When it comes to failed "Dracula" stage projects, the theatrical body count outnumbers the victims of the Transylvanian blood-sucker. Bram Stoker's Victorian bodice-ripper may have worked well on the page and in a couple of stylishly directed films, but on stage, the results have been mostly corny, uninentionally hilarious and even embarrassing.

So when word arrives of a new "Dracula" stage production in town, the question for critics is not whether the show will fail, but how big the train wreck will be. Thankfully, there's good news for all those curious about North Coast Repertory Theatre's new "Dracula." The show is well-directed, very well cast and pretty darn spooky to boot.

Stoker's 1897 novel is an old-style melodrama filled with funny accents, raving lunatics, baby-gobbling vixens and the toothy Count Dracula himself. It's hard to keep a story like that from looking silly onstage, so playwright/adapter Steven Dietz forgoes all seriousness. Instead, he aims for good campy fun by opening the play with a monologue by Renfield, the English madman whom Dracula enlists in his scheme. Sipping sherry and dressed as a gentleman, he tells the audience "we are all of us inventions," and later closes his comments by greedily consuming a writhing rubber rat.

As many literary experts will tell you, Stoker's "Dracula" was a thinly veiled tale about Victorian sexual repression. The novel's two heroines, Mina and Lucy, have a hard time expressing any passion for their proper and bland English fiances, Jonathan Harker and Dr. Seward, respectively, but they drift into hypnotic bliss and unbutton their blouses when Dracula slips into their bedroom and whispers "Do what I want you to do" (think of this Dracula as the equivalent of Rudolph Valentino's kidnapping sheik).

The lascivious Lucy succumbs one too many times to Dracula's charms and becomes a writhing vampiress herself. With the help of the vampire hunter Van Helsing, Harker and Seward drive a stake through Lucy's heart and kill her for good. But when Dracula tries to take Mina as his vampire bride, Harker, Seward and Van Helsing pursue him to Transylvania and try to finish him off before Mina's transformation is complete.

Director Christopher Vened, with a big assist from sound designer Chris Luessman and set designer Marty Burnett, creates a super-spooky world onstage at North Coast Rep. The theater's physical limitations make special effects a near-impossibility (audience members seated in the side seats can often see the backstage crew positioning Dracula and his coffin for several "surprise" appearances). But with dark lighting by M. Scott Grabau and an elegantly sinister performance by super-tall actor Matt Thompson as Dracula, the play has plenty of thrills and chills (the latter delivered more than graciously by the theater's overactive air-conditioning system).

Dietz's script eliminates extra characters, shortens Harker's initial visit to Dracula's castle, eliminates Dracula's backstory and beefs up the character of Renfield. This last script choice is a big positive, because Sean Sullivan -- who plays the nutty asylum inmate -- is one of the best things about the Rep staging. His comic timing, laser intensity and crazy bug eyes make him the show's most watchable character.

Christy Yael is also marvelous as Lucy. She's natural, sensuous and, in her transformation scene, amazingly flexible.

Brenda Dodge is all sweetness and purity as Mina; Christopher M. Williams brings a sympathetic likability to his character, Seward; and Jason Heil is earnest and almost boyish as Mina's fiance, Harker (though his English accent could use some work). Robert Grossman is a bit over the top (probably intentionally) as Van Helsing. The cast is completed by Michele Procopio and Sunny Smith as vixens and Dylan Seaton and Berlyn James Wieland as attendants.

The production has some sexual tension to it, but it's fine for teens. In fact, teens will love this show. It's bound to be a popular draw for audiences of all ages this Halloween month.