hand, walked down the eerie steps.

 I reached the bottom. The cold dark crypt was full of more shadows. They  followed me into the abyss; and threatened to take me to Hell.

***

In the end, I saw four coffins:

Jeremiah Collins; Josette DuPre Collins; Angelique Collins; and Barnabas Collins. They had died centuries ago; they had had died centuries before my birth.

Yet, for me, death was the beginning.

And that, in turn, was all that mattered.

*

The grave read:

JEREMIAH COLLINS, (B. 1763-D.1795); ANGELIQUE BROUCHARD COLLINS, (B. 1674-1698)-MAIDESERVANT, SECOND WIFE OF BARNABAS COLLINS-WITCH; JOSETTE du PRE COLLINS, (B. 1774-D.1795)-WIFE OF BARNABAS COLLINS; and BARNABAS COLLINS, (B? D: 1795). He shivered at the cold atmosphere.

And, then, he saw the rattling black chains around the old coffins.

He began to open them all, one by one, by bashing the chains until he could open them up, and unleash the Vampires of Collinsport from their eternal tombs.

***

Page 9.