2016 celebrates fifty years of Dark Shadows and Big Finish is offering discounts across the entire range this weekend, ahead of the upcoming release of the anniversary special Dark Shadows: Blood and Fire.

But with so many haunting titles to choose from, where's the best place to start if you're new to the series? We asked the Big Finish team to tell us their favourite – and most terrifying - releases!

We start with the dashing duo that have produced the Dark Shadows range together since 2012 – David Darlington and Joseph Lidster.

'Although as producer it would be invidious to pick favourite-favourites' says David 'I think Dark Shadows: The Flip Side is a good one to highlight. It was a brilliant idea which then developed into a very tricky script to knock into shape (and Cody Schell worked extremely hard on it). Then we faced a convoluted production where I don't think any two actors met in the recording process, and including a horrific period where we thought we might have lost our lead actress... and ultimately it transcended all that to be seamless and lovely and one of our most popular offerings that year. And the end makes people cry!'

Joe has likewise chosen a terrifying title.

'Dark Shadows: Beyond The Grave is, I think, the scariest thing Big Finish have produced (and that's with some very strong competition from The Confessions of Dorian Gray, The Omega Factor and our very own Dark Shadows: The House By The Sea).

'The conceit is that it's a live television broadcast from both London and Collinsport, Maine. It shares similarities with Ghostwatch and The Blair Witch Project but it's very much an audio drama. The more you listen to it, the more spooky stuff you'll hear - or imagine you hear - in the background. It's genuinely unnerving and quite terrifying with a cast of fantastic actors and some truly brilliant sound design.

'It also features my nephew, Jacob. A couple of years ago I recorded him singing "1, 2, 3, 4, 5... Once I caught a fish alive" to use in the background of that series of Dark Shadows. He recently came to visit and I thought I'd play him a clip of him singing it during a particularly scary Beyond The Grave montage. Jacob plays computer games and watches films that are far too scary for me but... he begged me to switch it off as it was genuinely terrifying him. Obviously, I made him listen to all of it.'

Head of Big Finish and Executive Producer Jason Haigh-Ellery has chosen an important addition to the Dark Shadows Audiobooks range: one which saw the return of a television legend.

'I have to go with Dark Shadows: The Night Whispers. It gave us a final chance to hear Jonathan Frid (Barnabas Collins), John Karlen (Willie Loomis) and Barbara Steele (Celeste) working together again. It took us a long time to get Jonathan back and I know the work was very hard for him - but the achievement was richly rewarded by the Rondo Award we won for this release.'

Regular Dark Shadows director Jim Pierson also has fond memories of this special title.

'Thanks to a terrific script by Stuart Manning, listeners were able to hear and visualize Barnabas reflecting on his life to his old servant and friend Willie Loomis. I traveled to Canada to record Jonathan in a studio close to his Hamilton, Ontario home after John Karlen recorded his segments in Los Angeles. Although Jonathan was dealing with age-related health issues, he was fully committed to his performance and I think the tone and scope of the drama was the perfect end cap to Barnabas' story. It was a very rewarding, joyful experience.'

Fellow director Darren Gross has chosen two favourite story arcs – which showcase the terrible powers and shadowy mysteries that exist within Collinsport.

'Directing Dark Shadows: Kingdom of the Dead was a thrill. I liked the script by Eric Wallace and Stuart Manning and it was the first attempt in the range to do a large serial storyline. It was a bit ambitious, a little chaotic and recorded over several weeks, but the last session was a marathon hurdle. We had around ten Dark Shadows cast members dropping by throughout the day to perform their parts. Working with the whole ensemble (a rarity in the audio dramas) at one time made it feel the most like real "Dark Shadows" then any of the other sessions I've done.

'The audios I've had the most satisfying experience with are the Tony & Cassandra series (available together in a reduced bundle this weekend). They're a bit offbeat; less Dark Shadows and more of a detective story, but I love both those types of stories so they're a perfect fit for me. Being able to work with Jerry Lacy and Lara Parker is always a thrill, and I loved doing whatever I could do to enhance the chemistry between them or heighten the more dramatic or tragic moments. Mark Passmore's snappy scripts made all of our jobs a lot easier, as well!'

Actress and director Ursula Burton can't help but rave over our recent mini-series Dark Shadows: Bloodlust, Episode 1 of which can be downloaded for free!

'I'll give a shout out to Dark Shadows: Bloodlust - you can't get more "Dark Shadows" than that! Not just because it was a wonderfully complex script with so many amazing actors, but also because I enjoyed the production challenge of making multiple moving pieces fit together. (And it didn't hurt that my dead character, Susan Griffin, got to make a surprise appearance!)'

Bloodlust proved to be a popular choice with many of our team members, many of whom hadn't encountered Dark Shadows before.

'I came new to Dark Shadows when I arrived at Big Finish' enthused Doctor Who – Companion Chronicles and Short Trips producer Ian Atkins. 'My first exposure to David Darlington and Joseph Lidster's new work was when episodes of Bloodlust started coming in to the Big Finish office. They'd gone for an episodic release, and after that first release we were desperate for the next! It reminded me of what it was like to experience a serial in the thrilling days before the Internet and spoilers, and gave you an object lesson in the power a cliffhanger could have. It was a delight to hear they'd be doing it again this year with Dark Shadows: Bloodline. I can't wait!'

Vortex editor Kenny Smith agrees with Ian's comments.

'I have to admit my Dark Shadows knowledge is very limited - I first heard about it in the DWB Compendium back in the early 1990s. Knowing the basics of the series - that it's a soap opera with a horror/fantasy feel to it - was all I needed when I started listening to Bloodlust. It's a great way to introduce new listeners to the setting of Collinsport, as the established characters from the TV season are drip-fed into the narrative. I've since picked up a DVD with some episodes on it, and Bloodlust very much feels like a natural continuation of the TV show with its soap opera-like ongoing story. There's plenty to enjoy as the characters discover there's much more than secrets and lies in the fishing town - definitely recommended.'

The events of Dark Shadows Bloodlust led back into the audiobook range, where characters from the mini-series found their lives changed forever. Immortal werewolf Quentin Collins (David Selby) story was continued in Dark Shadows: Panic – which Big Finish's general manager Sue Cowley has chosen as her favourite title.

'Since joining Big Finish in 2015 and discovering the delights of Dark Shadows, I've become a little bit obsessed with Quentin Collins, and Panic sees him finally back home at Collinwood. In the aftermath of Bloodlust, the narrative deftly juggles some werewolfy family bonding and an impromptu cookery lesson to frame an unforgettable introduction to the formidable Lela Quick. It is hard to say much more about Panic without venturing into spoiler territory, but the casting of Susan Sullivan as Lela is inspired. She is every bit as awesome as you'd expect her to be, and the perfect foil to David Selby. (More please, Davy and Joe!)'

The recent releases proved to be a great jumping on point for new listeners; some who found themselves completely hooked. The Dark Shadows team's studio assistant Robert Dick was one such novice.

'I found it a daunting idea to start listening to a range of audios based on a TV show that I’d never seen. How would I understand them? Dark Shadows: Beneath the Veil, it turned out, was my perfect introduction. I followed new characters Alfie and Emma as they drove into this odd town of Collinsport and so I was introduced to all the weird locals as they met them. And then slowly realised that – with Alfie and Emma’s strange holiday idea of touring the scenes of brutal murders – that perhaps it wasn’t the townsfolk that were the weird ones. And I started to get a sense of what Collinsport was really like and keen to find out more…

'Beneath the Veil featured the return to town of Amy Jennings, all grown up and now played by Stephanie Ellyne. And it settled Maggie Evans into her new role as Collinsport Inn manager. These two characters are the foundations on which audio Collinsport is built. Kathryn Leigh Scott’s performance as Maggie is so well judged – she knows Maggie is a guest role in this story of two newcomers in town and she knows how to let the new characters lead – that I found myself wanting to know more about Maggie…

'And so Beneath the Veil not only made me fall in love with the Dark Shadows audios, it was directly responsible for me digging out the TV series episode one… and two… and… and now I’m about seven hundred episodes in.. with only another five hundred to go… Veil well and truly lifted. Job done.'

With so many new listeners coming to the series, it clear to see that Dark Shadows has succeeded in capturing a new audience's imagination. For those who worked on the ranges earliest releases, such success is little surprise. Early series contributor and modern day Big Finish director and producer Scott Handcock remembers back to the earliest days of the series:

'I remember when Stuart Manning first started developing Dark Shadows for Big Finish, just over a decade ago, when it was only intended as a miniseries of four to celebrate the series’s fortieth anniversary' says Scott. 'It’s great to see how those foundations have been built upon by the talents of Joseph Lidster, James Goss, David Darlington, and all the brilliant creatives in between!

'Dark Shadows: The Ghost Watcher, I think, is one of my favourite stories. The first proper entry of the dramatic readings, it proved the format could work for a huge range of more intimate, self-contained tales from the inhabitants of Collinsport. Focussing on one of the series’ strongest identification characters, Maggie Evans (Kathryn Leigh Scott), it’s a classic gothic romance, displaying wonder at the supernatural rather than scares, but one which also reintroduces Alec Newman to the Dark Shadows universe. For that alone, it’s worthy of very high praise, and the script allows both its stars to shine.'

It's with these early titles which we end our list of recommendations, with producer's assistant Joseph Smith choice of the very first entry in the series.

'Being a complete Dark Shadows novice, I started my listening right at the beginning with Dark Shadows: The House of Despair. This is a full-cast drama that begins the whole Collins Family saga over anew. All you need to know is that once upon a time a witch, a werewolf and a vampire shared a house together. Now they want their home back... and they're not going to let anyone – or anything - get in their way...'

You can enjoy all our special offer prices on Dark Shadows all this weekend until noon Monday March 21st (UK time). Prices start from just £1.99, with extra savings available with our range of bundles. Click here for a full list of all our offers. And remember, when you choose to buy this release on CD directly from Big Finish, you will also unlock instant access to a digital copy for download.