(1991) Daphne Collins (1963-1990) was a cousin to
the fabled Collins family of Collinsport, Maine.
She lived at the great house of Collinwood and
worked as an accountant to Elizabeth Collins
Stoddard. She also provided services for other
residents in the port community including tavern
owner, Sam Evans.
Daphne was romantically involved with a
longshoreman named Joe Haskell.
Although Daphne was committed to Joe, she realized
that maintaining a relationship with a man who
worked such disagreeable hours would be a difficult
one.
In the winter of 1990, Daphne was walking home from
the Blue Whale when a mysterious stranger attacked
her in her car. Although she didn’t realize it at
the time, this stranger was her own vampire
ancestor, Barnabas Collins. Barnabas drank a large
portion of Daphne’s blood and left her for dead.
Sam Evans and his daughter, Maggie, discovered
Daphne's body and called the police. She was
immediately taken to the hospital where she was
given a blood transfusion. The police had no
indication of who the attacker might be, and
Elizabeth Collins Stoddard insisted that Daphne be
moved to Collinwood where private physicians could
attend to her needs.
Dr. Hiram Fischer called in a blood specialist from
New York named Dr. Julia Hoffman. Hoffman set up a
small office at Collinwood where she worked
alongside an old colleague of her named Professor
Michael Woodard. Woodard had already spoken with
the town sheriff, George Patterson, and had
developed his own theory as to the nature of
Daphne's condition. He boldly told Julia that he
believed Daphne was the victim of a vampire. Julia
was skeptical at first, but respected Michael
enough to not arbitrarily dismiss his opinions.
As the days passed, Daphne's condition improved.
However, she had no clear memory of the attack and
could not successfully identify her attacker.
Michael Woodard provided Daphne with a crucifix
necklace and asked her to wear it. He didn't
explain his motivations to her, but Daphne humored
him, believing Woodard to merely be an aloof old
man with a fondness for religious traditions.
One evening, Barnabas Collins stood outside the
windows of Collinwood and used his vampiric powers
of hypnosis to call out to Daphne. Daphne rose from
her bed and began descending the staircase at
Collinwood, but the presence of the crucifix kept
Barnabas from effectively attacking her. Joe and
the others found her downstairs and brought her
back to her room. Elizabeth decided that she should
be relocated to first floor quarters should she
begin sleepwalking again. None of the residents at
Collinwood had any idea how close to death Daphne
had come.
Sheriff Patterson grew concerned that whomever
attacked Daphne might attempt to do so again –
especially if the possibility existed that she
could correctly identify him. He assigned a deputy
to stay at Collinwood to watch over her. Joe
Haskell and the deputy agreed to keep a nightly
vigil over Daphne while she slept – to insure that
she did not begin sleepwalking again.
On one of the nights in question however, both
Haskell and the deputy fell asleep at their post.
Barnabas appeared outside of Collinwood and
beckoned Daphne to him. She removed the cross from
her neck and ventured outside. Barnabas took the
young woman into his embrace and completely drained
her of blood, killing her. The following morning,
Joe Haskell and the deputy found Daphne's body near
Widows' Hill.
Funeral services were held at Eagle Hill Cemetery
and Daphne was buried inside of the Collins Family
mausoleum. The night of her funeral, Daphne rose
from the grave as a vampire. She stalked off
towards the old family swimming pool where she
found her young cousin, David, playing. She tried
to attack David, but the small boy managed to evade
her grasp and ran back to the main house. He burst
into the dining room claiming to have just seen
Daphne. Naturally, no one believed him – no one
except for Dr. Woodard. Woodard’s suspicions were
now confirmed and he was convinced that Daphne was
not only killed by a vampire, but now walked as one
of the living dead as well. He brazenly presented
his theory to the household who treated him with
mock scorn. Their shock towards Woodard's
assertions only intensified when he suggested that
they exhume Daphne's remains to certify whether or
not she truly was a vampire.
Later that night, Joe Haskell wandered down to the
mausoleum to visit Daphne's tomb on his own. Daphne
appeared from the shadows and attacked him. He
managed to stumble back to Collinwood, and the
family took him inside and placed him in the care
of Dr. Hoffman. After analyzing Haskell’s neck
wounds, the family became less leery of Woodard’s
bizarre theories. He presented his ideas to George
Patterson and warned his deputies that Daphne was
now a vampire. The sheriff and his men inspected
her tomb at the mausoleum and found it empty.
A few nights later, Daphne struck again. She
summoned Joe to her side and the two met in the
upstairs quarters of the Collins family stables.
Upon discovering that Joe was missing, Sheriff
Patterson sent out a search party. They tracked the
vampire down, and cornered her inside the stables.
The deputies held Daphne down, while Dr. Woodard
hammered a wooden stake into her heart, destroying
her once and for all.