by Kit Forbes
As a writer I’ve seen the popularity of paranormal books wax and wane, and even through the dark days when publishers insisted “there was no market”, a small but loyal core of paranormal fans helped keep the genre alive.
I’ve always felt a lot of this goes back to the generation that grew up and devoured every episode of the original Dark Shadows. We fell in love with and learned to crave our paranormal sagas full of doomed lovers, tragic heroes, plucky heroines, nasty villains, and assorted family turmoil. It’s not surprising to think that many of us passed our paranormal love onto the generation that followed who are responsible for the recent success of shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Supernatural, The Vampire Diaries, etc.
Being the picky viewer I am, many of the shows don’t grab my attention, while the ones that do invariably get the crappy time slots (Forever Knight) or cancelled before their time (Blood Ties). However, one started last year that has sucked me in much in the way the original Dark Shadows did. If you watch The Vampire Diaries you may already be familiar with it—The Secret Circle.
Judging by my blog travels, it seems that Secret Circle doesn’t get a lot of love from the Vampire Diaries crowd, but if any of you TVD fans like Dark Shadows you should give it another try because it’s got the stuff to make it a “Spawn of Dark Shadows”.
The plot revolves around teenager Cassie Blake who comes to the small town of Chance Harbor following the “accidental” death of her mother. “Accidental” because the viewer knows the whole story while Cassie and her grandmother don’t.
At school, Cassie meets a group of kids who’ve also lost one or both parents during a mysterious boat fire some years earlier. Cassie learns her friends are hereditary witches and that their parents were, too. Cassie refuses to believe her mother was a witch until she finds her mom’s hidden Book of Shadows.
With the setup out of the way the first season has been getting more into old DS territory of hidden family secrets, surprising villains and long lost family members who may or may not be what they seem.
We’ve got the Quentin-esque bad boy, loner in the mid season appearance of Jake. Then there’s Jake’s spurned love Faye who rocks the Angelique vibe oh so well, and the star-crossed love affair with Cassie and Adam.
On the villain side are the witch hunters and their unknown and traitorous witch helper(s). Add in to that mix the tension between the elder witches and the current circle’s surviving parents and you’ve got the generational family drama icing the supernatural cake that keeps me watching.
I recommend you give The Secret Circle a try. You can watch episodes online and learn more about the show and characters here: http://www.cwtv.com/shows/the-secret-circle
~Kit Forbes is an author of Young Adult paranormal fiction and creator of the upcoming multi-author e-book series Order of the Dragon set to debut in mid 2012. For more musings on things paranormal you can check out her blog http://kitforbes.wordpress.com/ or give a virtual hello via Twitter @kitforbeswrites
Rebekah Purdy
March 27, 2012
Loved this article! I’m an avid fan of both The Secret Circle and Dark Shadows. And Kit pointed out some great comparisons between both shows. There are definitely lots of family secrets!!!
Kit Forbes
March 27, 2012
Thanks Rebekah. ^_^ The Cassie and Adam thing on Secret Circle was getting on my nerves but the intro of Blackwell has really ramped things up. I love the conflict -causing family members. Definitely a touch of Dark Shadows in the extended family and their assorted drama there.
Ed Gross
March 27, 2012
I agree, Kit did a great job and I really hope there are other people looking to write their own pieces. It would be great if this site could get more of a community feel to it with contributions from others.
Kit Forbes
March 27, 2012
Thanks for giving me a chance to blab, Ed. ^_^
I’d love to read articles from the site members. *Hint hint*
Ed Gross
March 27, 2012
Believe me, so would I. For instance, there has to be an article/essay in there on Barnabas’ influence on other vampires (Nick Knight, Angel, Mick St. John, etc.); TV werewolves; Zombies: From Dark Shadows to The Walking Dead…. lots of possibilities. “Spawn of Dark Shadows” can be a great launching point for anything that can have a Dark Shadows connection drawn to it.
Kit Forbes
March 27, 2012
Barnabas if the father of sympathetic, romantic vampires.Same deal with Quentin as the brooding immortal werewolf.
I really do think the generation that fell in love with Sark Shadows went on to write their own take on paranormal plots and in turn inspired their kids, nieces & nephews etc who are giving us the most recent offerings like Secret Circle and such.
Ed Gross
March 27, 2012
Ryan Murphy has certainly said as much in regards to the creation of American Horror Story.
Traci Kenworth
March 27, 2012
LOVED the comparison!! I adore The Secret Circle, now I’ll be looking into Dark Shadows as well.
Kit Forbes
March 27, 2012
Do you do Netflix, Traci? You can see it via that. I’m not sure if Hulu has any episodes.
Jennifer Fischetto
March 27, 2012
Great article, Kit. I’ve never seen Dark Shadows, but heard great things about it. I watched the first episode of The Secret Circle. It seemed like the type of show that can suck you in. lol Due to another show, I don’t watch it, but I’ll try to catch it online.
Kit Forbes
March 27, 2012
When I was a kid I spent the summers hanging out at my brother’s house and watching some of those old soaps with my sister-in-law. I always get sucked into those shows that have that soap opera quality. Thank heavens the prime time things move a lot faster than those old daytime shows LOL
Ed Gross
March 27, 2012
I couldn’t agree more. I LOVE the original Dark Shadows, but the pacing and repetition of plot points (especially in the beginning)… well, thank goodness progress was made in those areas.
Penny Randall
March 27, 2012
Great post, Kit. We didn’t get Dark Shadows in the UK as far as I know (I’m sure I would have remembered it) but I am sooo excited about the movie. Can’t wait!
Kit Forbes
March 27, 2012
You’d have loved it Penny. It had all the cool Gothic and horror elements—The gloomy old houses, a mad wife in the attic, Gypsy curses, evil ghosts, vampires of course, werewolves. They even had a weird parallel dimension time things going on. LOL
Ed Gross
March 27, 2012
Sorry I keep jumping into the conversation – but connections of DS’ parallel worlds could even be made with Fringe! These articles are practically writing themselves…. okay, that’s an exaggeration.