1012 - May 11, 1970

[bunniefuu]

[eerie music]

NARRATOR:Collinwood, in parallel time.

A world which Barnabas Collins mysteriously entered

and in which he was then trapped in a chained coffin

by the dissolute writer William H. Loomis.

But tonight,

because of the intervention of a stranger,

Barnabas has been given the chance to free himself.

A desperate chance,

but a chance he must take.

Josette and I were to marry.

As we did in this time-band of yours.

Oh, if I could only have had

those few precious years with her.

If I only I had the memory of life with her

to sustain me.

Well, why did you not make her as you are?

I am waiting, Mr. Collins!

I hate myself for admitting that I tried.

[sighing]

I needed her so.

Fate has always treated me terribly.

Fate was against against me then as,

as it was that first night in your time-band

when you found me.

[choking and gagging]

No, Will.

I will not bow to fate any longer.

[dramatic music]

[eerie theme music]

[gasping]

[frightened breathing]

You're leaving, Mr. Loomis?

Please let me go, let me get out of here.

BARNABAS: I'll let you go,

but first we must have a brief talk.

Why did you do this to me?

Why did you do what you did to me?

Hold me in a coffin, force me to tell my story,

make me reveal night after night the depths of my shame.

I only wanted to tell the truth about Barnabas Collins.

Barnabas Collins in your time-band

is lying peacefully in his grave.

His name and his spirit should be left in peace.

Please let me go

and I won't tell anyone anything about you.

Go if you want to go.

I can't get away.

You know I can't.

What are you going to do with me?

Surely you've learned enough

from our conversations recently

to realize the position that you're in.

I must do your bidding?

BARNABAS: Precisely.

No, I won't be your sl*ve.

Would you prefer to be held c*ptive in a closed coffin?

It can easily be arranged.

You wouldn't.

Why not?

You did the same thing to me.

No, please, I'll do anything you say,

anything you want, I will.

Very well.

You will gather all of the material you've

all the notes and all the chapters,

and you will burn them.

Burn my book? Oh no.

You don't know what a book means to a writer.

Writer?

All you did was to copy down what you forced me to tell you.

No.

Now gather the book together and burn it.

No!

It's time you do precisely what I tell you to do.

No, no.

Is that your final answer?

Alright, alright, I'll do it.

I'll do anything you say.

Good.

Nothing must disturb the sleep or sully the name

of that other Barnabas Collins who died in this time.

Come.

We will burn the book together.

[dramatic eerie music]

[door opening]

Quentin, have you reached any decision then?

You've been so quiet.

Can't you give me any indication of what you're thinking?

Alright then, give me permission to go to the Loomis house

and talk to Will Loomis myself.

Quentin, Will Loomis has got to tell us everything he knows

about Barnabas Collins.

Quentin, please!

Where are you going?

To the Loomis house!

And this time I'll make him answer my questions.

[glass shattering]

[papers rustling]

It's gone.

It could've given me everything I wanted.

You're sure there are no other papers around?

Positive.

If I find that you've lied to me.

I wouldn't do that, I promise.

[loud knocking]

What?

[knocking intensifies]

QUENTIN: Will?

Open the door!

Now I know you're in there,

so open the door or I'll open it!

What should we do?

Open the door.

But don't mention me. Is that clear?

Yes.

[banging on door]

Coming, coming!

[door slamming]

Will, you're going to answer my questions this time

if I have to choke the words out of you.

What are you talking about?

I have no idea what you're talking about!

Why do you keep coming here?

Because you know something about Barnabas Collins.

I want to know exactly what it is.

I tell you every time you ask that

it was a story I made up.

You're lying!

No I'm not!

What about the effect of Barnabas's portrait?

The effect it had on the kids, Amy and Daniel?

WILL: I don't know anything about it.

The other things about that man

that I'm not going to bother to explain to you.

Strange people appearing in a strange, empty room,

and always the mention of Barnabas Collins.

WILL: Strange room?

QUENTIN: And there was also mention of a curse

that had been put on him.

WILL: I don't know anything about it!

Will, I told you that I would choke the answers

out of you if I had to, and I meant it.

Now you tell me what it is you know about Barnabas Collins.

Nothing.

I, too, would like to know more

about that Barnabas Collins.

You see, that happens to be my name as well.

[dramatic music]

I would have interrupted your conversation earlier,

but it was my imnpression that it was a family matter.

When I discovered that

you were talking about a Barnabas Collins,

well, I thought it was time to introduce myself.

You're Barnabas Collins.

BARNABAS: Yes.

Descended from one of the sons of the gentleman

that Mr. Loomis wrote so interestingly about

several years back.

The resemblance.

Yes, I saw a portrait of him in Mr. Loomis's book.

Extraordinary, isn't it?

Yes, you'll have to forgive me

if I seem tongue-tied.

Why haven't, uh, we ever met before, Barnabas?

If you have any hopes of my

being the Barnabas Collins who can clear up

some of the mysteries you referred to,

I'm sorry to disappoint you.

You no doubt read the book of Mr. Loomis's

in which he spoke of the one of the sons

of Barnabas Collins who went in search of Andean gold?

QUENTIN: Yes, he died in Peru.

Well, my disappointment in contradicting you

is matched by my pleasure in telling you

that he survived.

Oh, in obscurity and poverty, I must admit,

but with sufficient vigor to sire four sons

of himself, one of who was my grandfather.

Why wasn't he in contact with the family

during all this time?

Hmm. Well, fortunately you are unfamiliar

with the shame that poverty breeds.

Wasn't until I was able to amass a fortune of my own

that I had any desire to contact my relatives here.

And what further prodding I needed

was provided by Mr. Loomis's book that I just came across

a few months ago.

I was determined then to renew the ties

that had been severed so long.

You know, perhaps I am deceived,

but you do have many of the family traits.

Is it true that I am speaking to one of my cousins?

My name is Quentin.

Quentin Collins.

How do you do?

Am I welcome here at Collinwood?

It's not a question of being welcome.

Since you heard me say,

you probably know that there have been a few

disturbing incidents here lately.

Yes. A Barnabas Collins who,

who had a curse of some kind.

What, ah, what was all this about?

QUENTIN: I have no idea.

But I suspect that my brother-in-law

knows more than he's telling.

No, I..

You heard all this in a strange, empty room?

Well, pardon my fascination,

but would it be possible for me to see that room sometime?

Since it does have something to do with a Barnabas Collins,

naturally my curiosity is very strong.

Well, I don't mean to be inhospitable, but.

Well, yes. I'm sorry, of course.

Absolutely no reason why you shouldn't see that room.

But, uh, I can't guarantee what you'll find in the room.

Well, I'm more interested now than ever.

Would it be convenient if I came, say, in about an hour?

Would tomorrow morning be better for you?

Tomorrow?

QUENTIN: Yes.

No, unfortunately I have some business

to attend to in town.

Besides, after meeting you,

I'm sure that there are more cousins

that I would like to meet right away.

Come when you like.

You know, it is a coincidence that I came here

to ask Will questions about Barnabas Collins,

and I meet you.

Don't want to interfere with any private matter,

but I do know that Mr. Loomis is telling the truth

when he says that his,

his latest novel is quite fictitious.

He showed me a few pages before he burned it.

Burned it?

Yes, he felt it was unworthy of him.

Am I not right, Mr. Loomis?

Oh yes, yes, you're right.

Well, uh, welcome to Collinwood, cousin.

[slow mysterious music]

Tell me, why did you let him know you're here?

He suspects, and I don't blame him!

Let him suspect what he wants,

as long as he gives me access to that room.

It's one of my hopes of getting back to my own time-band.

WILL: One?

May I ask, what are the others?

You will know in time.

But first, I want you to take me to the grave

of Barnabas Collins.

The grave? But why?

I sense that there's some kindred spirit.

If anyone can help me, I believe he can.

You want to talk to-- Yes.

His spirit. Oh no, no!

Yes.

Now!

[intense ominous music]

I've given much thought to what you said.

I really don't know what to make of it.

Well, perhaps you weren't the right person to ask.

Have you seen Quentin?

No.

Of course, I was devoted to Angelique,

more devoted than you know.

But, seance or no seance,

I have persuaded myself that she was not m*rder*d.

So you said.

And I would like to persuade you of the same thing.

Because it is the truth.

Well, you may be right.

At any rate, forget I made any request.

I am convinced

that she was not m*rder*d.

Please, could we just drop the subject?

I do find it painful.

Sorry, I didn't mean to-- [door opening]

[door closing]

Quentin! Quentin, did you talk to Will Loomis?

Yes.

Well, did he tell you anything?

Very little.

Nothing about Barnabas Collins?

No, not much.

But then there was no need to.

Barnabas Collins was there himself.

What?

What are you talking about?

Please,

I don't want to answer any questions.

It's all so strange and improbable.

All I can tell you is that

you'll meet Barnabas Collins tonight.

[mysterious music]

[suspenseful eerie music]

BARNABAS: Barnabas Collins, to .

May he rest in peace.

Do I have to be here too?

I should have had a grave like this, my Josette and I.

Peace should have been mine and hers.

If there is a spirit here who looks kindly upon me,

I beg his help.

I am lost among strangers,

trapped in a time that is not my own.

I do not wish

this curse of mine to affect anyone here.

Help me, if you can.

[gasping]

Look, look there!

Speak, whoever you are!

Speak, I beg you!

[dramatic crescendo]

Barnabas? Barnabas Collins?

GHOST: Who is it? Who disturbs this family ground?

Father.

Father? You are no son of mine.

BARNABAS: Forgive me.

Joshua? Joshua Collins! Is it to him I speak?

You speak to a man dedicated

to the protection of his family,

both the living and the dead.

I command you to leave this place

and trouble my son's spirit no more.

You do not know that I am,

I am trapped in a world not mine own,

and I want help, wherever it is, wherever it can come from!

I know only that evil is in this place.

My name is Barnabas Collins,

and Joshua Collins is my father.

Do not profane those names!

Leave this place!

Leave, and come here no more.

BARNABAS: Wait! Don't go!

I am a Collins, and I need your help!

Barnabas, please, let's go, quickly!

There is only one place left.

That room.

[gasping]

[dramatic music]

The man is a fraud.

The entire story is completely ridiculous,

there hasn't been a Barnabas Collins

in your family for years and years.

You can say that, you haven't seen him.

Is the resemblance really so extraordinary?

You'll soon find out.

You're sure it has nothing to do with the Barnabas Collins

that was mentioned in that empty room?

I'm sure of nothing, except that it is Barnabas Collins.

I'm depending upon his reaction to the room

to give me some clues.

[door opening]

Evening. Mr. Trask told me I would find you here.

Good evening, Barnabas, won't you come in?

This is Miss Alexis Stokes.

This is Barnabas Collins, our cousin.

How do you do?

Mrs. Hoffman, our housekeeper.

How do you do?

It's a great pleasure to meet you.

Will you have a drink?

Thank you, but,

my fascination with that room is so great,

that, ah, well, I would prefer to see it first,

if you don't mind.

As you please.

But do remember that this, ah,

mysterious phenomenon is, ah, rather unpredictable.

All the more reason for my curiosity.

Come with me.

BARNABAS: Ladies.

Quentin was right, he is Barnabas Collins.

He looks just like the portrait.

The people in the room mentioned a curse.

Does he look to you like a man under a curse?

I don't know.

How can one ever know?

QUENTIN: The room was used by my late wife, Angelique.

BARNABAS: Oh?

And now her twin sister, Alexis, is using it.

We've all been very unsettled

by the events around here lately.

I have no doubt.

As you'll see, the room is not unusual.

Oh, it can't be hopeless.

Sometime, somehow, you will hear me, oh, Barnabas!

[dramatic crescendo]

[eerie mysterious music]