(Enlarge) Jessica Feldman, front, summons the spirit world as Frank Vince, Suzanne Young and Chris Homberg await the outcome in "The Prevalence of Mrs. Seal," now at the Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre in Baltimore. (Photo by Ken Stanek)

A stormy night in an English country house in the 1930s seems like the perfect setting for eccentric characters to experience supernatural thrills. Although Otis Bigelow's "The Prevalence of Mrs. Seal" has an endearingly oddball population including a psychic, a vampire, a mad scientist and even a creepy sidekick named Igor, it's only mildly amusing at Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre.

Even by the generous standards of the horror spoof genre, this campy play is really silly.

Mrs. Seal (Suzanne Young) is as vain as she is wealthy. The lawyer who administers her charitable foundation, Murdstone (Frank Vince), and his son, Harry (Alan M. Berlett), don't have a clue what they're in for when they visit her art deco-style living room. Indeed, the father and son are normal fellows who find themselves in a highly abnormal situation.

Mrs. Seal's interest in immortality leads to plot developments too ridiculous to summarize. Let's just say there are supernatural underpinnings to what her resident mad scientist, Dr. Porteous (Shawn Anthony), and his assistant, Igor (Chris Homberg), are doing in the Frankenstein-worthy laboratory conveniently located next to the living room.

Also in residence are Mrs. Seal's ward, a platinum blonde bombshell named Belinda (Elisa Dugan), who wants nothing more than to escape this claustrophobic English mansion; and an American psychic, Mrs. Pilgrim (Jessica Feldman), who is in for more than she imagined.

Let's not forget, too, a vampire, Mr. Smith (Daniel Douek), who glides around in what qualifies as a Bela Lugosi Halloween costume. And, oh, yes -- an elderly butler, Graves (Bill Young), who looks like he has been serving tea since the dawn of haunted house movies.

The crazy plot will keep you smiling, but all that escalating nonsense should be more fun than it turns out to be. Although expectations of depth psychology should be reserved for some other play, it's not unfair to expect the playwright to do more with this roster of characters plucked from central casting.

The characters' biographies remain sketchy and so they remain defined by stereotypical traits. The vampire character is essentially a sight gag, for example, with no explanation offered for what he's doing in Mrs. Seal's house.

That's why the play feels like one of the lesser Universal horror movies from the 1940s, in which the monsters from that studio's horror classics of the 1930s have been tossed together in a desperately arbitrary bid to generate more screams and laughs.

It also doesn't help that director Michael Spellman's generally capable production at Spotlighters tends to linger over scenes that need a manic edge. This 30-year-old play is not a likely candidate for theatrical immortality, but more could be done to bring it fully alive here.

"The Prevalence of Mrs. Seal" runs through Nov. 15 at Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre, at 817 St. Paul St., in Baltimore. Performances are Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m.; there also is a performance Thursday, Nov. 12 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $18, $15 for seniors and students. Call 410-752-1225 or go to www.spotlighters.org.

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