Elvira, 40 Years Later: Cassandra Peterson on Dolly Parton, Vampira, Elvis’s Ghost, and Her New Comic Retrospective
It’s hard to believe it’s been four decades since Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. came out of her coffin and into our lives. The horror hostess (made famous by the one and only actress, writer and singer Cassandra Peterson) has conquered every medium from stage to screen over the years, her larger-than-life hair and humor are instantly recognizable to new and old horror fans alike.
To mark the momentous occasion that is her 40th anniversary, Dynamite Entertainment is releasing a collection of classic comics starring the Queen of Halloween dubbed the Elvira, Mistress of the Dark Classic Years Omnibus, Volume Two. Available to purchase now on Indiegogo, this 600-page tome features 25+ issues originally published by Claypool Comics, some of which date back to the early ‘90s.
In honour of the release of the Elvira, Mistress of the Dark Classic Years Omnibus, Volume Two, Dread Central got on the phone with Peterson to discuss her iconic character’s origins, her personal influences, and her upcoming collaboration with her old pal Joe Bob Briggs. Read the interview (which has been edited and condensed for length) below!
Dread Central: I have to start by saying it is an absolute delight to talk to you. You are truly one of my idols. You and Dolly Parton are my number ones.
Cassandra Peterson (Elvira): Oh, well, I’m happy to be put in that category. Thank you!
DC: I’ve always wondered if you’ve met her.
E: I have not, and I just adore her. I mean, I’ve bought her records since the time she came out, and I’ve never met her. It’s a dream of mine.
DC I know you have said if you were making a movie about your life, you would like if she played you. But is that the true answer?
E: No, that isn’t really the true answer. I just joked about that. I mean, somebody said, ‘Who would you have play?’ And I thought of the person with the biggest boobs.
I think it would have to be somebody a little younger, unfortunately. Not that Dolly’s old, but she’s same as my age. If she could play me, I’d probably play me.
DC: Yeah!
E: But I just admire her so much. And I think it’s funny that we kind of have a similar vibe. We both joke about our chest a lot… we’re both self-deprecating and also a lot of double entendres. So, there is a lot of similarities in our characters in a funny way.
DC: Maybe you could do Elvira Goes to Dollywood. Maybe that’s a movie idea?
E: How about Dolly Comes to Elvirawood? I always thought that could be a theme park. I just want to do a theme park just so I can have a roller coaster called Elvira’s Haunted Hills.
DC: You could have a “scream park.” I feel like Elvira’s Scream Park seems like the next frontier.
E: I [have] pitched it, believe me.
I was out pitching that idea and people would say, ‘Oh yeah, but that’s only good around Halloween.’ Now, it’s like horror plays 365 days a year. There’s no real period where things have to be spooky. Obviously, they are more [spooky] at Halloween, but I think a horror-themed park would be fantastic. Don’t give anybody that idea because I want to do it.
DC: Okay!
E: I mean, when you go to Disneyland, most people’s favorite ride there is the Haunted Mansion. It’s like, okay, that’s all year round. Right?
DC: I think it’s a great idea. I was actually going to ask you, because you’ve done so many things in your 40 years as Elvira, are there any mountains that you’re still wanting to climb that you haven’t yet?
E: Yes. There are things that I would really like to do that I’m actually in the process of working on. I got COVID, and it’s been weeks and weeks, so I have a bad feeling I have long COVID.
DC: Oh no, I’m so sorry.
E: Yeah. It’s been a couple months now, and it doesn’t seem to be going away.
Anyway, yes, what I’d like to do is one, a documentary of my book. Two, maybe a biopic of my life and how Elvira came to be. And then three, I have another book idea that I’m pitching right now. But basically, it’s Elvira’s entertaining guide for spooky get-togethers and parties and all that. Become the Martha Stewart of the macabre.
DC: I love that. I would buy that immediately.
E: Okay, we have one customer, I’m going to let them know.
Dread Central: Yes, put my order in immediately, please.
E: Okay!
DC: Speaking of books, I really loved your autobiography. I felt like I was reading your voice.
E: Thank you.
DC: There was a part that surprised me, which was when you talked about choosing the name for the character of Elvira. It came down to like pulling from a hat, and you were not totally sold right away on the name Elvira. You were like, “This sounds like a country star.”
E: Yeah.
DC: How do you feel about the name 40 years later?
E: Well, now I’m really pretty married to it. I love it.
I would’ve probably chosen something… Well, I know I would’ve chosen something different because I put two names in the hat, and that one was Cassandra. What a nightmare that would’ve been, right? The other one was Luna, which would’ve been okay.
But later, not long after we picked it, and I really didn’t like it, I got the connection between Elvis and Elvira, it was really weird. I was signing my autograph one time for this guy, Joe Esposito, who was Elvis Presley’s road manager. And I signed a picture for him and his wife, and he said, “Do you know your signature as Elvira looks almost exactly like Elvis’ signature?” Which I did not do on purpose, I had no idea. And all of a sudden, I started thinking there was some kind of Elvis connection that maybe he was there in another world guiding me along because he had previously, as you read in the book, he’d changed my entire career trajectory.
I always say I was the youngest showgirl in Las Vegas and I would now be the oldest showgirl in Las Vegas if it wasn’t for Elvis. So, I really like the tie-in with the name. It made me really, really like it more.
C: I always thought it was Elvis and Vampira. Was that the combo?
E: That’s a good combo name, there you go. Actually, that’s pretty funny combining the two names!
DC: I know, obviously, you’ve got a history with Vampira.
E: Yeah. I still admire and respect her. She did start the whole horror host thing, and no matter what she did to me, I have to give her a lot of props for being the first person to do it.
DC: Speaking of Elvis, I have to know if you’ve seen the new movie and if you have any feelings about it?
E: Oh, hell yes. I saw the new movie, and I freaking loved it.
First of all, I’m a huge Baz Luhrmann fan. I just love him as a director. And then secondly, I just thought the movie was amazing … It’s a way for people to see who Elvis really is, how he lived his life, how somebody got ahold of him and controlled him and drove him into the ground. And I feel like the movie really gives him his due.
It’s sad when I hear people say, “Oh, he was a drug addict and he gets sad, he fell off the toilet and died.” I mean, they don’t get the backstory about what he had to go through, how he has worked morning, noon and night… And I hope that more people see that movie and understand what he went through, how incredibly talented he was and how different.
I just thought they completely captured it. I mean, I was screaming. I was jumping up and down my seat. That first number that he plays when the girls all go crazy, and when he’s really young? It’s just gives me chills to think about it right now.
DC: Do you feel like Austin Butler did him justice, having met The King yourself?
E: Oh my God. I’ve always been skeptical about anybody playing Elvis. I always thought, “No, there’s nobody that could do it.” That freaking kid nailed it. I mean, just amazing. He doesn’t look exactly like Elvis—obviously, nobody does—but he captured him.
When I met Elvis, it was the time that he worked for Steve Binder doing a production for the Christmas special that he was supposedly supposed to do. And that was around the same time I met him; he was around 34 years old. And I swear, I just had moments where I was watching the movie believing that was Elvis because he just freaking got it.
DC: I know you’re going to be in The Munsters movie, and we’ve got the paperback version of your memoir and these new comics coming soon. But what else do we have from the queen of Halloween this spooky season?
E: There’s a couple of funny things, actually. I am doing Joe Bob Briggs’s show [The Last Drive-in] and getting together with him. We haven’t worked together for a million years, so that’s going to be really fun because I love Joe Bob. We’re going to be doing the show together and possibly another production together.
Unfortunately, I’m not doing a bunch of live appearances probably during the fall because of the COVID thing. Really, really such a bummer. I’m just itching to get out there and do live stuff. But I don’t know, we’ll see how it goes.
DC: Well, please take care of yourself. We can wait a little bit longer for you if we need to because the world always needs Elvira.
Grab your copy of Dynamite Entertainment’s Elvira, Mistress of the Dark Classic Years Omnibus, Volume Two on Indiegogo.
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