Most people know that Barnabas wasn’t in the first episodes of Dark Shadows, but there were no mentions of ghosts, vampires, or other supernatural aspects in the original Dark Shadows proposal. It was nearly six months into the broadcast before the first “ghost” story aired, and over 200 episodes in before Barnabas Collins arrives.
The premiere episode begins with Victoria Winters arriving by train. She comes to Collinsport, Maine to take a position as governess and tutor to David Collins. Victoria hopes to find clues to her identity in Collinsport. As a baby, she was dropped off in a box on the steps of Hammond Foundling Home in New York with a note that said “Her name is Victoria, I can’t take care of her.”
Maggie Evans (Kathryn Leigh Scott) and Vicky Winters (Alexandra Moltke) at the Collinsport Inn coffee shop.
Soap Opera Historian 