by Doug Krentzlin
Dr. Jeff Thompson is the author of the first two books dedicated to the work of one of television's most underrated artists, producer/director Dan Curtis.
Thompson also teaches English at Tennessee State University and Watkins College of Art, Design, & Film in Nashville and announces on WAMB-AM 1200 & FM 99.3, Nashville's big-band/easy-listening radio station. His first book, The Television Horrors of Dan Curtis: Dark Shadows, The Night Stalker, and Other Productions, 1966-2006 was published last year by McFarland & Co. His follow-up, House of Dan Curtis: The Television Mysteries of the Dark Shadows Auteur will be forthcoming from Westview Publishing Co. this summer.
"I have always loved movies and television," says Jeff, "Two of the very first movies that I remember going to see in the theatre are The Music Man and The Sword in the Stone, thereby beginning my interests in movie/TV music and fantasy. When I was a boy, I saw many great older movies on Nashville's TV stations. I saw My Blood Runs Cold, Song of Scheherazade, A Song to Remember, The Trouble with Angels, Two on a Guillotine, Alfred Hitchcock movies, Shirley Temple movies, Andy Hardy movies, Tarzan movies, Universal monster movies and many others. As I was seeing the Planet of the Apes, Dark Shadows and Dr. Phibes movies in theatres, I became a great fan of The ABC Movie of the Week on television. My interests in both movies and television complemented each other. By the way, at home, I have a Dark Shadows guest bedroom and a Psycho bathroom!"
Given his credentials, it's not surprising that Jeff takes an imaginative approach to his work. "In my many writings and conference presentations about popular culture (e.g. books, movies, TV, comic books, music, etc.), I am engaging in what academicians call 'creative scholarship'," he says, "I feel that even factual, non-fiction writing (e.g. history, biography, filmography) can seem to have a 'plot' and a flow just like fiction. However, the facts and research behind a non-fiction work may make it more serious writing than more 'creative' writing."
Asked why he chose Dan Curtis to write about, Jeff responds, "In early 2006, it was time for me to write my doctoral dissertation. I had decided to write about film noir in general and Chinatown (1974) in particular—and then, Dan Curtis died in March. Diamond Galleries' excellent website Scoop asked me to write Dan Curtis's obituary for Scoop, and I was happy to do so. I then realized that I had spent my life studying Dark Shadows (TV show, movies, novels, comic books, and collectibles) and all of the other productions of Dan Curtis and that this significant but often unsung producer-director and his work should be documented in a scholarly manner. In the summer of 2006, I wrote my doctoral dissertation about the horror films of Dan Curtis, and in 2007-2008, I reshaped my dissertation into my 2009 McFarland book The Television Horrors of Dan Curtis. After I wrote that book about Curtis's 17+ horror productions, I was eager to give similar attention to Curtis's 15+ mysteries and crime dramas. I wrote House of Dan Curtis in the summer of 2009. In December 2009, I wrote a new chapter about Curtis's planned productions that never materialized, including adaptations of Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights and Richard Matheson's Journal of the Gun Years, as well as further adventures of Federal Bureau of Investigation agent Melvin Purvis."
Obviously Jeff feels an affinity with the horror genre that contributed to his enthusiasm for Curtis's work. "Horror can be a great catharsis," he explains, "It can allow us to confront our fears in a 'safe,' controlled environment. Horror books, movies, and TV series cannot 'hurt' us because we know that they are only make-believe fun. Horror media also provide much-needed escapism from the real-life horrors around us."
Deservedly, Jeff takes great pride in his many accomplishments. "I earned a new degree in each decade: high-school diploma in 1977, B.A. in Communications in 1981, M.A. in English in 1991, and Ph.D. in English in 2007. In 1974, I began writing for The Heroines Showcase comic-book fanzine, and in 1975, I began writing for The World of Dark Shadows fanzine. In 1985, I wrote, photographed, and narrated The Dark Shadows Memorabilia Slide Show, which I presented at numerous fan conventions for the next seven years. In 1992-1993, I led the fan campaign that successfully brought the Sci-Fi Channel to Nashville's cable-TV system. In 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008, I was nominated for Teacher of the Year at Tennessee State University. In 2010, my book The Television Horrors of Dan Curtis was nominated for a Rondo Award for Best Book, and I celebrated my 25th anniversary at Tennessee State University."
Jeff ends the interview with an anecdote he's particularly fond of. "Truman Capote once told a friend that he was going to spend all day writing. That night, his friend returned and looked at Capote's paper. 'You wrote only one word all day long!' his friend exclaimed. Capote replied, 'Yes, but it was the right word.'"
Doug Krentzlin is a professional freelance writer, guest lecturer and actor living in Silver Spring, Maryland, with his cats, Buffy and Angel. He writes an entertainment blog for Examiner.com (Classic TV Examiner) and has had articles published in the New York Post and Movie Maker Magazine. Doug can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
