The Television Horrors of Dan Curtis is one of those books that makes me feel less alone. Jeff Thompson is not only a true fan of Curtis’ voluminous quality output, but he knows more about Dark Shadows than might seem possible. I knew I wanted to read this book as soon as I learned of it. As I’ve confessed many times before, although Dark Shadows was formative for me, I’m a mere dabbler. I saw a fair number of the original run on afterschool television, I read the novels, but I never dove in. I was more of a wader. Still, this book demonstrates that many people were influenced by Dark Shadows, some that you might not expect. But the book is about Dan Curtis and his horror work (mostly).
Dan Curtis went on to a kind of fame for his war epics (considered “serious” work), The Winds of War and War and Remembrance. Although he directed some theatrical movies (all of which I’ve seen), he mostly stuck to work in television. One of the results of this is that he never attained the level of appreciation of a number of auteurs who focused on Hollywood. And it’s also clear that Curtis was interested in more than just monsters. I personally dislike gangster and war movies (although my great-uncle Melvin Purvis was one of his interests). Curtis found them worth of his considerable talents. As Thompson makes clear, however, even as his own death was approaching, Curtis knew that, like Washington Irving, his early work would be that for which he was remembered. That’s because Dark Shadows went where nobody else dared to go, and it’s memorable even today.
I learned a lot from this book. Enough to know that Curtis was an enigma. He remains less recognized as a director and producer than many Hollywood personalities that are household names. Still, if pressed, a number of people even today would recognize some of Curtis’ work, whether or not they associate it with him. Dark Shadows went through a short television reboot, for instance, and a second reboot attempt before being made into a movie by Tim Burton. This book, however, made me watch some movies I had only known vaguely before. And it has inspired me to watch others as well. Curtis was an incredibly hard worker, and a man with definite opinions. It’s perhaps a bit surprising that he never really attained the kind of fame that other “content producers” did. Even his Wikipedia article is brief. This book helps uncover a large amount of information behind a person who influenced many people without the glamour associated with that level of impact.
