Read by Nancy Barrett, Christopher Pennock, Stephanie Ellyne and James Storm

Written by Nick Myles, Antoni Pearce, Daniel Hinchcliffe and Lila Whelan

Directed by David Darlington and Jim Pierson

In which supernatural events and beings continue to haunt the Collins family and their friends over the years, no matter how far away from Collinsport they go…

Besides none of these stories taking place in Collinsport, another common theme running through them is people moving on with their lives and not just making do with the hand they’ve been dealt. Carolyn and Amy continue their studies at Salem University in the 1970s; Cyrus and Sabrina go on their honeymoon; Amy finishes up her Parisian visit in 1986; and an older Carolyn – now a psychic investigator – and a colleague assist a family afflicted by possession in 2003.

Things get off to a slightly weak start with Nick Myles’ “Trio”, in which university students Carolyn and Amy rescue a fellow student from a gang of bullies, with Carolyn uttering profanities at them – a rare event in Dark Shadows! Outwardly grotesque and disfigured by conventional standards, Jude plays the piano magnificently. He’s also highly intelligent, cultured and refined, so it’s not exactly a surprise when Carolyn falls for him. Unfortunately, so does Amy… Although competently written and well-performed, “Trio” centers on one of my least-favourite plotlines: two strong female characters mooning over and falling out over a man. While there’s definitely a degree of tension (Is Jude exerting some kind of influence over both women? Will Carolyn and Amy’s friendship endure the horrible things said?), it’s too thinly spread across this meandering tale to be adequately sustained.

Cyrus and Sabrina Longworth-Jennings go to Germany for a long-overdue celebration of their marriage, but end up on a “Honeymoon from Hell” courtesy of Antoni Pearce. It’s a fairly straightforward tale: Cyrus keeps seeing a young man watching him and Sabrina from afar, and begins to wonder if he’s seeing things, or if John (the Dark Lord’s son) is trying to reassert his influence… As with many audios involving Christopher Pennock, one’s enjoyment of this will depend on one’s feelings about the manic way he delivers his lines. Some find his heightened readings fitting for the melodramatic goings-on, while others find his scenery-chewing excessive and over-the-top; your mileage may vary.

David Hinchcliffe’s “Retreat” finds Amy Jennings still on holiday in Paris, wrapping up her stay with Roger and Elizabeth, following the events of “In a Broken Dream”. Her preparations to head back to Collinsport are interrupted by several insistent letters requesting her assistance in a delicate matter, and finds her hand forced when she keeps refusing. Again, while nicely performed by Stephanie Ellyne, the events seem a bit “small potatoes” compared to most, but at least Elizabeth and Roger have more direct contact with the supernatural than usual. And things end with Elizabeth delivering a near-meta farewell to Amy, stating how she, David, Carolyn and the other younger characters are the future of the Collins family…

To me, Lila Whelan’s “1:53 AM” is the most interesting of the four stories, as it’s the first post-Return to Collinwood drama that Big Finish has tackled so far. I definitely get the impression that we’ll be returning to again; why else cast James Storm as a new, fleshed-out character (Dr. Robert Harper) and create such a detailed setting complete with backstory and an academic adversary? Dr. Harper is an intriguing character brimming with flaws and foibles, who’d like his professional relationship with Carolyn to become personal as well – but her marriage to Ned Stuart is an impediment to that… The premise of “1:53 AM” may not be the freshest – think of The Exorcist–style possession being scientifically studied like the events in Poltergeist – but it’s genuinely unsettling at times and arguably the strongest of these four tales for me.

Verdict: Another solid quartet of sinister stories, containing more than a few hints to the Dark Shadows range’s future. 7/10