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Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, Tells All in New Memoir

Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, Tells All in New Memoir

Elvira

Spooky season is upon us, and Cassandra Peterson, the woman famously known as Elvira, is already handing out a treat. She has released a brand-new memoir, Yours Cruelly, Elvira.

Unique and at times scandalous, the Mistress of the Dark candidly recalls her journey to becoming the world’s most glamorous Halloween icon. The book also came out in conjunction with the 40th anniversary of Elvira and the author’s 70th birthday.

Peterson says she has been thinking about writing this book for at least 15 years.

“I have written little essays and notes, thinking I should tell this story and that story,” she says. “I decided to do it now because one, I just turned 70 years old. If not now, when? The other reason is, honestly, the pandemic gave me the time to sit down and write without all these other distractions. Normally, I am touring, showing up at places, and doing other productions, but now I had this big chunk of time to sit down and concentrate. When I went out and got a book deal, I got a deadline. That will make you sit down and do it, right?”

Elvira came to life in 1981 when Peterson, then a struggling actress, auditioned at local L.A. channel KHJ to be a presenter for its late-night horror movies. Her 40-year career as the famous horror hostess made her a pop culture phenomenon, which led to Elvira’s Movie Macabre TV series, books, more than 1,000 licensed products, and the eponymous films Elvira, Mistress of the Dark and Elvira’s Haunted Hills.

Elvira

According to Peterson, her best friend, romance novelist Donna Kauffman, encouraged her to audition for the role.

“They were looking for somebody who was sexy and did comedy,” she says. “Back in those days, that was pretty rare to find. A woman who was attractive and also did comedy. They really couldn’t find anybody like that, so when Donna called me about it, she said, ‘You are the perfect person!’ So, I went to audition for the part, and when I walked in wearing my little springtime, turquoise dress, I found a room full of vampires. Women dressed in black with black wigs and everything. No one told me to dress up, but I got the role, which was a miracle. I think I got it based mainly on my humor because I had a good comedy improv background. I started joking around with the script, and they apparently liked that. After I got the job, I predicted it would last 40 days because it was so cheesy.”

How wrong Peterson was. When she channeled her inner vixen and cloaked the newfound person with ghoulish charm, she became an overnight success.

“For the first couple years, I was just in the L.A. market, but it did kind of happen right away. First thing I noticed was, after the first show aired, everybody and their mother was calling me to ask if I would show up at their Halloween party, their beauty salon opening, or whatever. My name and number were listed in the phonebook. I was not suddenly prepared to become famous. After getting millions of calls and having to change my number, I was asked to be on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, and that was a game changer. Everybody knew that when you went on that show, you were pretty much famous. I could not believe I was invited on.”

Before becoming the “Queen of Halloween,” Peterson had always identified with the disenfranchised, maligned creatures in horror movies—an association she developed at 18 months old when she grabbed a boiling pot of water from the stove and suffered third degree burns over 35 percent of her body.

Elvira

“I grew up being teased, bullied, and made fun of because of my scars, which were very obvious back then. I felt like a misfit. I was extremely shy because I did not want to hang out with anyone because they made jokes about me. It was a setback for me my whole life, but I eventually realized, because I felt like a misfit, I eventually got into the world of horror. In ways, thank God this happened. I was seeing horror movies and buying horror magazines, so in a weird, roundabout way, that accident led me to my love of horror and got me started on this path. I look at it as a good thing.”

Other intimate details in Yours Cruelly, Elvira that go beyond Peterson’s love of horror and rise to fame include her journey as a 17-year-old Las Vegas showgirl; her 25-year marriage that ended in divorce; her work with PETA; her adventures living in a haunted house; and her good, bad, and ugly encounters with other celebrities.

She says her one-on-one late-night conversation with Elvis Presley changed her life.

“If Elvis had not come along, I would have gone from the youngest showgirl in Las Vegas history to now being the oldest showgirl in Las Vegas history,” she jokes. “I was a huge, huge Elvis fan since I was a small child, and he came to my show. I went to a party at his hotel afterwards, and he sat me down and gave me all this advice. He told me that I was way too young to be in Las Vegas, and that it was not a good thing for a young girl. While he was singing and playing the piano, I sang along with him, and he said I had a nice voice and should take some vocal lessons. Get the hell out of Las Vegas. Even though I thought I was at the pinnacle of my career and had made it, it was my dream job to be a showgirl, I took Elvis’ advice. When my contract expired, I left and got a singing gig in Europe.”

Uncovering the deeper and more hidden parts of Peterson’s life, she talks for the first time about a brutal sexual assault by famous athlete, Wilt Chamberlain.

Elvira

“I knew him for years before that happened,” she recalls. “We were friends. He was dating a girlfriend of mine, my roommate in Vegas at the time. I called him Uncle Wilty; I liked him very much. One day at his house, I was at a party, and he sexually assaulted me. It was awful. Besides my ex-husband, I have never told anybody about it. I kind of crammed it down. People say, ‘Why didn’t you go to the police?’ Let’s see: He’s a giant sports legend, and I am an out-of-work ex-showgirl. Who do you think they are going to believe? Back then, the thought of reporting somebody like that never entered your mind. You can see what happened with other woman who have reported rape or sexual abuse from famous people. They are pretty much trashed and get death threats, while the big celeb or athlete goes on to have a happy, wonderful life.”

While readers will find Peterson’s sexual assault story to be a shocker, nothing will compare to what is considered the book’s biggest bombshell—Peterson has been in a 19-year relationship with a woman.

She first met Teresa “T” Wierson at Hollywood’s Gold’s Gym.

“After I was divorced, I fell in love with a woman,” she says. “I had never had any inclination that I was gay. Honestly, to tell you the truth, I don’t think I am gay. I am attracted to men, but I fell for this woman. We were good friends for six years. She was in a relationship; I was in a relationship, and we were just really good friends. I don’t know what happened. She was a very special and unique person, and we fell in love. I have been with her for 19 years, and we’ve had to hide it. It feels so hypocritical. I just hate that, but I do have a character, a brand, and a business that I was protecting. Elvira is a giant horndog. She chases men; she loves men, that’s kind of me too, but suddenly to be with a woman was shocking to me.

Peterson goes on to say a huge weight has been lifted off her shoulders since opening up about her relationship with Wierson, and she has no regrets about putting it in the book.

Elvira

“I was reading an interview with Danny Trejo, who is a friend of mine, and he said, ‘You’re only as sick as your secrets,’” she says. “That is so true, and I am so glad that I can finally talk about it. T and I can be a couple. It was so awful for her. I have been introducing her for the last 19 years as my assistant, which she is. She works very hard, and I could not run this business without her, but introducing her that way, it’s degrading to her. It’s lying to me; it’s lying to my fans. I am at a point in my life where I need to talk about it. We need to come out of the closet so we can both be ourselves. I don’t have to worry anymore about people hating me or some company not hiring me because I am with a woman.”

Since the news broke of Peterson’s relationship with Wierson earlier this week, she has received an overwhelming amount of support and love. Elvira has been considered an LGBTQ icon over the years, and this is just the icing on the cake.

When asked why Elvira and the horror genre resonates so much with the LGBTQ community, she says she has been trying to answer those questions herself.

“Believe it or not, Elvira is a little bit androgynous,” she says. “She is a very sexy woman showcasing a lot of cleavage and all that, but then her male side, she is strong, tough, determined, and doesn’t take any crap. Cher and Madonna, for example, have that same thing going on. They are both super sexy, but they are not like the bimbo, little ol’ me. They are both tough and strong, and I think that appeals to gay men and women because it’s refreshing to see somebody, especially a female, who is not ashamed of her body. She plays up the sexiness of it but is not a sexual object. I think the gay crown just appreciates that about Elvira.

“As for resonating with the horror genre, I think probably for the same reasons that it resonated so well with me,” Peterson continues. “I was teased and made fun of when I was a child. In my case, it was for scars, but I know enough gay men that were teased and made fun of too when they were little because they weren’t like the other boys. Being bullied and feeling like you don’t fit in, and horror somehow gives you this great it. It kind of attracts losers, loners, and misfits. In a horror movie, you always have a monster. Look at Frankenstein. The monster is misunderstood. He is really a good guy, and he doesn’t mean to be that way, but he has a series of things happen that make him be that way. He didn’t cause it, he didn’t want it, he just is, and I think that’s maybe why the gay community resonates tot that.”

Elvira

Yours Cruelly, Elvira is now available at all book retail outlets. Peterson hopes her book will give the message that whatever curse or scars people are born with, let them be a blessing.

“If you have something bad that happened to you, use it as a blessing to get through it,” she says. “I hope people pick that up from the book. That no matter what’s wrong with you, how you look, whatever, you can still be successful and accomplish your dreams.”

Stay up-to-date and connect with Peterson by following her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or visit her official website.

Photos courtesy of Cassandra Peterson, Alan Mercer, and social media

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