Dark Shadows was a unique show not only for it's gothic flavor and for its ghosts, vampires and werewolves, but also because from time to time the story would shift to the past, future, or even the alternate universes of parallel time. During the show's five year run, as the story would shift, the cast would play different characters. These are the characters that Grayson Hall made come to life during her tenure on Dark Shadows.

JULIA HOFFMAN (1967-1971)
Although Grayson's favorite character was Magda, Julia is many fans' favorite character and the one that Grayson played most often and so well. According to some interviews from the time, the character Julia Hoffman was originally supposed to be Julian Hoffman, a man, and the character was supposed to last only about 13 weeks before being killed by the vampire. It was Grayson who decided that the character should be in love with the vampire as a subtext. Nothing was in the script; it was all done with body language, and the audience so identified with the longing looks and unrequited love that Julia had for Barnabas that the character lasted far longer than the original thirteen weeks.

Dr. Julia Hoffman was head of Wyndcliffe Sanitarium which was about an hour from Collinwood. Her entrance into Dark Shadows was as the psychiatrist/hematologist that was brought in to treat Maggie Evans, Barnabas victim/fixation. As she investigates Maggie's strange tales, she goes to Collinwood and soon discovers Barnabas' terrible secret. She confronts him, risking her life, and offers him a cure. This starts an uneasy partnership which eventually becomes deep friendship, and to some of us, the promise of more.

Although Julia never does find that cure, she and Barnabas, in a relationship sometimes described much like Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson (although I'm not sure which one I consider Holmes and which one Watson), travel through various times, places, and ordeals in search of both a cure for Barnabas and a means to save Collinwood from certain disaster yet one more time.

COUNTESS NATALIE DU PRES (1795)
The story of how Barnabas became a vampire in 1795 was the first shift of the series into the past. Josette DuPres was Barnabas' fiancée (the image of Maggie) doomed to never become his bride. Grayson played Josette's aunt (Andre DuPres' sister) who comes to Collinwood to attend the wedding. She is not an easy-going person. She enters complaining, and her scathing remarks and the way she looks with disdain on even the Great House of Collinwood show she is used to far better. She is a snob and delightfully irritating. She is very fond and protective of Josette. She also reads the tarot. Little is known about her past, other than her title and the fact that she lived in Martinique in order to still enjoy that title due to the abolition of titles in France during the revolution. Natalie's unexplored past opens the door for some interesting fanfiction possibilities.

MAGDA RAKOSI (1897) It is easy to see why Magda was Grayson's favorite character. She's a gypsy, a brash, strong woman, and unlike her other Dark Shadows characters, she is married. No hidden love here; Magda is a passionate woman. Her sister Jenny marries and is mistreated by Quentin and loses her sanity. Magda, unaware that Jenny has borne Quentin's children, curses him and his line. She is mortified when she learns she has cursed Jenny's children and in remorse tries to help Quentin. She also becomes Barnabas' ally.

HOFFMAN (1970PT)
Grayson plays the character of Hoffman chillingly well. Hoffman is the housekeeper at Collinwood, much like the character of Danvers in Rebecca. Her loyalty is not to the Collins family but to Angelique Collins alone. She is outwardly unassuming, but that outward appearance is deceiving. She knows all of the family secrets and is willing to sacrifice Maggie's happiness, simply because the poor young woman is married to Quentin. After Hoffman finds out Barnabas' secret, she comes to his coffin to kill him. Julia Hoffman from real time intervenes, and Hoffman is killed by Julia.

JULIA COLLINS (1841PT) 
In the series' last shift to parallel time, Grayson once again played a spinster sister, this time to Justin Collins. Justin has gone mad from winning the lottery and spending a night in the locked room. As in all of her Dark Shadows' characters, Grayson's character is strong-willed, outspoken and loyal. Despite the risk, she takes her place in the drawing because of her loyalty to the Collins family.

CONSTANCE COLLINS (1680PT )
 This character was only in one episode, a flashback to 1680PT from 1841PT, which explained the significance of the locked room. She is once again the spinster sister, this time to Brutus Collins. As in all of Grayson's characters, Constance is fiercely loyal, and as in all of her Collins characters, dedicated to the family.

Although the Dark Shadows movies ( House of Dark Shadows in particular) used the same characters as the television series in almost the same story, the movies had a darker tone to them. Some fans found them so different from the series that they chose to consider them as having occurred in parallel time. The movies were disappointing, and at times confusing, due to the heavy editing.

JULIA HOFFMAN (1970 HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS) Dr. Julia Hoffman, already a resident of Collinwood when the story opens, is not the loyal, self-sacrificing character she was in the series. Although she quickly falls in love with Barnabas, she allows her jealousy of Barnabas' love for another woman to get the better of her with disastrous results. Julia's jealousy seems out-of-place, partly due to the deletion of a key scene between Barnabas and Julia from the movie's final version. In this edited scene, Barnabas and Julia are shown walking arm-in-arm having obviously enjoyed the day together. This scene would have shown that in the month they had been together, Barnabas and Julia had grown close and would have explained why Julia felt that Barnabas was talking of her when he spoke of giving the music box to someone special.

CARLOTTA DRAKE (1971 NIGHT OF DARK SHADOWS ) Carlotta is the cold, unsympathetic housekeeper at Collinwood, and loyal to Angelique, an Angelique who was hung as a witch in the 1800's. Carlotta is the reincarnation of a servant's young daughter who was very fond of Angelique. Carlotta is successful in making Quentin realize he is the reincarnation of Angelique's 19th century lover and is instrumental in reuniting the two of them.