Audio Drama - Dark Shadows: The Rage Beneath

The Rage Beneath

Susan Omand can't get away from the weather as she returns to Collinsport in a storm to listen to the full cast audio drama The Rage Beneath...

As a storm rages across Collinsport, ancient forces are stirring throughout the town. The waters of the ocean hold dark secrets for the Collins family - secrets that must be revealed once and for all. As a malevolent power takes hold, Quentin finds himself facing a final confrontation…

Quentin meets Susan Griffin, wife of the Blue Whale bar owner Ed, while out in the rain and he accompanies her back to the bar. On the way she hears some kind of ghostly singing but Quentin dismisses it as the bar customers getting into the spirit of things.

Angelique also hears a sinister voice while she is at Collinwood, it is seeking revenge. Meanwhile Willie Loomis and Barnabas meet on Widow’s Hill. Willie sees a green fire rising from the sea and says he hears a voice too. Barnabas suggests that they head to Collinwood to get a better look at the green glow.

Inside the Blue Whale, Ed Griffin says to Susan and Quentin there have been reports of singing all round the town and recounts the story of the Eloise - an old sailing ship whose crew were all lost at sea. As a memorial 32 empty coffins were buried in the cemetery but, later that night, there were reports of singing and the coffins were found above undisturbed ground the next morning, this time filled with the bodies of the dead crew. As the gravediggers finished burying the coffins again two words they heard a voice saying Thank You.

Back at Collinwood, Angelique continues to hear the voice, which tells her about a key. She heads to the attic and finds a trunk which she shows to Barnabas because it contains items from his father’s desk. Barnabas tells her about the green fire and asks if she has anything to do with it. She tells him about the voice and they hear a foghorn. Then they look at some of the papers from the trunk and find the name Oswald Gravenor written in wet blood in the records and Barnabas tells her about the rivalry between his father and Oswald, including blackmail, although it was rumoured that Oswald died in a suspicious fire at sea. The papers then start to burn and injure Angelique.

Quentin leaves the bar and meets Maggie Evans. He walks her back to the Inn and, as they walk, they see a deserted ship coming into the harbour. Ed from the Blue Whale joins them and, as they watch it miraculously berth successfully, they decide it’s The Lorelei, which was built by Oswald Gravenor, the ship that Oswald was meant to have died on.

Willie Loomis climbs to the Tower Room of Collinwood where he sees the green fire more clearly and hears the mysterious voice again. Meanwhile Barnabas and Angelique are trapped in the attic. Seawater is rising through the floorboards and Angelique, as a witch, fears she will drown and that the voice is after her.

Is Angelique being targeted? What does the mysterious voice want? And what does it all have to do with the ghostly Lorelei, docked at the harbour?

This was a fantastic spooky story that explained a lot about the secrets of the Collins family history and hinted at the origins of their curse. Now that I am used to the multipart format of these full cast dramas, the story was very well paced and sustained the suspense from one part to the next. The characterisation this time in the writing of Scott Alan Woodard was especially good and Gary Russell’s direction brought out the best from the cast too, exposing vulnerabilities in the usually strong characters of Barnabas and Angelique while giving normally supporting characters like Willie and Maggie a much more pivotal role to the story. And the ending, as well as being somewhat unexpected, has opened up a lot of new possibilities for some of the characters and left me with a real feeling of “what’s going to happen next time.” So some questions answered and even more mysteries posed with this enthralling entry in the Dark Shadow’s timeline.

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