The Collins Story

Fanfiction
Title:	The Collins Story
Author(s):	Kathy Resch
Date(s):	June 1976-? (in Inside the Old House), 1987-1991 (in The World of Dark Shadows)
Length:	serialized in a zine
Genre:	gen
Fandom:	Dark Shadows
External Links:
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The Collins Story is a gen Dark Shadows story by Kathy Resch. It began in The World of Dark Shadows, overlapped a bit in Inside the Old House, and then continued on in the latter.

From "The World of Dark Shadows"

The Collins Story, chapter 7, The Arrival, early September 1971 from The World of Dark Shadows #13, artist is Barb Liltz

From "Inside the Old House"

It was published in parts in Inside the Old House #28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, and #37.

In issue #34 and #35, the story takes a hiatus as Kathy Resch, the author of this story, is "out of commission" for a bit. The editor of ITOH instead publishes a long summary in those two issues.

The story resumes, and concludes, in #37 in 1991.

The First Chapter

The editor of "Inside the Old House" introduces this story in his editorial in issue #28:

One of my all time favorite pieces of DS ficiton has been Kathy Resch's THE COLLINS STORY. In my opinion, this serial has more of the flavor of the series than any other I've read. You can imagine my surprise when Kathy asked if I'd be interested in running TCS in ITOH! Of course I was interested! Kathy explained that she really enjoyed doing the story but that often she would have to 'bump' it from her own 'zine, THE WORLD OF DARK SHADOWS, to run other things that she'd have. I assured her that there would always be a home for it in ITOH. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Reactions and Reviews

"The Collins Story" has brought up some questions about family links. I noticed the name James Stockbridge and linked him to Laura the Phoenix. ((Only Kathy Resch knows the link between them and she's not telling--yet. DC))

Really enjoyed the last issue, particularly the wrap-around cover. Nicely done. It's terrific to see The Collins Story regularly.

It was a real delight to see ITOH in print again. Your most recent issue (#29) started out with another thrilling chapter of "The Collins Story" which only proves my theory that James Stockbridge is a phoenix! Will the unborn child prove to be the 1897 Laura?

I'm really enjoying "The Collins Story" by Kathy Resch even though I've only read the last two installments. Any chance of the first twenty-odd chapters being reprinted? [(Yes. Kathy Resch is planning on doing something along those lines m the near future. DC))

I'm very glad that you're running Kathy Resch's serial "The Collins Story". I agree with your commnent in ITOH #28 that it has a flavor very close to that of the series.

THE COLLINS STORY continues to be more and more intriguing. I'm glad to see that Caleb Collins is going to come into the story now. That's one of the things I like so much about DS fiction - it fills in the gaps. And there certainly were gaps to be filled in. We only saw less than five years worth of story covering over three hundred years of characters! Plenty to work with there. I also like how the fan fiction contributors will "flesh out" characters and plots which were only hinted at on the show. To my knowledge, Caleb was only mentioned ( and never shown) a couple of times in 1967, yet here he is becoming a main character. Only in fandom. I will be interested in seeing how all of this ties in with what is going on with the present day family. I haven't read any of those issues so I'm really in the dark. ((Hopefully this issue's summary will enlighten a lot of people who haven't been fortunate enough to read the earlier chapters of TCS. DC))

Particularly liked THE COLLINS STORY this time around. I could never really believe that all went well at Collinwood after Barnabas, Julia and Stokes left 1840. It seems that the Collins' of the 1860's are as troubled as any other time period. . .if not more so.

Thanks for starting the summary of Kathy Resch's "The Collins Story". I've enoyed her Collins family saga, but I had been very curious about "what had happened before".

I am confused by "The Collins Story" but I'm willing to hang in and try to figure it out. I do have a serious problem with Barnabas being married to Maggie and Julia being married to Elliot as I'm afraid I am a Barnabas and Julia fan and the idea of the two of them married to anyone else but each other doesn't sit well with me.

… your continued summary of Kathy Resch's now-classic "The Collins Story". It served the purpose in refreshing my memory of scenes I had read before or had forgotten. The "castlist" at the end of the summary was a great bonus in getting those 1868 scenes in the "theatre of the mind".

I am another newcomer to ITOH who is confused by "The Collins Story", having missed the beginning chapters. The story itself is fine, but I have to take issue with the current relationships between some of the characters. For example, how did Barnabas' relationship and marriage to Maggie come about, especially after all the times he and Julia were forced to depend on each other for survival? Shared trauma is a powerful force in bringing people closer together. Julia and Elliot may be professional equals, but what chemistry is there between them. (Sorry to say, Elliot stokes always reminded me of a learned fish!) I think someone like Chris Jennings might have proved a more viable partner for Julia instead.

We can debate and discuss who should be married to whom, but I'm curious as to what the relationships to a marriage would be like: how would the central characters cultivate and function in long-term, stable, emotional relationships? Since DARK SHADOWS focused primarily on destructive behavior and events, social bonding took a back seat to the action and we have had to rely on our imaginations to fill in the gaps.

However, marriages signify beginnings. "The Collins Story" can still take some unexpected twists and turns later. I'm curious to read on and see what happens.