Miss Ghost America
Long before Anne Rice wrote her vampires stories or the fictional town of Bon Temps was featured in the series True Blood, the 1960s soap opera Dark Shadows had its own brooding vampire and werewolf.
Dark Shadows ran from 1966 to 1971, and went off the air after 1,225 episodes. The series had become so popular two feature films were made with the cast; House of Dark Shadows in 1970 and Night of Dark Shadows in 1971. To promote the movies the producers sponsored a nationwide spooky beauty pageant.
Like in the series, the movies focused on the character of Barnabas Collins, who pretends to be a modern descendant of the family, when in reality he is a vampire from the 18th century. What he wants more than anything is to become human so he can marry a mortal woman.
MGM and the mastermind of the series, Dan Curtis thought that a beauty contest would draw in the fans. The winner of the Miss American Vampire Contest would get a trip to New York so they could appear as a guest on a TV episode.
Newspaper ads targeted girls, 18 to 25, who thought they had the right “vampire look” coupled with “charm, poise, stage presence and videogenic qualities for television.” One TV ad read, “It a contest you can sink your teeth into.”
Regional beauty contests were held in cities across the country, from Dallas to Philadelphia to Miami. The finalists were sent to Los Angeles to compete in the final contest which was held on September 10, 1970.
A New Jersey judge offered her experience in the book The Dark Shadows Companion: 25th Anniversary Collection, saying, “It was fun for the first five minutes. After that it got terribly depressing. Some of the girls came in bikinis. Some of them came dressed as witches or vampires or dead bodies. One girl stood in front of me and just stared.”
The final winner was actress Sacheen Littlefeather (1946-2022, real name Maria Louise Cruz), who three years later represented Marlon Brando in the 1973 Academy Awards. She declined to travel to New York and appear on the show.
The prize then went to Christine Domaniecki the winner of the New Jersey contest, who had been crowned by Jonathan Frid (1924-2012), the actor who played Barnabas Collins.
The contest was so popular that following the release of House of Dark Shadows and the final episode of the series in April, 1971, Night of Dark Shadows was released in August. This movie focused on Angelique the witch that cursed Barnabas Collins with vampirism. Another contest, Miss Ghost America was kicked off with the same format as the first pageant. Since the series had ended, the prize for this contest was the opportunity to appear on The Dating Game.
The finals were aired on Fright Night in Los Angeles on September, 25, 1971.
Kate Sarchet, 18, won and appeared on The Dating Game and also received a $250 savings bond. Comedian Will Durst was the bachelor and he wrote an account of the date that didn’t lead to a second one. He wrote: “Miss Ghost America totally ignored me on the date and hooked up with the golf pro at the hotel where we got a free round of golf at. Which left the chaperone and me to drink in the hotel bar. Drank so much I missed the ride back to LA the following morning, and I had to get back on my own.”
In 1991, the gothic soap opera was reimagined and released as a television series referred to as Dark Shadows: The Revival. Dan Curtis developed the new version.
The series was filmed mostly at The Greystone Park and Mansion in Beverly Hills. Some of the period wardrobe used was originally used in the 1998 film Dangerous Liaisons.
It was cancelled after one season and NBC received over 7,000 letters of protest from fans, who picketed outside the network headquarters in Los Angeles and New York City.
Ben Cross (1947-2020) played the part of Barnabas Collins.
