The Collinwood Estate from 'Dark Shadows'

’The past and the present have intermingled at Collinwood, and the ancestral home has become a source of strange occurrences and strong curiosities. A foreboding structure can attract the least suspecting’

Constructed in 1795 by the wealthy Collins family of Collinsport, MA. The fortress-like structure of Collinwood survived all manner of mystical threats and maintained its ancient secrets. The house itself had a reputation for many who knew it in passing – strange and unexplained things happened within its walls, and the citizens of Collinsport knew it was a haunted house, and the grounds were no better. Great tragedies and horrors occurred behind the walls, and the surrounding properties saw such things as the dead rise, vengeful ghosts, the creation of life through science, weird cults and stranger dark masters rising, and the manipulation of time itself.

Collinwood sets upon a large hill which has many turns and can be treacherous. Along with the great house are several smaller buildings, including the original Collins home (called simply ‘The old House’), the Seaside shack (a small hut near the ocean), The Seaview Cottage (although it is not owned by the Collins, it is on their property), and the graveyard/mausoleum. In addition to the buildings and properties, Collinwood sets on a formidable piece of property surrounded by deep woods and local landmarks, such as the infamous ‘Widow’s Hill’. 

Why Collinwood?

I think that before I feature any other Dark Shadows

characters, I would need to at least address the most imposing of them all – for Collinwood is as much a character and force to what happens as anywhere else. The uniqueness of the setting makes it both a cool place to explore but also a great setting with interesting ideas.

Collinwood

Collinwood is a manor built in a combination era style which sits on several areas of power (as discussed among the members of the Leviathan Cult and Count Petofi at different points). Collinwood was built to last, and although the Collins family has remained in residence for most of the house’s history, different rooms and locations were either added in secret or completely forgotten. Combined with the unusual features about Collinwood suggests that it lies similarly as The House on the Borderland , in so far as the location touches many different points at time at once.

The House seems to draw both conflict, mystical presences, and mystical power, whether this simply be an unstated effect or part of the make-up. As such, those entering Collinwood with some sort of mystical detection of Gd(10) or better pick up on the ambient energies of the house, which usually manifests as a cold and heavy feeling (As stated during the first cycle of Barnabas Stories, Eps 210 – 300 I think…. ) If characters have Astral Perception or detection above Gd (10), True Sight, or any ability to sense the dead they must also make a Gd (10) intensity FEAT. If successful, they will feel presences throughout the house, some simply playful and curious, others (like Gerard Stiles) will have a more negative effect and may attempt to attack or worse.

Collinwood has other properties that make it unique, specifically a room not featured on its floorplans that connects to ‘Parallel Time’, and an upstairs playroom which connects to a doorway into the past. These two points are unique and fixed, and are outlined below:

Parallel Time

Connected through a grand bedroom within the mansion, a fixed doorway into an alternate universe exists which leads to another alternative universe where characters and events occurred in different order. This ‘parallel time’ was used by Barnabas on a few occasions to attempt to resolve the issues at the time with Quentin Collins and his ‘haunting’ of Collinwood.

Mechanics:
Parallel Time is a real-time alternate universe that can be accessed from the ‘main’ Collinwood room and acts as an Un (100) dimensional gateway which one can either crosses unseen into the alternate world or observes the activities of t hose present. For the most part, if one is observing, they remain undetected and unable to directly interact. Parallel Time operates in the same timeframe and rate when initially encountered of the modern day, but it can offer alternative looks and access into its own past. If one crosses over, they find that it is not a single location but a complete and complex world that has evolved, with their role often changing or being replaced by someone else. Parallel Time offers a ‘1 for 1’ copy of an individual, which means while a person may be very different than they were in the main timeline, they still exist and still look the same. The original and Parallel-Time copy can exist at the same time, which caused many issues for the travelers who visited such. If the main person and the copy were in the room at the same time, they would ‘switch’ places. It is only time that the PT version could travel from their world to the mainline.

Parallel-Time denizens cannot perceive the doorway into the ‘main’ timeline, nor can they enter rooms where the doorway exists while the door is open (see above). Transportation is not always under the control of the traveler, as seen with Barnabas and Julia at times. As such, the Judge’s discretion on how the Parallel door works.

As of the original Dark Shadows series, there were three fixed points of Parallel Time in associated with Collinwood:

• 1841- An alternative past where many of the characters found themselves re-imagined and a wholly different timeline existed. Collinwood was built nearly twenty years sooner, etc.
• 1970 – An Alternate timeline where many of the characters were vastly different and seemingly connected to the 1841 timeline.
• 1995 – A dark timeline where Collinwood is mostly destroyed, the Collins family has been killed or driven mad after a single event in 1970. Julia Hoffman was stuck after being deposited after her adventures in 1841.

It is unknown if other points of PT exist within Collinwood or where they would be the one important fact that access requires a point in the house that exists in both PT and real time. If either point is destroyed, then access is lost, permanently.

Stairway to Time

Different than the Upstairs’ Parlor’s Parallel Time, another location in a forgotten playroom allowed individuals to travel back to a specific point in time. Constructed by Quentin Collins in 1840, the Staircase was designed by Quentin who used theories and metaphysical facts to determine that time could be travelled in specific locations The Stairway provides access to specific points in time, as well as points in Parallel Time to a person’s original timeline with little difference. Used primarily in 1840, 1970, and 1995, the Stairway was essential in returning Barnabas and Dr. Hoffman from Parallel Time to their own home, as well as saving Julia when she was left in 1995.

Mechanics:

The Stairway to Time offers time travel at Mn (75) to a specific fixed point in time and then back again. Control of the destination seems to be determined by the person using the Stairway, although return is limited by the need to use the Stairway a second time. A person simply needs to visualize their destination and then walk the Stairway. The Stairway was supposedly destroyed in the 20^th century as it was too dangerous, but it may exist in other PT timelines, and more importantly, the notes still exist on how it was created.

Note:

It can be confusing to differ Parallel Time and the Stairway to Time, but what is interesting is that within the canonical Dark Shadow, both instances of time and dimensional travel can only exist within the walls of Collinwood. Indeed, if anything it suggests that Collinwood is both a central location and an anchor within the multiverse for activity, that within the walls of the manor the universe is accessible, to a point.