LOOKING FOR THE UNICORN: CASSANDRA PETERSON DISCUSSES NEW MEMOIR, “YOURS CRUELLY, ELVIRA: MEMOIRS OF THE MISTRESS OF THE DARK”

Image courtesy of Hachette Books.

Elvira is on vacation. Actually, Cassandra Peterson, the actor/singer/dancer/entrepreneur and now New York Times bestselling author behind the macabre icon is on vacation, although her holiday isn’t quite what most of us would expect from a little time off.

“I’m spending all my time doing interviews and signing bookplates,” she chuckles warmly through the phone.

It’s little wonder that even on vacation, the woman whom horror audiences know as Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, would be hugely in demand. It’s hard to deny that the rest of 2021 belongs squarely to Cassandra Peterson’s famous alter ego, Elvira. In September, she celebrated 40 years of the Elvira character with her anniversary special, Elvira’s 40th Anniversary Very Scary, Very Special Special on AMC’s horror streaming service Shudder, coinciding with her 70th birthday. She also has been enlisted for the month of October by streaming service Netflix, as part of their Netflix & Chills weekly Halloween programming, and even has her own action figure coming out in 2022 from NECA Toys. 

She’s also recently released her candid, tell-all memoir, Yours Cruelly, Elvira: Memoirs of the Mistress of the Dark, currently #4 on the New York Times bestseller for Nonfiction, where she revealed for the first time, intimate details about a brutal sexual assault, her 19-year relationship with the love of her life, a woman named Teresa “T” Wierson, and her lifelong fascination with the macabre that led her to the title of “Mistress of the Dark.”

I recently had the great pleasure to speak with the woman behind the bouffant about her memoir, her Broadway ambitions, and being taken seriously in Hollywood.

You’ve released your memoir, Yours Cruelly, Elvira: Memoirs of the Mistress of the Dark in conjunction with the 40th Anniversary of ‘Elvira,’ as well as your 70th birthday. Why write a tell-all now?
Well, it's something I've really been thinking about doing for years and years and years. People who know me know about my wacky life, and everybody's said to me so many times, “you've got to write a book.” So, I kept collecting little stories that I'd write down. I was always going to writing workshops, writing stories about my life, things that I remembered from my past, and just putting them in a notebook. And then finally, my friend Pamela Des Barres, who wrote I’m With The Band, said to me, “you know, if you don't really get serious about this and write a book, get an agent and get a book publisher, you will never never do it. I can guarantee it.” And so she suggested her agent. We went around New York and we got a book deal. And then, all of a sudden, you have a deadline. And then, wow - you sit down and do it.

I really started writing it when the pandemic was happening, which was really sort of great - I mean, not the pandemic of course - but, being able to have the time where I’m not running around the country doing live appearances was really sort of perfect timing. So, that’s basically why I did it. And, you know, if not now, when? I mean, I’m 70 - when else am I gonna do it? When I’m 90?

What was the process like and how long did it take you?
When I really sat down and got busy with it, it took me about a year. I was writing at least four and up to eight hours every day, every day. Seven days a week. I pretty much did not take a break. Every single morning, I went to a little coffee shop and would sit down and just write.  And then after I got it all done, it was about as long as the Bible, so I had to cut it down by at least three quarters to make it fit into a normal autobiography size. And the editing part and the cutting down part is almost as hard as the initial writing, because you’re thinking “what do I leave out? What do I keep in?” But I enjoyed the process most of the time. 70% of the time, I really, really enjoyed it. The other 30% was hard, dredging up a lot of hard times and memories and things that are really hard to think about. 

One aspect of the memoir that really stands out is your trademark dry sense of humor.  Was it important to you that the book really be in your own voice, and not the voice of a ghostwriter?
Super, super important. I was adamant about it. And I had so many people tell me not to do that, telling me to just get a ghostwriter. But I happen to be a huge fan of reading autobiographies of people, in particular rock stars. I don't know why I love reading those. I can tell within like a page or two if it is in the person's voice, and if they really wrote it, or if they had a ghostwriter. The ones that are written by the actual person touch you so much differently. You really feel the person, feel like you're there with them, and that you're hearing their story. You don’t get that feeling when they’re just sitting at a kitchen table talking to someone else, who’s writing it down. When a person writes it themselves, you just get so much more, even if it’s not the most well-written book. So, I was adamant about it. Even the publishers that I went to were skeptical about me writing it. I mean, I’ve written two screenplays and a series of young adult books [The Boy Who Cried Werewolf, Transylvania 90210, and Camp Vamp] with my writing partner John Paragon, who just passed away, so I’ve been a writer for a long time, ever since I was working with The Groundlings and writing sketches for myself. I think people were maybe a little shocked and surprised that I can actually write. 

Talk about your introduction to horror movies at eight years old.
I remember this like it happened last night. My cousin took me to the cheap theater in downtown Colorado Springs to see House on Haunted Hill with Vincent Price, and it was life-changing for me. I was like, “Oh my God, what is this? I love it!”, but I was also completely freaked out by it and had nightmares for the next three months. But I wanted more of whatever it was. I had never seen anything like that. My parents had taken us to Disney-type movies my whole life, and all of a sudden, you’re seeing something like this and I was like “Ahhh, I love this!” It got me on this track of looking for more and more horror. I became addicted. I started asking for things at Christmas like model kits for Frankenstein and Dracula, and it just sent me down this whole rabbit hole of horror.

At seventeen, you were the youngest showgirl at Las Vegas’ Dunes Hotel. What was that experience like being a teen in a very adult world?
I was already kind of used to being around nothing but adults because I’d been go-go dancing since I was 14. All the clubs that I worked at, the other girls were all in their 20’s or even 30’s, so they were the people I ended up hanging out with. Although, I have to say I don’t know if I was really prepared for Vegas. It was like Alice in Wonderland or something. What am I doing here? What am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to be? I think I was emotionally younger than my years, but I looked like I was older, and acted like I was older. But I don’t think I was really prepared for all the stuff I came across.

In your memoir, you reveal some of those Vegas encounters with people like Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., and Tom Jones. Were they all fond memories or were there a lot that you’d rather forget?
[Laughs] Oh, I think I would like to forget all of them. Except for Sammy. He was a delight. He was fantastic. I played a joke on him that I talk about in the book, since I knew he’d be at the show, but then they said he’d be coming backstage, and I thought he was coming to punch me. I really did. I was so afraid. But he came in, just gave me a big hug, laughed and slapped his knee, kind of doubled over laughing. He gave me this compliment that really, really stayed with me - I actually just read it again in one of my old diaries. He said, “how can you be so beautiful and funny too?” I was just like, wow really? He was saying that to me. It made a big, big impact on me. The other guys? Not so much.

You had a kind of infamous meeting with Elvis Presley as well during your time in Vegas. How did meeting him change the course of your life and career?
It was one of the best things that ever happened to me back then. First of all, I was a huge fan. So meeting him was beyond a thrill. Secondly, he ended up giving me advice that I took seriously. I mean, after all, it was Elvis, right? You listen to advice when people like that tell it to you. He thought that Vegas was no place for a young girl and that I shouldn’t stay. I was kind of upset by that because that had been my dream since I was 14 years old, and now I had accomplished that, and I thought I’ve accomplished my dream of my lifetime and I’m never going to leave. But without Elvis's advice, I would now be the oldest showgirl in Las Vegas history. He kind of saved me from a fate worse than death, and I took that very seriously. He suggested I get singing lessons and get the hell out of Vegas. Which I did. I really think if he hadn’t opened my eyes to all that, I wouldn’t have gone down the road I did. 

Did learning about his death hit you hard? 
Oh yeah, incredibly hard. I remember I was getting ready to go to work in Provincetown, Massachusetts and I heard it on the radio. I was devastated. I couldn’t even work that night. I couldn’t stop crying. It hit me especially hard because he had been so anti-drugs. I mean, I had told him I’d smoked marijuana and did a few other miscellaneous drugs, and he was like, “don’t ever do that, it’s terrible, don’t use drugs, it will ruin your life. You can never have a good career if you’re going to go down that road.” He was so adamant about it.

 And so, to hear that he died of a drug overdose was shocking and extra sad. But I understand now, in retrospect, how that happens with people as far back as Judy Garland, and now Michael Jackson, Prince, and Amy Winehouse. Even this stuff that’s happening with Britney [Spears] right now. You’re a working machine for a lot of people who know you are their bread and butter, and they want you to work: whether you're tired, whether you’re in pain, no matter what. They are going to prop you up and get the right doctors in there and give you pills to pep you up, and pills to make you go to sleep, and pills to take away the pain. It’s what happens. 

Cassandra Peterson. Image credit: Alan Mercer

As a struggling young actress in LA, you took acting classes with Lynda Carter and Debra Winger and you did improv with The Groundlings, where you worked with Paul Reubens and Phil Hartman. Did any of their acting/comedic methods help you develop as an actor?
At the time, I didn’t think about it much, but in retrospect, I really wanted to be like those guys, especially Phil and Paul. They were my idols and I wanted to be like them, so I think I strove to do what they were doing, and it definitely helped me. When you have somebody that you look up to and want to be like, it’s a great thing to have. It gives you a goal, somewhere to head to. I’m sure without that, I wouldn’t have done what I’m doing now. 

Was it tough being a woman trying to make it in the comedy world at that time, because so often, like you say in your book, women are allowed to be sexy OR funny, but not both?
Yeah, back then especially. It was weird. It was like, if you were pretty, they really looked at you and wondered why the hell you were doing comedy. They didn’t get it, they were like, “What? You want to do comedy?” Most of the comedians that I grew up with who I loved were kind of unattractive women, the ones I’d see on The Ed Sullivan Show like Totie Fields, Phyllis Diller, and Joan Rivers - you know, before she had plastic surgery. None of them were attractive, but they were incredibly funny and I loved them as a kid. I kind of grew up thinking, in order to be a comedian you have to look funny - not so much for men - but for women, it was that way, and I’m happy to see that’s not the case so much anymore. But it was a little extra difficult at Groundlings. I was the Groundlings sex symbol. I always got the parts for the stripper, showgirl, or hooker, but I was okay with that. I was like, I’ll be the sex symbol you want me to be, as long as I can be a Groundling.

Talk about the story behind the casting call and how you became Elvira.
I was on my honeymoon when a friend called me about it. I said I was not going to come home from my one and only honeymoon. So, I went back home about a week or two later and they still hadn’t found anybody. And I believe that was because they were looking for the unicorn:  which was a funny and sexy woman.

 So when I got back, I went in for the interviews. They had seen people for weeks and weeks and weeks and hadn't found what they were looking for. I auditioned, but I went in dressed as myself, because nobody told me I was supposed to dress up as this person. When I walked into the dressing room, I was surrounded by a bunch of women who were all in black leotards with black hair, and here I am standing there in my little turquoise summer dress. It was so embarrassing. Like showing up for a Halloween party and you’re the only one in costume. I’m sure it was my comedy and improv experience that cinched the deal, because the script was really pretty dorky. So, I was able to zhuzh it up and improvise a few lines on the spot, and make it a little more interesting and funny, and I ended up getting the job. When I did get the job, I didn’t think, “Oh my God, this is fantastic, I’m famous now.” I was thinking, “Oh fantastic, I can pay my rent now, and this job might last a month or two, but who knows?” I knew I’d rather be showing horror movies, even though most of them were old and bad. I loved those, so it was right up my alley.

Was there one moment when you realized that Elvira had become a household name? That you had finally “made it?”
Yeah, there were a few. One was that my phone started ringing off the hook, because my name was in the L.A. phonebook, so I had to change my number. That was a little hint. I thought, “whoo, this is interesting.” And then I went to my temp secretary job, and I told the boss there at the insurance company I was working for that I couldn’t come in on Thursdays because I got a little TV gig. And when I told him I was Elvira, he practically passed out. 

Then a couple months went by and I was invited to come on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, which, in those days, that was THE show. If you went on there, you were famous, period. I could not believe I had been invited. That’s when it really sunk in that this is just not a little gig to pay the rent. This is turning into something.

Elvira: Mistress of the Dark just celebrated it’s 33rd anniversary recently. Why do you think it’s still such a beloved cult classic? I mean, people love this film.  
They really do. And it’s kind of sad, because we had plans to make a whole series of films with NBC at the time, kind of like those Ernest movies. So, we had plans that this was just going to be the first one, and then, through no fault of our own or the movie, it didn’t become a box office success, and all the other movies were canceled, which is sad. But, I do think this movie has really made an impact on people and has become a cult classic over the years. It’s made a very positive impact on people, and I know that because they come up to me. They say that when they were young, they felt like a misfit or felt like an outsider or a geek and the movie actually gave them the strength to keep going forward, to not quit, and feel okay about themselves. So, I’m really happy about that. My dream, honestly, is to make a Broadway play of Mistress of the Dark.

That would be fantastic.
Yeah, I think it could be like Hairspray or Legally Blonde. They are some of my favorite, favorite Broadway shows. I think it would be inspirational and super fun to do a musical about it.

Do you feel your character as Elvira trumped other acting opportunities?
Yeah, in the beginning. It was funny, about after the first year I’m going, “oh well, I should go out and get some other gigs and not get typecast in this role.” That’s really kind of how I was feeling until we were finally able to get the rights to the character. Once we got the rights, we were able to - I hate to use the word exploit - but we were able to do more with the character you know, like lines of apparel, sell licensing and merchandise of every kind. I was able to do appearances on other TV shows. It turned into not just an acting career, but a business. A very lucrative business. So I would have been out of my mind to try and get away from that, you know? I was making more money on this character than any other acting gig, so very soon after I got it, I realized I don’t need to play anyone else. Lightning doesn’t strike twice like that. Being a famous actor is like one in a million already. 

Why do you think Elvira continues to be such an icon in popular culture, especially with women?
I think women in particular, who are a little more than half of my audience, really respect and look up to the character because she can be a woman. She can be sexy, she can show off her cleavage, she can be hot, but she can also have power. She can be someone that doesn’t have to put up with other people’s crap. She can be strong and assertive. Just because you look sexy, doesn’t mean that you are a bimbo.