When a little girl is brutally slain by a vampire in a tiny 19th century European village, the townspeople invade the foreboding castle of Count Mitterhaus and kill him for the crime. As the Count dies, he curses the villagers and vows that their children will all die so that he may someday return to life. Fifteen years later, as the village is ravaged by the plague, a travelling circus comes to town and distracts the villagers from their current hardships. Little do they know that their troubles are only beginning...