At the end of #1109, mad scientist Julia Hoffman passed through a warp in spacetime and found herself at the great house of Collinwood in the year 1840. Lonely, she persuaded herself that if she went to the hidden chamber in the Collins family mausoleum and let vampire Barnabas Collins out of the chained coffin to which he had been confined since the 1790s he would remember the friendship that they began in 1968, and that they would be able to work together against the supernatural menace closing in on the Collinses of 1840.
In fact, Julia found that Barnabas had no recollection of anything later than the 1790s. He had no idea who she was, no interest in anything she tried to say, and no intention of letting her leave the chamber alive. It was only because his old friend Ben Stokes had followed Julia to the mausoleum and entered in the nick of time that Barnabas did not kill Julia then and there.
For the next several days, Barnabas rampaged through the grounds of Collinwood and the village of Collinsport. In #1114, he espied the lovely Roxanne Drew on the terrace of the great house, telling overbearing undertaker Lamar Trask that she hated him and would never yield to her father’s wish that she should marry him. Lamar looks and sounds just like his own late father, an enemy whom Barnabas loathed and took pleasure in torturing to death, so her hostility to Lamar wins Roxanne a place in Barnabas’ heart. In #1115, he bit Roxanne and left her to die, intending for her to rise as a vampire so that they could spend the rest of time preying on the living together.
In #1116, Julia and Ben found Roxanne and took her to the Old House on the grounds of Collinwood. There, Julia rigged up a medical apparatus and kept Roxanne alive. When Barnabas found what she had done, he was about to kill Julia. At the last second, his 1970 self projected his personality into his 1840 body, and Barnabas and Julia’s friendship picked up where it left off.
In #1117, Barnabas was remorseful about what he had done to Roxanne. He was distressed that Roxanne wanted him to bite her again and finish the job, and relieved that Julia was able not only to heal Roxanne’s physical wounds, but also to hypnotize her so that she did not remember the attack.
In #1129, Barnabas’ one-time wife, wicked witch Angelique, showed up and found that Barnabas was no longer in his coffin. In #1130, she went to the great house and introduced herself as Mrs Barnabas Collins. In #1133, she found that Barnabas and Roxanne shared a mutual attraction, and that Roxanne was shocked to hear that Barnabas was married. She told Barnabas that if he had anything more to do with Roxanne, she would cause the wounds on her neck to reopen, leading to her death and subsequent reappearance as a vampire. That curse would be Barnabas’ doing. Under this threat, Barnabas sent Roxanne a note saying they could never be together. Roxanne responded to that note yesterday by agreeing to marry Lamar.
Angelique’s threat should have been unnecessary. Barnabas knew full well that he was tempted to bite Roxanne and that if he did so she would likely become a vampire. Since he did not want that to happen, he should already have been at pains to avoid being alone with her. But a vampire is after all a metaphor for extreme selfishness, and so when he refuses to respect the logic of his own position and keeps stringing Roxanne along we might be frustrated with him, but we cannot really be surprised.
Barnabas cannot tolerate the idea of Roxanne as Lamar’s wife. He tells Julia that he is going to go to her and urge her not to marry Lamar. Julia tells him that if he does, Angelique will kill Roxanne. Barnabas asserts that Angelique will never find out. Since Angelique has powers including remote viewing, this is a bizarre thing to be sure of, and Julia tells him he is wrong. He ignores her. Desperate, she says she will go to Roxanne. Barnabas agrees to let her do this.
My wife, Mrs Acilius, points out that Julia is an extraordinarily skilled and inventive liar. While Barnabas might catch on if she does not go to Roxanne’s house, there is no reason once she is there she should not simply convey good wishes from Barnabas and herself for a happy marriage. But she presses Roxanne to admit she doesn’t love Lamar and insists that she call off the engagement.
Roxanne comes to Collinwood and tells Barnabas she loves only him. She embraces him. He can’t resist kissing her and telling her he loves her, too. Of course Angelique walks in on them.
Roxanne goes back home. Lamar is there. She tells him she cannot marry him, because she hates him. She loves Barnabas. We cut to Collinwood, where Angelique is casting her spell. Roxanne’s neck wounds reopen and blood comes spurting out.
Lamar bursts in the front door of Collinwood and shouts for Barnabas. Julia meets him. He tells her what has happened and declares that only Barnabas can save Roxanne, since he has cast a spell that is causing her to die. Julia insists Lamar take her to Roxanne. She gets to her just in time to hear her murmur Barnabas’ name as she dies. Lamar says that Barnabas is responsible for her death, which is of course true. He vows that he will exact vengeance for her on Barnabas, which is not likely to be true.
Back at Collinwood, Julia tells Barnabas that Roxanne is dead. Barnabas strikes a noble pose while saying that he feels responsible, then talks about how much he hates Angelique. He and Julia agree that the urgent thing now is to prevent Roxanne rising as a vampire. It is too close to dawn to make any plans, so they agree to talk it over in the evening. Julia does not bother to mention Lamar’s vow of revenge.
