Read by Matthew Waterhouse, Marie Wallace, James Storm and Lisa Richards

Written by Cody Schell, Paul Phipps, Antonio Rastelli and Alan Flanagan

Directed by Darren Gross, Joe Lidster and Jim Pierson

In which the supernatural continues to affect Collinsport residents from the past, present and future (well, the future of the 1980s, at any rate!)…

This latest collection gets off to a surprisingly breezy start with Cody Schell’s delightful “Tuesdays and Thursdays”. In this yarn, Professor Timothy Eliot Stokes finds his orderly life thrown into disarray by the dotty medium Madam Janet Findley, who keeps crossing paths with him most improbably. Matthew Waterhouse’s mock-pretentious narration perfectly suits the fastidious professor’s demeanour, and he does a credible job of capturing Stokes actor Thayer David’s resonant tones. A rare light entry in Dark Shadows canon, this story is magically delicious.

Paul Phipps’ “Behind Closed Doors” focuses on vivacious Blue Whale bartender Jessica Griffin when a particularly unwelcome part of her past comes back to haunt her. While occasional hints of darkness in her past have been dropped, here at last they become explicit as Jessica learns to her horror that for some people, “to death do us part” isn’t quite as final in Collinsport as in other parts of the world. Marie Wallace has made no secret of how much she loves playing Jessica Griffin, and this comes across clearly in her performance here as she wrings every nuance from an outwardly straightforward character and her fight to keep the past firmly behind her.

Big Finish voice actor Antonio Rastelli makes his Dark Shadows writing debut with “The Velvet Room”, a follow-up to 2014’s “Carriage of the Damned”. After ten years of battling supernatural forces across the globe, Hallie Stokes and the reanimated Gerard Stiles are fraying at the edges and coming apart at the seams (she metaphorically, he literally). In New Orleans, they receive a visit from a well-spoken man who invites them to visit the enigmatic Velvet Room; there, if they choose to let their life stories be recorded for posterity, their hearts’ desires will be granted. James Storm’s sonorous tones ably convey Stiles’ world-weariness, desperation to escape his deteriorating condition, and elation at meeting and bonding with others afflicted with curses worse than his own. Rastelli’s script feels like a hauntingly engaging amalgamation of Dark Shadows and Rod Serling’s Night Gallery by way of “The Monkey’s Paw.”

Alan Flanagan’s “The Suitcase” concludes this collection with adversity once again touching Sabrina Stuart Jennings Longworth’s life in this sequel to 2015’s “Deliver Us From Evil”. Co-running the Collinsport Inn with her husband Cyrus and teaching school, Sabrina’s life could only be happier if they’d finally succeed in having a child… Then one morning, an immaculately made-up and poised young woman – a cosmetics seller named Nona Virgil – turns up on the Inn’s doorstop and soon becomes a fixture in town, always accompanied by her bubble-gum-pink makeup valise. Sabrina can’t articulate why something about Nona seems “off”, at least not until a series of unfortunate events begins affecting the residents of Collinsport! Initially, this tale seems like it’s venturing into The Stepford Wives territory with its beautiful but occasionally vacant guest character, along with a coda that recalls The Wicker Man. Instead, “The Suitcase” veers into a more everyday supernatural situation (well, what passes for everyday in Collinsport, at any rate). Ah well!

Verdict: Another strong offering of unsettling stories which explores terrors both domestic and extraordinary, with occasional welcome flashes of light relief. 8/10

John S. Hall