[Victoria narrating] - The sun has gone down
and the night at Collinwood seems darker and lonelier
than ever before.
For a little boy has disappeared,
and we live with the fear that he may never return safely.
At the old house on the Collinwood estate,
plans are being made,
for there is a man in that house
who fears the little boy may have learned his dark secret.
♪♪
[Barnabas] - Where is Willie?
- I don't know.
I saw him briefly late this afternoon.
- Well, I gave him explicit instructions
to report to me at sundown.
He was to have looked for David all day.
- Well, he must not have had any luck
because he said nothing to me about it.
- Well, either that, or he did find out something
and is afraid to tell me.
Well, I'll deal with him later.
But right now, the business at hand is to find David,
and I shall before this night is over.
♪♪
[grunting]
- "Open the door, Willie!"
That's all Barnabas said.
And then Willie opened it.
It must've been something easy,
but I can't figure out how he did it.
I can't.
♪♪
[waves crashing] ♪♪
- Barnabas,
I must insist that you stay here for the time being.
- I warn you, Doctor,
my patience is not without its limits.
Please don't interfere with my plans, or you'll regret it.
- I'm not insisting just to hear myself talk.
You need to have another injection.
- It can wait.
- No, the timing of the injection
is of vital importance. [exhales sharply]
They must be given at proper intervals or they're useless.
- Doctor, if little David knows what I think he knows
and tells anyone, your whole experiment will be useless.
- The injection will be ready in about minutes.
Surely you can wait that long.
- No, I cannot.
- minutes is a very short time, Barnabas.
It seems to me that you're in an unusual hurry
to get out of here.
- How perceptive of you.
- And I suspect it is for a reason that you haven't told me.
- I gave you my reason.
I must find David before anybody else does.
- I don't believe you.
I don't believe you have to find David at all.
I believe you may already know where he is.
- What are you talking about?
- Of the possibility that you are the reason
that David is missing.
That you are holding him prisoner somewhere
in the hope that he can eventually lead you to Sarah.
- Use your head, Doctor.
I would never keep little David a prisoner
and run the risk of his telling someone about me
after he has escaped from me.
No, David will never tell
because when I find him,
it won't be to keep him prisoner.
- What will you do?
- What would you have me do?
Sit idly by
and let him destroy me?
And you too, Doctor.
You have as much to lose as I have.
[scoffing] - It seems to me that you are assuming
that David knows what you are,
You have no way of being sure.
- Of course I don't.
That's why I must find him and question him,
and then I'll know and do whatever is necessary.
- Oh, you mean if he doesn't know, you won't hurt him?
- Precisely.
But, unfortunately, I'm convinced he does.
He's been seeing far too much of Sarah lately.
Children are always talking with each other
and sharing their secrets.
[wind whistling]
It will be a pity if David has to be done away with.
I was growing very fond of him.
But if I have to choose between sentiment and survival,
I'll choose survival.
- Do you have any idea where David could be?
- None-- That's why I'm going to Collinwood first
and find out what has happened so far.
Then I'll know where not to look.
- Perhaps they've already found him.
Wouldn't that be a surprise for you?
- Doctor, if that was a taste of your kind of humor,
I can do without it.
- I'm sorry.
I can't help hoping that someone else finds him before you do.
- You know, for a professional person, and a doctor,
it's astonishing how many traits you share with Willie,
squeamishness being one of them.
- I'd hardly call it squeamish,
not wanting to see a child die at the hands of a...
- A what, Doctor?
- Barnabas, I warn you.
If you harm David,
you'll be writing your own death warrant.
- There may be one or two death warrants written,
regardless of what happens to David.
And you can pass that on to Willie when you see him.
♪♪
[knocking]
- Oh, Barnabas.
- Good evening, Vicki.
Has there been any word of David?
- No, I'm afraid not.
The sheriff and his men are doing everything possible
to find him.
- But are you sure?
- Yes, why?
- Well, it seems to me that they should have found him by now.
After all, a boy of ten years old
can't wander very far in an area of this sort.
Are you sure that they searched thoroughly?
- Yes, Barnabas, they have combed every square inch
within a five-mile radius and they're going over it again.
Barnabas, I'm afraid that
David's had some kind of accident.
- I know.
It's a difficult time,
but in a time like this, you should be calm and rational.
I'm sure an accident isn't the answer.
- Why?
- Well, if he were injured,
he wouldn't be able to move very freely.
And I'm sure the sheriff would have found him.
- Well, then, that leaves one other possibility.
One that terrifies me.
Right now, David could be at the mercy of a maniac.
- A maniac?
- Yes.
The man who kidnapped Maggie Evans was never caught.
At this very moment, he could be roaming in the woods,
searching for a new victim, and that victim could be David.
- Or he could have fled after Maggie Evans escaped.
He could be a thousand miles from here.
- Barnabas, this man is much too dangerous to be dismissed.
We cannot assume that he disappeared.
It's just too convenient and not very realistic.
- I'm sorry, Vicki.
I don't mean to underestimate the danger that David may be in
but I don't think it's time yet to fear the worst.
- Well, I can't help it.
The only possible explanation for David's disappearance
is that he vanished,
and that doesn't make any sense.
- Well, it seems that someone should have come across
some kind of clue--
A set of footprints, or an article of clothing,
or something.
- Well, as a matter of fact,
Joe and Roger thought that they were onto something,
but it turned out to be a false alarm.
- What was that?
- Well, it happened
when they were searching the cemetery on Eagle Hill.
- You mean, they think that David may be at the cemetery?
- Well, that's where they found Maggie Evans,
so they decided that they should search there,
just in case.
- And what happened?
- Oh, it's hardly worth mentioning.
It was such a ridiculous incident.
- Nevertheless, I wish you'd tell me.
In a situation like this,
everything should be reviewed over and over again.
What may seem ridiculous at the beginning
might turn out to be very important in the end.
Now, please tell me.
- Well, Joe and Roger met the old caretaker,
who is in charge of the archives of the cemetery on Eagle Hill.
They asked him if he had seen David and he said he hadn't.
- Was that all? - Oh, no.
He told them that he'd heard voices
coming from the Collins mausoleum.
♪♪
- Voices?
- I told you you'd think it was ridiculous.
- Please go on.
- Well, the caretaker, he said that
he'd heard the voices of the dead calling to him.
I should explain that he is very old and a bit strange.
- I see.
Then Roger and Joe didn't believe him?
- No, but they decided to search the mausoleum, just in case.
- And did they?
- Yes.
And the mausoleum was empty and, needless to say,
there were no voices.
- Yes.
Needless to say.
Well, Vicki, there's no point in my staying here.
I should be out and joining the search.
- Barnabas, it's very good of you
to be so concerned about David.
But it's getting late.
Perhaps you shouldn't be out in the woods alone at this hour.
- You forget that I am more used to the dark than most men.
I assure you, no harm will come to me.
♪♪
♪♪
- It's so cold.
I've got to get out of here.
I've got to!
Sarah!
You said you could help Maggie when she was lost.
Sarah, why can't you help me?
Please, Sarah!
If you don't get me out of here, I'm gonna starve!
♪♪
[Barnabas] - Good evening.
- What was that? - It was I.
I said "Good evening." - Well, who are you?
- My name is Barnabas Collins.
Are you the caretaker of the cemetery?
- Here at Eagle Hill
there is very little to take care of anymore.
No one has been laid to rest here for a great many years.
- Then you have nothing to do with the place?
- I have maintained the archives of this graveyard for years.
Who did you say you are?
- Barnabas Collins.
- Are you a ghost?
- A ghost? - Yes.
Barnabas Collins is dead.
He died in England over years ago.
- I am his descendant,
and I assure you that I am quite alive.
Now, I'd like to ask you some questions.
- Why, you, you don't look any different.
You look just like the gentleman in the portrait.
- Please, old man, I have some urgent business
and I want your cooperation.
I'm looking for a little boy who's lost.
- Yes, the ring on your finger is the same, too,
and the cane.
- Would you please listen to me?
- Why are you getting so disturbed?
- I told you, I want some answers from you.
- What answers?
- About the little boy everyone's looking for.
- Oh, he hasn't been found yet?
- No, he has been lost for almost two days now
and I'm trying to find him.
I was hoping that you might give me some help.
- Well, somebody was looking for him this afternoon.
Mr. Roger Collins and a young gentleman.
- Yes, I know.
I want to know what you told them.
- Well, I told them that
if the boy had come through the cemetery,
I would have seen him.
- But you also told them something else.
You said that you had heard voices
coming from inside the Collins mausoleum.
- If you already knew that, why did you ask?
- Did you hear voices or didn't you?
- Why do you want to know?
- Did you hear voices or didn't you?
- I did.
But it wasn't the boy that I heard.
- How do you know?
- Because the boy is alive.
What I heard this afternoon was the voice of someone dead.
- Someone dead? - Yes.
The dead make their presence known in many ways.
Sometimes they speak.
Sometimes they-- they knock.
- Where did this voice come from this afternoon?
- Through the wall of the mausoleum.
- Through the wall?
And what did this voice tell you?
- Well, some of the dead are not at rest
and the sounds they make
are the sounds of anguish and loneliness.
They want someone from the living to help them.
- Is that what you heard?
Someone crying for help?
- Some of them are poor, wretched souls,
cursed to carry their sins with them to the grave.
There is no rest for them.
- Did you hear someone calling
from inside the Collins mausoleum?
- Ah, just a faint cry, it was.
Rather pathetic.
- Like a child?
- Well, there's only one child buried in there.
Little Sarah Collins.
She died when she was nine years old.
- Yes, yes, I know.
- How did you know that?
- Because I'm her--
I am a Collins
and I know all about the family history.
Now, was this voice the voice of a child?
- It could have been.
- But was it?
- It could have been.
- Yes...
It could very well have been.
Perhaps if I go to the mausoleum,
the voice will talk to me.
- Oh, no.
It isn't safe to go there alone at night.
- The night holds no danger for me.
- I disagree, Mr. Collins.
The night holds unseen dangers for every living soul.
♪♪
- Please, someone come and help me!
Please, help me!
[Sarah] - I can help you, David.
♪♪
- Sarah!
♪♪
Sarah!
Where'd you come from?
- I heard you calling for help, so I came to help you.
- Well, how'd you get in here?
- I can get in anywhere.
- How?
- That's another one of my secrets.
- You know, I think you have too many secrets for your own good.
- You sound unhappy.
- I'm not unhappy.
- Well, then, what's the matter?
- Well, to tell the truth, I'm mad at you.
- What for?
- For running off and leaving me in this place.
- I didn't run off and leave you.
- Yes, you did.
We were talking outside and you went away someplace and hid.
So I thought you might be in here and I came to look for you.
- And then what did you do?
- Well, once I was in here, I heard some voices from outside,
and it was my cousin Barnabas and Willie.
I had to close the secret panel
so they wouldn't find out about this room.
And you know,
that's another thing I have to talk to you about.
They already knew about it, 'cause they came in here.
- What did you do?
- Well, I didn't want them to find me
so I had to hide in this coffin.
- That was very clever of you, David.
- Yeah, well, it was also pretty spooky, hiding in a coffin.
Sarah, you showed me how to get into this place,
but you never showed me how to get out.
Well? - I'm sorry, David.
- Well, I'm the one who's gonna be sorry
when my family gets me!
- They must be very worried about you.
- Yes.
Well, can you get me out of here?
- Of course!
- Well, do it, will you?
- You have to promise me something first.
- Oh, okay-- What?
- You have to promise that you won't tell anyone
about this room.
This is still our secret room.
- But Sarah, how can it be a secret?
Barnabas and Willie already know about it.
- You just have to promise, that's all.
- Okay, if you get me out of here!
- Okay.
See this second step?
It slides open, and there's a little knob under it.
Twist the knob, and that's how you get out from this side.
[door scraping]
- Come on, Sarah.
I'll help you up.
Sarah, now where did you go?
Come on, Sarah, this is no time to start playing games.
Sarah, I don't know where you're hiding,
but I have to go home!
[grunting] [door scraping]
[gate creaking loudly]
[gasps]
- Hello, David.
I've been looking everywhere for you.
But now I've found you, haven't I?
♪♪
♪♪
[announcer] - "Dark Shadows" is a Dan Curtis Production.
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315 - September 8, 1967
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The show depicted the lives, loves, trials, and tribulations of the wealthy Collins family of Collinsport, Maine, where a number of supernatural occurrences take place.
The show depicted the lives, loves, trials, and tribulations of the wealthy Collins family of Collinsport, Maine, where a number of supernatural occurrences take place.