Back in late summer 2012, I got out some collections of Dark Shadows on DVD (from the local library), and watched them in chronological order - these very early b&w episodes were from the very beginning of the series, prior to the debut of Barnabas Collins. They were interesting, and involved a gorgeous young woman going to a mansion in New England to be a nanny for this bratty little kid. There were a lot of strange/creepy/mysterious elements to the show - including the implication that there were ghosts in the house; an alcoholic former artist?! who lived in the town; a suspicious policeman (played by the late Dana Elcar); a small house on the premises of the larger house that apparently held some dark secret; etc.

I remember that I stopped watching the show because I saw all of the DVD's the library had (at that time), and I didn't want to invest $ in buying the DVD sets.

That being said, this thread is making me re-interested in the show. I don't want to go back & re-watch the episodes I've already seen, so will probably try to start watching with the Barnabas Collins episodes - since those are the ones that people most remember.

I have yet to see the Johnny Depp DS film (2012), since I feel it will probably just be a watered-down version of the series.