Terror escalates at the great house of Collinwood, where a vengeful enemy has set in motion a diabolical scheme to destroy the family. He is unaware that there are those who are wise to his presence and his cruel intentions. One woman, the secretary to man he has possessed, has unwittingly stumbled upon a part of his treachery, and as a result, has placed her own life in mortal danger. Now, in the nearby town of Collinsport, he is plotting the next step in his vile and vicious plans...
The scene opens at Trevor Halliburton's house where he has ordered Adam to stay. "Why do I have to stay here, so far away from Collinwood? I wanted this face so I would be able to see Carolyn!" Adam said disappointedly. Trevor turned to him and replied, "Collinwood is the last place you want to be right now, Adam. I have placed a curse on the house. Everyone within its walls is tormented by their worst nightmares. If you were to be staying there, you too would be included. Besides, young David Collins has been prowling around your old room. It wouldn't be safe for you there." Adam looked at him and cried out, "That means Carolyn is having those dreams! I want you to make Carolyn free from them!" Trevor turned angrily to Adam and declared, "Maybe you've forgotten just who is in control here, Adam! Carolyn is a Collins! I will make no exception in her case! Is that clear?" Adam pleads further, "But I love Carolyn. I don't want to see her hurt." Trevor turned and glared into Adam's face and said, "My whole reason for being here is the extinction of the Collins name! As long as ONE lives, the Collins family will continue. I suggest you find someone else to plan a future with, because I assure you, you have no future with Carolyn!"
(Five ascending dramatic notes sound)
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(Three sets of 2 notes each sound. Each set is one note higher than the last. The final note is sustained and fades out.) "Judah, I can take Carolyn far away from here, Away from Collinsport, away from the rest of the family. You don't have to hurt her!" Adam persists in trying to persuade him to show mercy. Trevor turns to him and his eyes are cold and cruel as he coldly says, "I told you I intend to erase all trace of the Collins name from this earth! Carolyn will not be spared. Now I can return you to your former state as easily as I delivered you from it. One more word about sparing Carolyn, and I will do just that. Do I make myself clear, Adam?" Adam's eyes drop as he grudgingly agrees. "Now, I want you to pick up a few things for me, Adam." He takes out his pen and notepad and hurriedly scrawls down some items, then hands it Adam. "At the stroke of midnight, I want you to meet me at the gazebo at Collinwood. Make certain that you are not seen. Do you understand?" Adam, still pouting, says, "I understand." Trevor places a hat on his head and says, "Good, I will be looking for you at midnight. Don't be late." Trevor then turned and left the house. Adam sits down at the table with sad eyes and buries his face in his hands. (Sad music fades out)
East wing drawing room at Collinwood is the scene. Professor Stokes picks up the telephone and dials a number. He waits a moment, and then speaks, "Professor Carstairs? T. Eliot Stokes. I was wondering if you would mind taking my classes today. I'm afraid an important matter has come up that requires my immediate attention... I'm not really sure if I will have the matter concluded in a day or not... If you would be so kind as to fill in for me, I'll call you as soon as I know I'll be returning. Thank you, Professor. Goodbye." Stokes then turns to Barnabas and Julia and says, "It isn't every day one gets a chance to research something as significant as the Journal of Judah Zachary." He sits down at the table and opens the book and places the monocle to his eye and begins perusing. After a few moments, he looks up with a look of great puzzlement. "Barnabas? You defended the original Quentin Collins during the witchcraft trial in 1841. I believe you said that the journal was between the years 1688 to the year 1692 when he was executed. Is that correct?" Barnabas looked at him curiously and replied, "Yes, why?" Stokes looked at the front of the journal, and then thumbed to the back of it. He looked at them both and said, "This journal is dated from 1671 to 1677!" Barnabas mouth opened in surprise as he said, "What? Let me see." He takes the book and peruses its pages and then looks up with a baffled expression and says, "So it could be that this journal will be of no use to us at all!" Stokes stroked his lower lip and said, "The only way we can be sure is to read it." He takes the book again and sets about the arduous task of digesting its contents. Julia looks at Barnabas and says, "I'm going to see how Willie is progressing on the staircase." She turns and leaves the East wing drawing room.
Willie Loomis stops his work for a moment and wipes the sweat from his brow and sighs deeply. He takes the tape measure and measures the tread. He stands to take it and push it in place when the door opens and Julia enters. "Good Morning, Willie." She says as he lays the board back on the saw horses. "Good Mornin' Julia," He says taking another deep breath. "Well, it looks like you're almost finished, Willie!" she says looking pleased at the stairway. Willie stands back and looks at it with her and says, "I shuah hope it wuks. Do ya really think this is gonna help Bahnabas? You know, stop getting' oldah?" Julia tightens her lips and flutters her eyes and replies, "I don't know, Willie. We can't even be sure that's the reason we were told to build it. That stairway holds the answer to Judah Zachary's defeat. How or why, we don't know, but there's some reason "she" wants us to build it!" Willie runs his fingers through his hair and says, "Theah's somethin wid about these plans she gave us, Julia! I don't undahstand it!" Julia tilted her head and asks, "What is it, Willie?" He walks over to the corner and grabs the scroll and unrolls it and spreads it out on the nearby table. Julia leans over the table to get a better look at the plans. Willie points at a spot on the drawing and says, "Ya see how all the steps ah exactly 3 feet wide?" Julia squinted and looked all about the ancient blueprint and nodded as she said, "Yes." Then Willie points at another area and says, "Now look at the top staih!" It says to cut it two feet, eleven and three quatta inches. It don't make no sense to cut 'em all exactly the same, but make this one shortah." Julia tilts her head curiously and thoughtfully replies, "I don't know, Willie, but something tells me we shouldn't question it. We are dealing with the unknown and the supernatural. I would follow these instructions to the letter." Willie scratches his head and says, "If you say so. You and Barnabas know moah about that kinda stuff. I should have it done in about a houah." Julia smiles and says, "That's wonderful, Willie. I'll let Barnabas know. He'll want to see it, I'm sure." Julia departs. Willie turns to look at the staircase one more time. He pushes his hair back and reaches for the board he earlier discarded. (Twinkling music out.)
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Professor Stokes still sits pouring through the journal of Judah Zachary. Barnabas asks, "Have you found anything yet, Eliot?" Stokes paused and said, "Thus far it reads like any other diary of a young man. It seems he hasn't yet begun his practice of witchcraft. He talks of his affections for a certain young woman. It's remarkably droll to say the least." Barnabas sighs and says, "I feared that would be the case." Stokes then interjects, "You must keep in mind I've only completed the first section of the book. There may yet be something here that will be useful. I dare not skip over a single entry. There is far too much at stake." Barnabas paces about the room and says, "I just can't help thinking that we would learn more from the journal we left in 1841." Stokes looks up and replies, "Well, once Mr. Loomis completes that staircase, we should be able to return to 1841 to retrieve it." "That moment may be sooner than you think," Julia says as she enters the room, "He says it will be finished within the hour." Barnabas displays a pleased look and says, "That's wonderful news, Julia. We must devise a way to remove it from the courthouse without being seen." Julia thought for a moment, and then says, "Stealth may not be necessary, Barnabas! You were involved in the trial; you could simply tell Judge Vail that you'd like to examine it! Simply tell him that it's research for a book that you're writing about the trial. Surely he would have no objection to that!" Barnabas pondered the thought for a moment and said, "You may be right, Julia." He paces a few steps and says, "No! Judge Vail would want to know why I have aged so much in such a short time. You will have to ask on my behalf. It has been established that you're my sister! If he were to see me in my present state, he would be certain that witchcraft is still being practiced in the village!" Stokes looked up and remarked, "The last thing we want is to pollute the timeline with another witch hunt. Innocent people would pay the price." Julia sighed and then said, "Alright. I will see Judge Vail." (Twinkling music out.)
Adam sits alone inside Trevor Halliburton's house. His face shows deep concern. He stands up and paces about the room. His thoughts are heard. "Why does he have to hurt Carolyn? I can't stop him. He has the power to make me the way I was again. But what good is this face if I can't see Carolyn?" He walks about the room with a look of utter hopelessness on his face. "With this face, I could find someone to love. I'm not ugly any more. I tried to love somebody else. But I couldn't love Eve. I hated her. Carolyn is the only woman I'll ever love. I can't let him hurt her." Adam desperately tries to think of a way to prevent Judah from accomplishing his goal, but then suddenly flops down hopelessly on the sofa. "If he was just a man, I could stop him. I can't fight his powers. I don't understand them." Suddenly his eyes light up. "Professor Stokes! He knows about these things!" He rises from the sofa and picks up the phone and dials. He waits, as ring after unanswered ring sounds in his ear. Finally, realizing that no answer will come, he disappointedly hangs up the phone and sits back down at the table. He looks up toward the ceiling with tears in his eyes and cries out, "Carolyn!" He then buries his face in his hands realizing all was hopeless. (Sad music out.)
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Willie Loomis stands the last step tread against the wall and then pushes the saw horses away to one corner. He then grabs a broom and sweeps the sawdust in a pile and sweeps it over to the corner to collect later. Just as he finishes, Barnabas, Julia, and Stokes enter the room. "Incredible!" declares Stokes looking at the structure. "A staircase rising up to a solid wall!" he continues. "Hey Barnabas, Julia, Hi Professah. I got one last boad an it's done." Barnabas walked to the bottom of the steps examining Willie's handiwork. "A fine job, Willie!" he says warmly. Willie takes the last tread and pushes it in place. Taking the hammer and nails, he secures it in place with two nails in each of the 3 stringers. One final hammer blow drives the last nail securely home. The moment the last nail was securely seated, a door appeared at the top of the stairs. Willie jumped in shock at it's appearance. The rest of them exchanged looks of equal surprise. Suddenly, Willie stood up with his eyes wide and declared, "Somebody's comin'!" No sooner were the words out of his mouth, the rest of them heard the distinct sound of footfalls on wooden steps. Willie descended the stairs and stood at the bottom looking up at the doorway. Each footstep grows progressively louder. The sound of a doorknob being turned is heard. All watch as the knob slowly turns. The door opens and against a background of brightly flashing lights stands the darkened silhouette of a man. His face is indistinguishable. All stare wide eyed at the phenomenon as three dramatic notes sound.
Barnabas Collins.
JONATHAN FRID
Julia Hoffman.
GRAYSON HALL
Professor Stokes.
THAYER DAVID
Willie Loomis.
JOHN KARLEN
Adam.
ROBERT RODAN
Trevor Halliburton/Judah Zachary.
KEITH PRENTICE
Written and Directed by RUSS WILLIAMS
Story Developed and Created by ART WALLACE
Produced By PETER MINER
Associate Producer GEORGE DiCENZO
Fashions courtesy of ORBACH'S
Music composed by ROBERT COBERT
Scenic Design SY TOMASHOFF
Music Supervisor SYBIL WEINBERGER
Costume Design MOSTOLLER
Make up VINCENT LOSCALZO
Associate Producer KEN McEWEN
Assistant to the producer HARRIET ROHR
Unit Manager PATRICK PLEVEN
Technical Director J.J. LUPATKIN
Lighting Director MEL HANDELSMAN
Audio FRANK BAILEY HENRY PLIMACK
Sound Effects ED BLAINEY
Video RUDY PICCIRILLO ROSS SKIPPER
Series created by DAN CURTIS Executive Producer