I'm not the biggest fan of nostalgia, tradition or retro-whatever. For the most part that is what comedian Doug Stanhope calls "dead-mans baggage". Then again, sometime it is good to know how you got where you got.
If your parents were horror fans, there is a very high likelihood that they got the bug from the t.v. show "Dark Shadows". Dark Shadows was originally a soap opera that kicked off with a murder mystery. When ratings just didn't happen for the concept, the series creator brought on a vampire just because he always wanted to do monster movies. What also worked in it's favor is it was on right when kids got home from school. It was a spooky soap opera that kids could sing their teeth into.
The show ran for over 1200 episodes and filmed in one take, this also meant that any day was anything can happen day with some notable gaffes (including future Charlies Angel's actress Kate Jackson's dress catching on fire).
Interestingly enough, just like The Walking Dead has never used the word zombie, the show avoided using the term "vampire" until it was over 200 episodes in.
So why spend any time at all learning about this show or it's creator? Well, fantasy mostly. Can you imagine having a horror show to follow five days a week for five years? It's like a dream come true.
Dark Shadows was also made into a feature length movie starring Johnny Depp which was a little bit of fun. Check out the trailer for the creator of Dark Shadows below: