In The Salem Branch, Barnabas Collins, the vampire hero of the series,
has recently become a human again through the efforts of his devoted
descendent, Dr. Julia Hoffman, and is living in current-day Collinsport,
Maine, trying to adjust to normal life. Although engaged to marry Dr.
Hoffman, he falls in love with a mysterious woman named Antoinette who
has bought the ruins of "the old house" on the Collins estate and is
restoring it while living with a band of hippies in the woods.
Antoinette settled in the area because her daughter is being treated in
a nearby mental hospital. Her daughter suffers from flashbacks to her
previous incarnation as Miranda du Val, who was burned as a witch in the
Salem witch trials. One of the judges who condemned her to death was a
Collins--Barnabas' ancestor. Barnabas is desperate to win Antoinette's
love and to protect her and her daughter from the new vampire that he
suspects is attacking the inhabitants of Collinsport.