THEATER REVIEW : ‘Stories of Edgar Allan Poe’ Entertain, Confuse at Coronet : Three of the writer’s tales and bits of his poetry are woven into a play about a girl’s quest for a letter that will reunite the spirits of Poe and his wife.

Whew. Talk about an antidote to any lingering holiday sweetness and light: “Gruesome, Gory, Grotesque Stories of Edgar Allan Poe,” the latest production from the Serendipity Theatre Co., is a dark offering for ages 8 and up at the Coronet Theatre.

The uneven mix of horror, romance and comedy by Sam Kuglen and directed by Katy Realista needs rethinking, but it has its chilling moments. Three Poe tales--”The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Black Cat,” “The Purloined Letter”--and bits of the author’s poetry are woven into a story about a teen-age girl’s quest to find a letter that will reunite the spirits of Poe (Jeremy Scott) and his young wife, Virginia (Britta Von Detten).

Poe blames himself for his wife’s tubercular death and is doomed to relive it forever with her because he never saw the love letter she wrote to him. It was hidden by his manipulative editor Griswold (Mark Conley), whose spirit has gleefully watched the other two suffer for nearly 150 years.

Enter two teens, Annie (Rebekah Baker) and Owen (Josh Wheeler), who search for the letter in Poe’s haunted apartment. (Don Scott designed the nifty creepy set; Ken Realista did the moody lighting and the period costumes are by Daphne.)

Annie delves into her book of Poe stories hoping that Griswold may have used one for inspiration when he hid the letter.

Now for the confusing part. All the characters are on stage together, but the Poe and Virginia spirits can’t see each other--they relive Virginia’s death separately. Griswold can see them, but they can’t see him. They can all see the two teens, but the teens can’t see them--except when Annie is reading the stories and the spirits act them out. Then, the spirits are no longer spirits, but characters in the stories, so they can see each other . . . Except when they break character due to interruptions, primarily from Owen. Then they can’t see each other anymore, except for Griswold, who . . . Confused?

During intermission at a recent performance, more than one mom was overheard trying to explain who was who, a task made no easier by the fact that at one point, the willowy, madonna-faced Von Detten in her lacy dress was supposed to be the old man with the evil eye in “The Tell-Tale Heart.”

*

What works the best is the comic interplay between the unseen ghosts and the teens, but the cast does a good job under difficult circumstances, especially Conley as the tortured killer in “The Tell-Tale Heart” and Jeremy Scott as the languid Frenchman in “The Purloined Letter.” Owen’s carping gets old fast, however--he thinks Annie is weird and Poe is boring, until he hears the gory parts. “He buries the ax in her head? Cool!”

* “Gruesome, Gory, Grotesque Stories of Edgar Allan Poe,” Coronet Theatre, 366 N. La Cienega Blvd., Friday, 7:30 p.m., Saturday, 2 and 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, 1 and 4 p.m. through Jan. 30. $6 (ages 13 and under) and $12; (310) 652-9199). One hour, 30 minutes.