Cassandra Peterson On Creating Elvira, And The Enduring Legacy Of The “Mistress Of The Dark”

BuzzFeed: You’ve written for Elvira for decades, and now you’ve written an autobiography, Yours Cruelly, Elvira. Was it a challenge writing about yourself versus writing for Elvira?

Cassandra: Yeah, it was a big challenge. I didn’t really get how to talk like myself — in my normal voice — at first. A big inspiration for me was reading a book by Stephen King called On Writing, and seeing how he talks about his life in his own words. It’s such a great freaking book if you haven’t read it.

I wanted the book to be funny. I do think of myself as a comedian, but I didn’t want to sound like Elvira. So that was a little challenging, just to sound like me.

BuzzFeed: And now you have a new book out, Elvira’s Cookbook from Hell. What inspired you to write it?

Cassandra: I was actually inspired to write this book three decades ago! On my show, Elvira’s Movie Macabre, I’d always have little cooking segments that were kind of joke cooking segments. I’d be making something like pork tartare that you left in the trunk of your car overnight, or Hallo-weenies, you know, drill a hot dog and fill it with cheese.

I mentioned on my show that I was the Martha Stewart of the macabre, and thought, “We should do a cookbook, but more than a cookbook, like a lifestyle thing for Goths — for the people who love Halloween, and live that lifestyle 365 days a year, like I do.”

I tried to sell that idea to publishers, and they weren’t really having it. They told me, “There are 9 million Halloween cookbooks out there!” I kept saying, “It’s not a Halloween cookbook. It’s like Martha Stewart entertaining; it’s a lifestyle book!”

It only took me 30 short years, but I was finally able to sell a publisher on the idea. It was a lot of work and took a team, but I’m really happy with it. I think it’s for my fans out there, the goth crowd, for all year round — not just Halloween!