The severed head of warlock Judah Zachery has at various times been housed in three of the bedrooms in a mansion known as Rose Cottage. Occasionally, it opens its eyes. When it does this, it is played by actor Michael McGuire. At other times, the head is still. In those scenes, a replica of McGuire’s head is used.
Today, Judah takes possession of seagoing con man Gerard Stiles. When he does so, the head closes its eyes forever. Using Gerard’s body as his own, Judah orders his minion Charles Dawson to keep the head in a safe place. McGuire went back to Broadway to appear as Richard Greatham in a revival of Hay Fever.
One of the judges who sentenced Judah to be beheaded in 1692 was Amadeus Collins. Now that he is back in action, Judah wants to take revenge on Amadeus’s descendants. He decides to frame Quentin Collins for witchcraft. The dramatic date is 1840, and the location is the state of Maine. In our universe, there were no laws against witchcraft in Maine or anywhere else in the English-speaking world at that time, and had not been since 1736. But early in 1968, Dark Shadows was set in 1796, and we saw that there were witchcraft laws on the books in its version of the place. So perhaps they are still in effect in 1840.
At any rate, the black magic rite in which Judah implicates Quentin involves a human sacrifice. So even if there are no witchcraft laws, presumably the murder statutes would apply. Judah, passing as Gerard, goes to a viewing at the funeral home operated by overbearing undertaker Lamar Trask. A woman named Lorna Bell shows up to pay her respects to the deceased. As Gerard, Judah tells her that some of his friends are getting together for a Lamar-free memorial service later in the evening. She agrees to attend, and says she wants to go home with him afterward. Quentin stops in, and Lorna sees that he and Gerard are friends. She tells him that she will see him later that evening. Lamar overhears. Quentin doesn’t know what she is talking about.
Lorna goes to a house where Dawson meets her. He ushers her into room with an altar. He locks her in by herself. He returns, and Judah also enters, wearing a mask and carrying a dagger.
Lamar calls on Quentin in the great house of Collinwood. He informs him that Lorna was found murdered, with “the mark of Satan” on her forehead. It turns out that Quentin wears a ring with this mark.
Even if the Dark Shadows version of Maine was in 1840 as lacking in witchcraft laws as was the real one, it would seem rather indiscreet for a prominent member of the community to go around wearing a ring featuring “the mark of Satan.” It may not have been so strange in 1970, when the success of the movie Rosemary’s Baby led to a fad for Satanic symbolism, which led to such oddities as Sammy Davis, Jr’s 1974 album Satan Swings featuring Church of Satan founder Anton LeVey on background vocals. But in the days when Queen Victoria was young, people tended to be a bit more cautious about that sort of thing.
Lorna is played by Marilyn Joseph. Miss Joseph was at this time married to Christopher Pennock. Lorna’s ghost, or a simulacrum of it, will appear in #1145.
