Sam writes a letter and gives it to Maggie for protection.

Synopsis

My name is Victoria Winters. It's one o'clock in the morning, barely four hours since I've decided once again to stay in Collinwood. And now sleep refuses to come, not only for me, but for a man whose tension, hour by hour, seems to be rising closer to the surface.

Roger calls Sam and is furious that he hasn't called Burke. Roger finds Victoria and berates her for "eavesdropping." He threatens to send her away but Victoria informs him that Elizabeth had practically begged her to remain at Collinwood.

Sam keeps Maggie in the dark about his secret call. He has written a secret letter, which he gives to Maggie. He tells her to keep it safe and unopened. He reiterates that she should only open it if something should happen to him. Maggie wishes Collinwood, which she suspects has something to do with the mystery letter, would burn to the ground. He says that that wouldn't help, ghosts are homeless. They laugh about sobbing ghosts.

Victoria hears the sound of a sobbing woman come from downstairs at Collinwood. She tracks it to the basement, where Roger catches her. He berates her. Victoria again hears the sobbing.

Ned Calder calls and Roger berates him, too. Victoria tells Roger that Elizabeth was very anxious to speak with Ned. Once again, he becomes annoyed with her before acting more civil. He admits he heard the sobbing and that he’s heard it many times before. He tells her ghosts can seem "very, very real indeed."

Memorable quotes

Roger (to Vicki): I see. Innocence in a dressing gown.

---

Sam: Ghosts of the past don't live in a home. They live inside each man. They fight for his soul...twist it into something unrecognizable.

Dramatis personae

• ← Louis Edmonds as Roger Collins →
• ← Kathryn Leigh Scott as Maggie Evans →
• ← David Ford as Sam Evans →
• ← Alexandra Moltke as Victoria Winters →
• Florence Stanley as Sobbing Woman (uncredited)

Background information and notes

Production

• This episode was recorded out of broadcast sequence. The previous episode to be recorded was 38.
• IMDb and an original script indicate Clarice Blackburn was the sobbing woman in this episode.
• There are no end credits except for the "Dan Curtis Productions, inc." logo and the usual final announcement. There is also no end credit theme music.

Story

• TIMELINE: Day 4 begins, and will end in episode 47. Roger phones Sam at 1:00 am and tells him he'll visit tomorrow. Maggie and Sam talk at 1:15 am about who just phoned.
• David Ford/Sam Evans is left-handed (we see so when he writes the letter to Maggie).
• GHOSTWATCH: Vicki hears a sobbing woman throughout Collinwood, leading her to investigate the source of the sound. She ends up at the basement, and instead of finding a "sobbing woman", she is discovered by Roger, who berates her for being there.

Bloopers and continuity errors

• Before the opening title the musical cue appears to be played twice.
• Sam makes a flub on the phone that "I tried to talk about him, of, him out of having me do his portrait."
• In Act I Roger says, "Now, just supposin' you tell me how long you were standing in that doorway." "Supposin' you tell me" is not something the character Roger would say, so it seems to be either a flubbed line and/or Louis Edmonds' southern dialect coming out.
• The end credits appear, vanish, and then appear again long enough for the narrator to recite the announcement.

End credits announcements

• Dark Shadows is a Dan Curtis Production.

External Links 

Dark Shadows - Episode 37 on the IMDb

The Collinsport Historical Society - Dark Shadows Diary - Episode 37

Dark Shadows Commentary- Episode 37: Fatigue lines

Dark Shadows Before I Die- Episode 37: 8/16/66