#willie loomis appreciation post

[flock-of-cassowaries]

Barnabas Collins thinking Willie Loomis is “as docile as ever”, is about as wishful of thinking as Hannibal Lecter thinking that Will Graham was going to run away with him after the bone-saw incident.

Like, dude; buddy. Your William is feisty. He has always feisted you. He will continue to feist you.

(And I am here for it.)

[flock-of-cassowaries]

There’s a bit where they get to just really yell at each other for a an episode or two’s duration, and I swear it’s some of the best acting in the series.

Like, very few actors can match truly John Karlen’s cartoonishly absurd intensity, but Kathryn Leigh Scott can, and it’s magical.

[barnabascollins]

he really said *cartoon gulp*

[willie-loomis-deserves-love]

Hey, I know your blog hasn't been active for a while, but I've noticed that some of the photograph aesthetics have 1967 crossed out in the corner, and I'm Extremely curious as to why. (I really love your aesthetics btw, they're lovely)

Hello! Thank you for the kind words, they are much appreciated.

Really long explanation below, I'm sorry:

So the main theme of the blog was supposed to be a mainly visual representation of the character Willie Loomis's introduction to Collinsport in the TV show Dark Shadows. And from his point of view, kind of.

The photographs are supposed to be photographs that he might have taken, if he had a camera, during the time he was helping Barnabas Collins repair the Old House, amongst other things.

His record-keeping is poor, which I felt was in character. This is why some photographs have brief descriptions, or spelling errors, or dates, or nothing at all.

And the annotations in the post descriptions are supposed to be if the photographs were found by another party and were subsequently cataloged and preserved. (I used to work in collections and in libraries.)

And as for "1967" being crossed out: Willie enters Barnabas's service in late 1967. And from that point his mental and emotional state are poor. My thought was that he may lose track at times and forget was year it is. He's in such a state of stasis and constant peril, barred from the outside world and anything familiar, that he'd probably forget that time still passes. Hence why he wrote "1967" only to remember that no, it was in fact now 1968.

I'm sorry if that was long or weird. This blog was a fun project for me a while ago and I don't really get to talk about it. The photograph series was probably my favorite aspect and I am humbled that it interested you.

Thank you so much.

[flock-of-cassowaries]

Original Willie Loomis was legitimately chilling. James Hall’s performance was so compelling that I felt unsafe watching it, 55 years later.

I kind of love John Karlen’s scrunkled-up wet napkin Willie Loomis, but it would’ve been really interesting (though uncomfortable) to see where the show would’ve gone if they hadn’t replaced James Hall, reimagined the character, and abruptly changed the course of the show to be the Silly Funtime Vampire (half) Hour.

[flock-of-cassowaries]

God John Karlen is entertaining. Like, objectively, he’s probably overdoing it by at least 20%, but god, it’s fun to watch.

[flock-of-cassowaries]

Pretty sure that’s the same face Bestie’s nibbling used to make as a toddler when asked if they were, in fact, the one who pooped behind the curtains.

[flock-of-cassowaries]

Thrall Willie Loomis deals with conflict the same way I deal with angry customers. Just a flurry of flustered aggression and panik, that accomplishes nothing and convinces no one.

Truly iconic.

[flock-of-cassowaries]

I do enjoy the Jason McGuire - original Willie Loomis dynamic. Like, Jason McGuire is incredibly creepy to everyone, but even he is unnerved by the little ball of sociopathic chaos that is James Halls’ Willie Loomis.

[flock-of-cassowaries]

Willie Loomis has been on this show for two episodes, and every time he’s screen my heart breaks in anticipation of his replacement in episode 207.

This actor (James Hall) is great in the role. Absolutely believably creepy and a loose cannon. Chilling, and a completely natural performance in the midst of a very theatrical, campy show.

[flock-of-cassowaries]

It’s a credit to John Karlen’s performance that I can see his incarnation of Willie Loomis talking to a kid and not start yelling for the police.

He’s completely overwritten the incredibly threatening creepiness of the (also very good, but completely different) Willie Loomis, played by James Hall.

[willie-loomis-deserves-love]

100th post!!!

I’ve been (re)watching Dark Shadows lately. My sister made the mistake of asking me about it. And she screenshot it for me too. She knows me too well. 

Safe to say, it took a lot of typing.

This is kind of my first blog/tumblr/whatever. I’ve never really done anything like this before. Thanks for all the regulars that like my posts. (You give me life!) And thank you to all the random passersby that happen to stumble into my weird blog.

I appreciate the support.

I just didn’t really expect anyone to notice, let alone like, the weird immersive blog from the point-of-view of a side character in a gothic soap opera from the 1960s. 

I kind of thought I was the only one. It’s nice to know that I’m not.

(To be completely honest, two months ago I found out that a Willie Loomis fansite that I used to frequent had shut down quite a while ago. I was devastated. So I started this tumblr to cheer myself up. So I guess this is in honor of “Willie Loomis Saves Collinsport”. Goodnight, Sweet Prince.) 

Thanks <3