Victoria Winters finds herself dazed and confused. Still wearing her 1967-era clothes, she is shocked to discover that she has been transported back into time to the year 1795. Her inability to explain her trespassing on the Collins' family estate and her unusual clothing attire create fear and suspicion among the people she meets.

Reluctantly, Joshua, the patriarch of the Collins family, hires Miss Winters to become his daughter's (Sarah Collins) new governess. However, his sister, Abigail Collins, is not so pleased. She suspects that Miss Winters may be a witch.

Barnabas Collins eagerly awaits the arrival of Josette duPres, his fiance from the island of Martinique. Meanwhile, Josette's aunt, Countess Natalie duPres, and the duPres' maid servant, Angelique Bouchard, arrive at The Old House. Resisting Angelique's amorous advances, Barnabas tells her that their previous love affair was a mistake and that he plans to marry Josette. Thus, the seed of ""Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned"" is born and the long-standing feud between Angelique and Barnabas begins.

Josette and her father, Andre duPres, finally arrive at The Old House. Jealous of Josette and angry at Barnabas for rebuffing her, Angelique uses her powers of witchcraft against Barnabas, causing him to begin choking and gasping for air.

Barnabas' choking brings him close to death. Fearing that she may have gone too far, Angelique releases Barnabas from her spell, but she is still determined to keep him from marrying Josette.

In need of an assistant to help her carry out her plans to sabotage the nuptials, Angelique casts a spell over Ben Stokes, an indentured servant to the Collins family, causing him to lose his free will and become her slave.

Cousin Millicent Collins arrives from New York City. Although she is young and simple-minded, her rich inheritance inspires Joshua to try and convince his younger brother, Jeremiah, to court her and marry her, thereby combining her wealth with the Collins family's wealth. Jeremiah is not interested. Meanwhile, Angelique casts a love spell causing Josette to fall in love with Jeremiah. Shocked at her behavior, Jeremiah resists her advances.

When Ben Stokes tries to warn Barnabas about Angelique's powers of witchcraft, he suddenly loses his voice and becomes mute. Under Angelique's spell, Josette is impelled to go to Jeremiah's bedroom and once again, profess her love for him.

Disgusted with Josette's behavior, Jeremiah tries to tell Barnabas the truth about her lack of character, but then changes his mind because he does not want to make his beloved nephew unhappy. So, Jeremiah confronts Josette about her behavior and she admits that she cannot offer a satisfactory explanation. Frustrated with Jeremiah's refusal to take advantage of Josette, Angelique casts a love spell over him so that he will now reciprocate Josette's amorous advances.

Countess Natalie duPres tells her brother, Andre, that she saw Josette and Jeremiah in each other's arms. Concerned about the repercussions, Countess duPres consults her Tarot Cards and the reading reveals that an evil presence has descended upon the Collins family. With this revelation, she immediately begins to suspect the new governess, Victoria Winters.

A gold-digging friend of the Collins family, Lt. Nathanial Forbes, is suddenly smitten by Millicent Collins AFTER he learns that she is a very wealthy orphan. Meanwhile, Jeremiah decides to leave town so that he and Josette will not get together and end up breaking Barnabas' heart.

Ben is in the woods, sharping his ax, when he is summoned to come to the Old House by Angelique. He tries to resist at first, but Angelique's face appears in the woods and tells him he can't resist her. Ben goes to the Old House. Meanwhile, Jeremiah tells Barnabas that he is going to be leaving. Barnabas is upset by this because he will miss the wedding. Jeremiah orders Ben to get his bags and call a carriage for him to leave Collinwood. Ben tells Angelique this, which makes Angelique unhappy because it will ruin her plans. Ben gives her idea to have Josette plead for Jeremiah to stay and uses voodoo to make this happen. Josette goes from the room she is to Barnabas and tells him in a trancelikestate that Jeremiah must not leave. The spell suddenly seems to leave her, and Josette hugs Barnabas and tells him it's alright, his departure is for the best. Ben tells Angelique this trimupetly, and Angelique gets mad at her. Joshua overhears them, and tells him that Ben has been rude to her.

Everyone is talking about Joshua's mysterious disappearence. Natalie & Victoria re-enact what happened between Joshua & Jeremiah. As they re-enact it, the cat appears, like it had when Jeremiah discovered Joshua was missing! Barnabas enters the drawing room where they are, and is weary of searching..he hadn't found a trace of his father. Natalie asks Victoria to leave the room, but Barnabas asks her to check on his mother Naomi in a kinder fashion. Natalie tells Barnabas that she believes witchcraft is involved with the disappearence of Joshua. Nathan enters the room and tells them footprints have been found on Widow's Hill. Barnabas tells him where some of Joshua's shoes can be found so they can see if the footprints match the shoes. Nathan leaves them eavesdrops as Natalie tells Jeremiah that a witch didn't want him to leave, and then hears her ask if Barnabas trusts Victoria. Nathan then leaves to the study to get the boots, and while he is looking Victoria enters. Nathan makes a pa

Angelique immediately casts a new spell over Josette and Jeremiah after she learns that certain members of the family are trying to expedite their wedding. Yielding to the power of that spell, Josette leaves Barnabas ""standing at the altar.""

The Collins family discovers that BOTH Josette and Jeremiah are missing. Trying to take advantage of Barnabas' loss, Angelique tries to comfort him and profess her love to him, but he angers her when he tells her that he will ALWAYS love Josette.

Although they make an unlikely pair, Countess Natalie duPres and Abigail Collins do agree that a witch must be behind their families' misfortune. Suspecting Miss Winters to be that witch, Abigail snoops through her room and discovers some damning evidence: a charm bracelet and the transformation of the mysterious cat into her missing brother, Joshua Collins. Abigail decides to send for Reverend Trask, a religious fanatic and witch hunter.

Feeling guilty over their sudden elopement, Josette persuades Jeremiah to return to The Old House and face their respective families. Shocked and feeling bitterly betrayed, Barnabas challenges his once-beloved uncle to a duel.

Despite their pleas, Angelique, Andre, and Josette are unable to stop Barnabas and Jeremiah from dueling. To protect Barnabas, Angelique gives him a ""special"" good-luck charm to wear at the duel. Still blinded by his jealousy and pride, Barnabas goes through with the duel and shoots Jeremiah, seriously wounding him.

While family members tend to Jeremiah at The Old House, Abigail Collins invites Reverend Trask to interrogate the mysterious Miss Winters. His harsh interrogation of her escalates into mutual hostility and hatred.

Upset with Reverend Trask's harsh methods, Barnabas Collins and Lt. Nathanial Forbes search the woods for Miss Winters. In confidence, Reverend Trask tells Countess duPres that he tied Miss Winters to a tree and left her there overnight, explaining that if the tree is dead in the morning, this will prove that Miss Winters is a witch. Overhearing this piece of information, Angelique sets out to make sure that the tree dies. Although she doesn't have any animosity towards Miss Winters, Angelique will do anything to keep the suspicion away from herself.

Reverend Trask returns to the tree and discovers that Miss Winters is missing. He suspects that someone may have helped her escape, so he begins to question everyone. After overhearing one of the accomplices admitting where Victoria Winters is, Angelique pretends to have a vision of Miss Winters hiding out in the Collins family's newly-built house, Collinwood.

Reverend Trask notices an unusual mark on Josette's hand and suspects that she may have been a victim of witchcraft. Despite everything that has happened, Barnabas re-iterates to Angelique that he is still in love with Josette and ONLY Josette. So, Angelique secretly plans to make Barnabas suffer by using his little sister, Sarah, to hurt him.

Angelique begins her assault by stealing Sarah's doll and inserting pins into it, causing Sarah to become very ill. The Collins family and their doctor are at a loss as to what is causing her illness and fear that she is on the brink of death. Angelique casually mentions to Barnabas that she heard of a similar incident back on the island of Martinique and that a special tea was brewed to heal the infirmed. Desperate to help his beloved little sister, Barnabas promises to marry Angelique IF she can cure Sarah. Angelique then brews the special tea and as Sarah drinks it, Angelique removes the pins from Sarah's doll, ""curing"" Sarah instantly.

Despite the family's optimism, Josette believes that Jeremiah is dying and that he doesn't have much time left. Having ""cured"" Barnabas' little sister Sarah, Angelique pressures him to keep his promise and marry her soon.

Anxious to leave The Old House and its recent bad karma, Joshua Collins makes plans to move the family into the new house, Collinwood. He becomes furious, however, when his son, Barnabas, tells him of his plans to marry Angelique, whom Joshua feels is beneath their social class. Meanwhile, Angelique raises Jeremiah from the dead to torment Josette.