My mother taped HODS off TNT for me when I was a kid because she knew how much I loved old vampire movies, and I was totally into it -- I had a vague idea of what DS was all about, but mostly what I knew about the show had to do with Barnabas Collins, the vampire hero. Horrific scene followed horrific scene, and as Barnabas aged into a bald, cadaverous freak, I was wide-eyed when he strangled Dr. Hoffman, sank his teeth into Maggie, and freaked out poor, just de-catatonic-ified cousin Elizabeth; "I will come for you, Josette," he mumbled, "I will come for you --"
...
The tape ran out.
...
THE FREAKIN TAPE RAN OUT.
That was in 1988; TNT didn't run the film again until the 1991 revival series premiered, and I was up nice and early on a Sunday morning to catch the double feature, HODS and NODS, which I figured must feature a werewolf or something. Finally, I would know what happened next!
If you're a DS fan, you probably know.
Barnabas bites it. Blood and gore and that harpoon-arrow-thingie bursting from his chest and blood gushing from his mouth and HOLY EFFING CRAP ... they killed Barnabas Collins. Even when that rubber bat flew away, squealing, I sat there, numb with shock.
They killed Barnabas Collins.
I love HODS, never get tired of it; twenty-three years later, I'm still in shock, I think.
(And I just now noticed ... he still has his fangs in his mouth.)
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