The Mystery of Irma Vep, a campy, gothic horror spoof from the twisted mind of Charles Ludlam and now playing at Coral Gables' Actors' Playhouse, gleefully borrows from so many sources -- Wuthering Heights, The Mummy's Curse, Hitchcock, Shakespeare -- it literally opens on the proverbial "dark and stormy night.''

Irma Vep indulges in quicksilver costume changes and moldy archetypes -- a werewolf, a mummy, a flouncing lady-of-the-manor, a snaggletoothed groundskeeper and the undead.

Creaky double-entendres, both spoken and visual, fly forth with regularity, too. (Note the hieroglyphics on the ''sarcofagus'' in Act II's Egyptian motif, the play's funniest portion.)

The convoluted plot centers on Irma Vep's death, bizarre love triangles and a lycanthropic loon terrorizing Mandacrest, an English estate. There's something a bit off about that portrait of Irma above the fireplace, too, as it bears an uncanny resemblance to Lady Enid Hillcrest, the lady of the house, and Nicodemus Underwood, the town wacko.

Think Dark Shadows as imagined by an overstimulated Mel Brooks. The ''mystery'' of who Irma Vep is is revealed, also, although English majors may seize on it first.

When one character tells another, ''You're doing the work of three people,'' the pun is intentional.

Gifted actors Tom Wahl and John Felix play eight characters between them with about 40 costume changes in about 95 minutes of stage time.

The late Ludlam, founder of New York City's Ridiculous Theatrical Co., wrote Irma Vep in 1984, mandating that actors of the same sex must play all the parts.

As such, Irma Vep depends heavily on its cast of two, a brilliant costumer (Mary Lynne Izzo) and a sharp director (David Arisco) in peak form.

This isn't high art, but there's great skill at work here. While Irma's zingers may eventually leave the same impression a vampire casts before a mirror, Actors' Playhouse ends its season by sending its fans out into the dead of summer with smiles.