Inside the Old House/Issues 01-10

Issues 01-10 · Issues 11-20 · Issues 21-30 · Issues 31-40 · Issues 41-50 · Issues 51-65

Issue 1

Inside the Old House 1 was published in July 1978 and contains 20 pages. It has a single small illo by Denice Matt.

• A Matter of Ignorance by Mark Etheridge
• Reasons by Dale Clark
• Dale Clark's letter to a local television station (KTVT in Texas) and the station's letter of response regarding re-running Dark Shadows
• a page of publicity photos
• transcript of the final show on April 2, 1971, "taken from a seven-year old recording"
• Collinwood, poem by Linda Matt
• ads

• 

  front cover of issue #1

• 

  back cover of issue #1

Issue 2

Inside the Old House 2 was published in September 1978 and contains 20 pages.

• a ShadowCon #2 con report, see that page
• a ShadowCon #2 photo of three of the stars, John Karlen, Jerry Lacy, and Christopher Pennock
• more of the episode transcript from the first issue
• two screenshots with some humorous captions
• a page of a publicity photos
• A Taste of the Past, part one of a planned serial by Dale Clark
• ads

• 

  front cover of issue #2, Janet Meehan

• 

  back cover of issue #2

Issue 3

Inside the Old House 3

• contents of this issue is unknown

Issue 4

Inside the Old House 4 was published in December 1978/January 1979 and contains 24 pages.

front cover of issue #4

back cover of issue #4

The editor writes about the serialized story that became Resolutions in Time: Oh yes. some of you have noticed that in "A Taste of the Past." Barnabas is suffering from the vampire curse. when at the end of the 1840 flashback Angelique lifted the curse from him. Well, that is one of the reasons that my story is set in 1973. since Barnabas and Julia returned from 1840 to 1970-71, that gives a two year gap that who knows what could have happened. Perhaps Angelique put the curse back on, or perhaps someone else put yet "another curse on him. Who knows, but I have always felt that Barnabas was a much more interesting character when under the influence of the curse . That 's my explanation, good or bad."

• The Sea, poem by Ann Longmore
• It Still Stands, an article by Dale Clark about investigating the rumor that "Collinwood" (Seaview Terrace in Newport, Rhode Island) had been torn down -- the rumor was untrue
• Aunt Purity, poem by Geoffrey Hamell
• The Realization, fiction by Dale Clark
• a short bit on why photos taken by a camera off a television screen do not turn out well
• some screenshots and funny captions
• a photo montage called "The Many Faces of Chris Pennock"
• A Taste from the Past, chapter three, by Dale Clark

Issue 5

Inside the Old House 5 was published in April/May 1979 and contains 22 pages.

front and back covers of issue #5

The editor is struggling a bit:

Well, here we are at last. It's been rough folks but finally we got this issue out, and I think I know why these past three issues have been missing the deadline somewhat. As you may or may not have noticed "A Taste of the Past" is missing from this issue. Now before you all start sticking pins into your ITOH editor voodoo dolls,let me explain. The last three issues have been increasingly difficult to work on; oh, we got the ads all typed up and the transcripts transcribed, and the short stories written but every issues hold up was "A Taste of the Past"! What had originally been planned as a five part continued story suddenly exploded into at least a twelve part epic! Now the obvious problem is that ITOH comes out every two months, more or less, now it would take a twelve parter TWO YEARS to run it's course. By the time I got to the end, no one would care. As if this wasn't enough, your's truly got the biggest case of writers block in history. For days at a time I'd sit and stare at the blank paper, wondering what had happened. Then it hit me; you see to offer variety in the zine each chapter of the story could be no longer than ten pages. Well, the story had become too involved and too many things were happening at once to adequately cover in a mere ten pages. Frankly the zine was suffocating the story. What to do? Write a crummy chapter for two years and see what, happened or what? Then it hit me. Why not move the story out of the zine and make a special project out of it; a novel in effect, with all the room to play around with that I want, and have the zine for just short stories. Well, it sounded like the answer I'd been looking for all along. So now I put the question before you the readers. Would you go along with this, having a zine full of short stories each issue and a special project that would probably be ready sometime this late summer or early fall! The novellete would be at least 130 pages long, probably more and would be available as cheaply as possible, probably about $3.00 dollars. Enclosed is a post card for each of you to let me know what you think. If you feel you'd rather have the story back in the zine then it will be there next issue. It is up to you.

• No Escape, fiction by Dale Clark
• an interview with Dr. Peggy Ellen Green of the Shadowcon committee about the upcoming Dark Shadows convention
• Angelique, poem by Ann Longmore
• A Secret, fiction by Larry Clayton
• ads
• a flyer for Shadowcon #3

Issue 6/7

front cover of issue #6/7

back cover of issue #6/7, Guy Haines

Inside the Old House 6/7 was published in August/November 1979 and contains 48 pages.

• there are a number of very short LoCs, most of them expressing the desire that the serial fiction "A Taste from the Past" not be published as chapters over two years in this zine, but as a single novel
• contains a directory of Dark Shadow's fans and their addresses
• A Gift of Light, fiction by Dale Clark
• Never Again, poem by Terri Cogliano
• a page of publicity stills
• Oft in the Night, poem by Tonya Berry
• a con report from the third annual Dark Shadows convention, plus a page of photos
• A for Effort, fiction by Marcy Robin
• Yesterday Morn, poem by Tonya Berry
• untitled poem by Bonnie Coatney
• Changing of the Mind, fiction by Pat Cleese
• a full-page ad for Dark Shadows 1897 Concordance
• art by Barbara Fister-Liltz, Tonya Berry, Guy Haines (centerfold, back cover)

• 

  centerfold for #6/7, Guy Haines

• 

  inside pages, art by Barbara Fister-Liltz, and some sample text

Reactions and Reviews: Issue 6/7

This issue was extremely well done. I particularly liked "Changing of the Mind"; I've liked 1840 best, and am glad to that more fans are writing stories on the the themes of that period.

What a fantastic issue(s). I loved your short story "A Gift of Light" since the 1966 to the 1795 flashbacks were my favorite of the many time periods. It brought back a lot of memories. Barb Fister-Liltz's art is always pleasing and all the other and art were great.

Loved your 6/7 issue! It was worth the wait and yes I wish to reorder. I really like your format of short stories and poems and also seeing new artistic talent. An outstanding example was Guy Haines centerfold. (I agree. DC) I'm partial to werewolves, I admit, but even despite that leaning the action and mood of his composition is striking. I also enjoyed Tonya Berry's poem "Oft in the Night"-an old fashioned flavor in word and structure-framed her montage of tragedy. Pat Cleese's "Changing of the Mind" sent a proper thrill down my spine...I hope ITOH publishes mora of Pat's stories.

Thank you for sending me the Issues of ITOH that I requested. I enjoyed reading them and was surprised to learn that there were so many Dark Shadows fans. I found the magazine very entertaining and informative. In addition to the poskns and stories, would it be posaible to have a column telling what the stars are doing now? I would be interested and I am sure other fans would also be interested in knowing what happened to their favorite stars after the show was cancelled. (What about it readers? DC)

Issue 6/7 of ITOH was my first issue. It really brought back alot of memories. Overall I find the magazine to be very enjoyable. If I were to complain about anything it would be the length of Pat Cleese's story. Looking forward to recievlng the other issues of my subscription.

Just loved issue 6/7 of ITOH, so much that I'm subscribing for your next three issues. The zine is great. I belong to four other fan clubs and yours is the only one with no misspelled words. Also, the other pictures are never enough, but yours are perfect, even a little too dark.

ITOH was a real pleasure to read--the sort of zine I was looking for five years ago and couldn't find, long and meaty and full of interesting stories and good art. The sort of zine that was being done for Star Trek, but not DS. (And what a pleasure to get one I didn't have to do myself!) Glad you're making "A Taste of the Past" into a novel. Whenever you want, I'll be glad to advertise it for you. I'm really looking forward to reading it! This should help you find the time to complete it . As I know, it's difficult to write on schedule . The pen pal list is a good idea--nice graphics for the title. "A Gift of Light", you have a real talent for short shorts, and this was no exception. A moving re-creation/extrapolation of that time in DS history, beautifully illustrated by Barb Fister-Liltz. Again, your choice of photos is very nice. I like Tonya Berry's poetry) she illustrated it so well. "A for Effort" was a logical step for Barnabas... how else did he learn all he needed to survive in this time? And so true to life to the bureaucracy of the school. And the description, for one horrifying moment I felt I was back at my old high school. An excellent centerfold. Guy Haine's talent is amazing, his 'scratch-board' style perfectly captures the mood of the werewolf curse, and the composition is very nice. "Untitled" by Bonnie Coatney, is a beautiful word-picture, very evocative of storm and despair. "Changing of the Mind" was a real pleasure. I've always thought the actual DS episodes would lend themselves well to novelization, even though the adaptor must, of necessity, pick the proper focus. On number 8: "Missing Chapter". What can I say? Geoffrey is a brilliant writer, and the way he can extrapolate stories and neatly fit together seemingly unrelated occurances always astonishes me. The story neatly fills in the gap between HODS and NODS...and that scene with Roger on page 7 is positively chilling. Again, Tonya Berry has a very nice poem and illustration. I liked "Freedom/Chains" also. At last a Carolyn story. Nancy Barrett is my favorite actress on the show, and it's a pity her characters been so often neglected in fan fiction--surprising,too, since she had some of the more flamboyant parts. This was a good mood piece, giving insight inco the character. 'Forever Will My Love Endure' was another nice poem. And "All for Nothing" was a nice capper to this issue. I don't believe I've ever seen a Burke Devlin story before; and I always suspected that the DS writers had meant for him to survive that plane crash… poor Burke, he always got the short end of the stick.

Issue 8

Inside the Old House 8 was published in December 1979/January 1980 and contains 26 pages.

front cover of issue #8

art from issue #8, T. Berry

back cover of issue #8, Guy Haines

• Missing Chapter, fiction by Geoffrey Hamell
• Questions, poem by T. Berry
• 'Skunk Hollow' Mystery Girl: Ghost? Hoax? Fact? Fancy? (from the New Hampshire Sunday News, July 15, 1979)
• Fan Directory, addresses of Dark Shadow's fans
• From the Cellar, LoCs
• several pages of publicity stills
• Freedom/Chains, fiction by Marcy Robin
• All for Nothing, fiction by Dale Clark
• Forever Will My Love Endure, poem by Caroline Alley
• Tryst, poem by T. Berry

Reactions and Reviews: Issue 8

I liked the cover picture but at first I was disturbed by the green color. However, after looking at it awhile it began to grow on me. After all, it would get pretty monotonous if the covers were white all the time. The "mystery girl" article was very interesting and quite baffling. I thought the story "Freedom/Chains" was very well done.

ITOH #8 is one of the best yet. Loved the lead story. (Heh, heh!) I was surprised at how well you matched the photos to it - that old shot of Liz and Roger has a whole new feel to it now. "All for Nothing" was a good idea - Burke is not one of my favorites, but he certainly deserves more than the total neglect that fandom has given him. Oddly enough, I envisioned the same sort of scene - but mine was comedy, Burke marching into Collinwood after ten years absence, wearing a white safari outfit and pit helmet. Interesting that Liz keeps Burkes' return a secret even before he asks her to - odd, but totally in character, since everyone at Collinwood has so many secrets that they probably keep everything secret out of habit. I aan picture Roger lurking by the mailbox, ready to grab the morning mail, hide it in his coat, and skulk away...or Mrs. Johnson silently stealing peoples laundry at two in the morning...

My comments on # 8… "All for Nothing" was great! I never could accept that a man like Burke could be done away with so easily. Your story really made me believe that is how it happened. Geoffrey's "Missing Chapter" clears up my befuddlement over what did happen between "House" and "Night" . It is a logical bridge between the two. Marcy's is a beautiful insights to what Carolyn must have been feeling at that time in her life. As long as you keep getting terrific stories and beautiful artwork (like Guy Haines back cover and T. Berry's sketch on page 10) your 'zine will always be a joy to recieve.

I now have, and have read, Inside the Old House 1-8 and I have my three issse subscription coming. I have also ordered some of the available fanzine novels , and have in my possession the Enchantment calenders 79 & 80. IT'S NOT ENOUGH! Never enough Dark Shadows! I've never had enough DS material, and before ITOH and Peggy Green and the con material, I felt like I was in a virtual wilderness. I am eager to participate in this world of D.S....

One thing I like about ITOH is the variety of DS stories and other creative work. By that I mean the themes cover 1840, 1967, and 1795, plus even the "?" period of HODS and NODS. I like the premise of Geoffrey's story, tying together the different plots of the two movies. I've heard other fans' ideas about how those could fit together, and it's interesting to see what people come up with. I also appreciate your putting the Carolyn/Elizabeth/Jason montage of photos right after my story, "FREEDOM/CHAINS". I thought that was a nice touch of yours, to go along with the story. As for ideas about the future of ITOH, I hope you get more interest and contributions, so the zine can grow. It's always interesting to have Q&A sections in zines, so fans can share their own interpretations and confusions. Maybe you can add some humorous segment a, too, jokes or bloopers fans recall, cartoons, funny articles and stories, etc. I realize it takes a while for a zine to grow and develop such new sections, but I hope ITOH does.

It's great to have ITOH #8 out on time (a little early). It's even better since this is probably the best issue so far. I say probably because #6/7 was also excellent. I'm glad to see so many photos, especially since some are new to me. I'm hoping to see a little more artwork in future issues. I found "MISSING CHAPTER" extremely interesting. I hope there are more stories like that coming up soon. The poetry wasn't too bad, but it could have been better. I liked seeing the Question and Answer column and think it should be in every issue. Your story, "ALL FOR NOTHING" really brought back alot of memories. It's good to see Jerry Lacy back on a soap. It's too bad he has to team up with Leslie. Now I have nothing against The Young and the Restless, but I hate the actress who portrays Leslie. One more thing, I really wouldn't mind seeing a double issue but not so soon after the last one.

I've just recieved my issue of ITOH and I must say that it is, as usual, excellent. The color covers are great l I especially like the pictures. Technically as weIl as otherwise, your zine is certainly one of the best. My only complaint i that the stories are too short.

Issue 9/10

Inside the Old House 9/10 was published in February/May 1980 and contains 44 pages.

front cover of issue #9/10

back cover of issue #9/10, Guy Haines

centerfold art by Judith Boguslawski

• Altered Destiny, fiction by Dale Clark
• Dale Clark says that his formally-serialized novel, "A Taste from the Past" is complete as a single novel, but that its title has changed: it is now Resolutions in Time
• a biography of Roger Collins by Geoffrey Hamell
• Dark Tower, a column by Bill Hunt
• Toll the Chimes, poem by T. Berry
• His Bed of Velvet, poem by Anita Henke
• Judah, poem by Patsy Brown
• art by Paul Watts, Guy Haines, Judith Boguslawski (centerfold)
• a flyer for ShadowCon IV
• a letter from Barnabas Collins to Maggie Evans
• a Dark Shadows fan directory
• Let Me Tell My Story, poem by Dianne Keith Bersenik
• Problems in the Philosophy of Time Travel, article by Clint Waters
• A Dream of Dawn, poem by Tonya Berry
• a flyer for Resolutions in Time
• A Unique Vintage, fiction by Terri Berry
• From the Cellar, the LoC column
• Quentin, poem by Dianne Keith Bersenik
• trivia
• some publicity stills from the show

Reactions and Reviews: Issue 9/10

...one note on #9/10, I was amused at tha LOC about no spelling errors or typos--true, but I fear I've found some punctuation goofs, mainly apostrophes. But I'm not trying to get into some silly nitpick—that's not what counts in a fanzine anyway, but the quantity and quality of the work creatively! And besides, I've typed my share of pages for zines--I know it ain't easy.

I liked some of your descriptive lines in "Altered Destiny", such as the final paragraph. As you seem to do as well, your selection and location of photos always blends in perfectly. I also like the idea of Geoffrey's character bio -- why not? For some fans, a Roger Collins may seem more real than a Louis Edmonds! He defiantly has lots of detail and shows his research -- pouring over tapes, no doubt. Bill's opening column definitely leaves it all hanging out --what DOES he expect to cover? Ideally? It all depends on the response; like FANAC at the cons, it relies on the fans themselves to make it go well, or even better. The poetry varies: "Judah" sounds all ughy (as we used to say in Junior High) and the evil-boo hiss. "Tell the Chimes" seems heavy, due to the words and the convoluted sentences. Could be my own writing style preferences, of course. I love the letter to Maggie from Barnabas!. Sounds very chatty -- since no date is given, are you sure this isn't one of those Xerexed "Family Newsletters" one gets at Christmas with all the holiday cards? Ah-ha. A date on it would have been nice. ('Adieu' is spelled wrong, but I promised not to quibble. "Unique Vintage" had some good descriptions, though a clearer typewriter would've helped, I think. It's an interesting theory, Barnabas being punished for not having religion by such as Jeshua -- the way he is best-known, of course, not a possible 30 years later. I've though myself of doing a Jeshua-later story -- so much for that idea, now that it's been done in a variation. Oh well, good ideas will be used, that's for sure.

I guess the filkbook/Fanac ad was too late to make this issue, eh? Phooey. I'd hoped to get as much attention on it before the con as possible, and since you won't have another issue out tip after (like everyone else) oh well. And it's always interesting to see letters and ads and Q&A -- all in all, a good issue. I'm glad to see it's getting bigger, for a double. Keep up the good work!

Just finished issue 9/10, very impressive. I think my favorite story this issue was your "Altered Destiny," it was very powerful and chilling. It was about one of the best "suppose this had happened" stories I've ever read. All the poems were good too, nice moody pieces. Judi Boguslawski's center pic of Barnabas was terrific, as was the back cover of Tom Jennings. You know that question and answer column comes in handy -- there's so much I forgot, or never even knew about. Hey, what I'm really trying to say here is that I totally enjoyed [it]. Thanks.

I loved your last issue. That T. Berry surely knows how to tear your insides. And I like the idea of Willie getting back some of his own with Barnabas. After all, if those two got to be quite friendly, there must have been quite a few scenes like that first. I love your Q&A column; you can get plenty of useful information that way.

You zine has improved with age. I especially like the sections dealing dealing directly with the show (such as the Q&A pages, although I don't always agree with them) and the new section focusing on characters in the show like the one done with Roger Collins. My only complaint is that the more recent issues there would not have been as many pictures from the show and films as I would like to see. Other than that I think you're doing a great job, keep up the good work.

[I] also liked Judi Boguslawski's drawing after my poem. She is so talented; her style is almost photographic. Loved the picture of Abigail on the front! Terrific story; really liked the idea of Victoria and Barnabas living in Cadogan Square. I can see Vicky and Barnabas as vampires together, and that picture of them, wow! I like your 'madman' luring in the The Dark Tower column with Bill Hunt.