Barb Lien-Cooper & Park Cooper

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  • A Dark Shadows Story: The Stuff Nightmares Are Made Of

    A Dark Shadows Story: The Stuff Nightmares Are Made Of

    Tony Peterson sat in his law office in Bangor, Maine, thinking about how far he’d come in such a short period of time. I went from trying to sue the Collins family for a worker’s injury—and lost— he thought, to moving to Bangor and starting over again with this practice. The clients kept pouring in, as if by magic…

    Tony shuddered a bit at the word magic. He did not want to think about Cassandra Collins, and the love spell she’d put on him to bend him to her will…

    He was shaken out of his thoughts by a knock on the door. “It’s open,” he called.

    Tony’s secretary Effie came in with a package. “Today’s post had something unusual in it,” she said. “There’s no return address, but the name on the package just says ‘Cassandra…’”

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  • Forged in Craft

    Forged in Craft


    Park: Okay so today Barb and I are going to discuss our new binge-watching show that isn’t 1966’s DARK SHADOWS: a little show called FORGED IN FIRE. Forged in Fire seems like a sort of reality show//contest show, and in some ways it is– but not like the others of its kind. Forged in Fire is about blacksmiths making knives and swords. Each round we eliminate one of 4 guys that we start with– last guy gets 10 thousand dollars. …But it’s so much better than that even makes it sound!

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  • A Dark Shadows Story: “Period of Adjustment”

    A Dark Shadows Story: “Period of Adjustment”

    Dr. Julia Hoffman was surprised to see Willie Loomis sitting in front of the Old House. He looked worried. “Willie, is everything all right with Barnabas?” she asked.

    “Yeah,” said Willie, “I wouldn’ let anythin’ happen t’ Barnabas… But everythin’ isn’ all right with me.”

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  • Crossover: Avengers and West Wing

    Crossover: Avengers and West Wing

    Park’s Dream Journal: 6/24/2023

    I had a dream last night…

    The intersection of two great entertainment franchises: AVENGERS and THE WEST WING.

    COLD OPEN: President Bartlett is getting ready to have a big conference– in a building in downtown New York– great minds– scientists, doctors, philosophers, even a thinly-veiled version of whoever former president Jimmy Carter is in the West Wing universe. 

    The secret service and S.H.I.E.L.D. are begging President Bartlett to get superheroes for security, he says no. They beg and plead with him to compromise– maybe JUST Iron Man? He says no. “If we get Iron Man, all Iron Man’s enemies will decide it’s the perfect time to attack. No, I’ve got a different compromise.”

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  • Dark Shadows Fan Fiction: “Before Our Time”

    Dark Shadows Fan Fiction: “Before Our Time”

    “Good evening! Good evening Barnabas, Julia, please, come in…” said Professor Stokes, inviting them into his house.

    “You said that you had an urgent matter to discuss with us,” said Barnabas Collins, as he and his dearest companion, Dr. Julia Hoffman, entered Professor Stokes’ home.

    “Come, please, sit down,” said Professor Stokes.

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  • A Tale of Two Dorothys (and how they influenced me)

    A Tale of Two Dorothys (and how they influenced me)

    As a writer of urban/dark fantasy stories (Gun Street Girl, Hungry Ghosts (a graphic novel and also a related-but-not-the-same prose novel by the same name), The Talking Cure, and Song to the Siren), I had originally planned to write this essay about obscure female fantasy/horror writers that deserved more attention. I wanted to write about the Weird Tales writer Mary Elizabeth Counselman (“The Monkey Spoons,” “Mommy”) and the quiet horror writer Rosemary Timperley (“Harry,” “The Sinister Schoolmaster”). However, I ran into a psychological block: it’s extremely difficult to find these fine ladies’ works. Oh, if you’re lucky, you may find “Harry,” one of the finest quiet horror stories out there, in a ghost story anthology. If you’re extremely lucky, you may find Mary Elizabeth Counselman’s “The Monkey Spoons,” a tale of fate and tragedy, in a horror anthology. But if you liked their work and wanted more, unless you’re an internet detective the way my husband and writing partner, Park Cooper, is, finding more stories by these women will be an exercise in frustration, as their works are, sadly, long out of print.

    So, I’ve decided to write a personal essay about two women named Dorothy and how they influenced my writing. The first one is an ace short story writer. The second is a mystery author. 

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  • Dark Shadows Fan Fiction: “Table for Two”

    Dark Shadows Fan Fiction: “Table for Two”

    NARRATOR (Grayson Hall): In spite of her best efforts to stay in the past, Dr. Julia Hoffman has found that her spirit is being dragged back from 1897 to the latter half of the twentieth century. Soon her spirit and body will be reunited… and Barnabas Collins will be alone, in a strange and friendless time…

    ~~~~~~~~~

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  • Barb Approves of More Stuff!

    Barb Approves of More Stuff!

    Look, it’s more stuff of which Barb approves! (And I, Park, do, too!)

    —Let Sleeping Corpses Lie (1974) (also known as The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue) 

    I am not usually a fan of zombie films. They bore me. All zombie films have the same plot: zombies eat a bunch of people, humanity is screwed, the end. 

    Yes, there are exceptions. I love the original Night of the Living Dead, Hammer Studios’ Plague of the Zombies, and the obscure radio production of a Halloween one-off called “The Peoria Plague.” But unless a zombie film has something different to offer me like the Blind Dead films or, I just have no interest in the walking-dead-type films.

    So, I was surprised how deeply affected I was by Let Sleeping Corpses Lie. It had such a stupid title, just for a start. But Kill Baby Kill has a silly title, and I like that film, so, what the heck, I decided to poke those sleeping corpses with a stick to see what gives.

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  • Dark Shadows Fan Fiction: “The Center of the Light”

    Dark Shadows Fan Fiction: “The Center of the Light”

    The Center of the Light (by Barb Lien-Cooper)

    “They didn’t take me as seriously as they should have… because I’m a woman.”

    –Dr. Julia Hoffman, Dark Shadows, episode 338

    ~ ~ ~

    Dr. Julia Hoffman sat in the break room of the Windcliff Sanitarium with Dr. Dave Woodard… her friend (who wouldn’t mind at all if he were more than a friend).

    “All in all,” Julia was saying, “I think my first interview went well. They, of course, wondered if I, a mere woman, could handle running this place,” she added sarcastically, “but…”

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  • Barb Approves of Stuff!

    Barb Approves of Stuff!

    My husband Park and I spend a lot of time reading, listening to music, and watching movies, old TV shows, etc.

    We’re also pretty picky about what we like.

    So, I thought I’d make a list of some stuff I (and he) do approve of!

    –“The Water Ghost of Harrowby Hall” (read by Jonathan Frid)

    I’m putting this up at the top of this list front for my fellow Dark Shadows fans! My husband and I are huge fans of the old supernatural soap opera Dark Shadows, and the lead vampire actor, Jonathan Frid, had such a compelling voice! So listening to him read this funny ghost story about how to outwit a ghost that makes rooms and people wet with water, is a minor treasure and a major pleasure for me.

    –“The Erl King” by John Connolly

    “The Erl King” is a scary poem about a father and son riding on a horse at night. The son starts hearing the voice of the “Erl King,” who is the king of the fairies. The Erl King wants to drag the son away to his fairy kingdom…

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