Yours Cruelly, Elvira: Memoirs of the Mistress of the Dark

by Cassandra Peterson

Overview

The woman behind the icon known as the undisputed Queen of Halloween, reveals her full story, filled with intimate bombshells, told by the bombshell herself. The paperback includes 32 new images and an original poem composed by Cassandra when she was 16, perfect for fans to collect.

At only eighteen months old, Cassandra Peterson reached for a pot on the stove and doused herself in boiling water, resulting in third-degree burns over 35 percent of her body. She miraculously survived, but burned and scarred, the impact would stay with her and become an obstacle she was determined to overcome. Cassandra left home at fourteen and supported herself as a go-go dancer. By age seventeen, she was performing as a showgirl in Las Vegas. Then a chance encounter with the “King” himself, Elvis Presley, inspired her to travel to Europe where she worked in film and toured Italy as lead singer of a band. She eventually made her way to Los Angeles, where she joined the famed comedy improv group, The Groundlings.
In 1981, as a struggling actress considered past her prime, Cassandra auditioned for a local LA station as hostess for their late-night horror movies. She got the job as “Elvira,” never imagining it would lead to fame and a forty-year career. Yours Cruelly, Elvira is an unforgettably wild memoir. Cassandra doesn’t shy away from revealing exactly who she is and how she overcame seemingly insurmountable odds. Always original and sometimes outrageous, her story is loaded with twists, travails, revelry, and downright shocking experiences. It is the candid, often hilarious, and sometimes heartbreaking tale of a Midwest farm girl’s long, strange trip to become the world’s sexiest, sassiest Halloween icon.
 
Instant New York Times Bestseller, Los Angeles Times Bestseller, USA Today Bestseller, and Publishers Weekly Bestseller.
 
A New York Times Best Books to Give This Season selection.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780306874383
Publisher:	Hachette Books
Publication date:	10/04/2022
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	64,009
Product dimensions:	8.00(w) x 5.40(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Cassandra Peterson was born in Manhattan, Kansas, and raised in Colorado Springs, Colorado. At age 17, she began performing as a showgirl at the Dunes Hotel in Las Vegas, then traveled to Europe where she pursued a career as a singer and actor. Upon returning to the states, Peterson toured America as star of her own musical-comedy show, Mama’s Boys. She eventually settled in Hollywood, where she spent four years with L.A.’s foremost improvisational comedy group, The Groundlings. In 1981, she auditioned for the part of “horror hostess” on a local Los Angeles station. That show, Movie Macabre, and her newly created character, Elvira, became an overnight sensation and gained national syndication. Peterson also co-wrote, produced, and starred in two feature length films: Elvira, Mistress of the Dark and Elvira’s Haunted Hills. She has spent four decades solidifying her unique brand and building it into an internationally recognized pop culture icon synonymous with Halloween and the horror genre.

Table of Contents

Prologue xi

Chapter 1 Kansas 1

Chapter 2 Colorado Bound 7

Chapter 3 Horror, Holidays, and Hormones 17

Chapter 4 The Virgin Groupie 32

Chapter 5 Life-A-Go-Go 38

Chapter 6 Are You Experienced? 51

Chapter 7 Fear and Lack of Clothing in Las Vegas 58

Chapter 8 Vive Les Girls (It's Showtime!) 65

Chapter 9 Through the Looking Glass 79

Chapter 10 All Shook Up 85

Chapter 11 It's Not Unusual 92

Chapter 12 Rome If You Want To 102

Chapter 13 Arrivederci, Roma 115

Chapter 14 LA Woman 118

Chapter 15 You'll Never Work in This Town Again 135

Chapter 16 Mama's Boys 143

Chapter 17 Do You Believe in Magic? 156

Chapter 18 The Groundlings 161

Chapter 19 A Hollywood Horror Story 168

Chapter 20 Boobs 'n' Beer 194

Chapter 21 Mistress of the Dark 203

Chapter 22 Saturday Night Dead 214

Chapter 23 Hey Swami 217

Chapter 24 Briarcliff Manor or Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road? 221

Chapter 25 Livin' in a Haunted House 226

Chapter 26 The Pigeon from Hell 232

Chapter 27 The Elvira Show 237

Chapter 28 Lite a Flame 240

Chapter 29 Hello, Goodbye 244

Chapter 30 Baby Love 248

Chapter 31 Elvira's Haunted Hills 253

Chapter 32 The Hardest Part 261

Chapter 33 Just Like Starting Over 267

Chapter 34 Ch-Ch-Changes 271

Chapter 35 Both Sides Now 275

Epilogue 279

Acknowledgments 283

Editorial Reviews

-—Winner of the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Award's Book of the Year

“Friggin’ hilarious! Juicy stories and outrageous revelations!”—RuPaul

“A wicked page turner filled with hilarity and heartbreak—a life full of crazy stories and insane revelations, told as only Cassandra Peterson could tell it.”—Rob Zombie

"This is the behind-the-wig story we've all been waiting for! It's inspiring, at times harrowing, and consistently hilarious. Be warned though, it's a real 'booby trap' because once you've picked it up you cannot put it down!"—Peaches Christ

“A hauntingly beautiful memoir of one of the most iconic figures of the macabre. Just when I thought I couldn’t fall in love with Elvira any more, this book took my admiration to a whole other level.”—Kat Von D

“I knew Cassandra had a colorful and exciting life, but I didn't realize what a talented writer she’d become. Her book is beautiful—funny, poignant, outrageous, and full of surprises. Exactly like her. I’m happy I can genuinely recommend it and hope I’ll get to play myself when it becomes a blockbuster movie.”—Paul Reubens AKA Pee-wee Herman

“Elvira the character is a tantalizing gothic pop icon, a living Halloween costume, a kitschy, clever, comely chanteuse with brains. But Cassandra, the multi-talented woman inside that character, has lived an incredible life full of experiences that make most people's best days sound like dime-store humdrum.”—Jack White

“Elvira/Cassandra is a glamour ghoul after my own black heart—and a virtuoso tassel-twirler. I value her beauty advice. But most of all, I treasure her showbiz tales—louche, lusty, and sometimes so ludicrous they have to be real! Here they are, and more, delivered with that scintillating wit that makes her a bona fide legend. I savored every single page.”—Dita Von Teese

“Prepare yourself to enter a rocky, rollicking life, loaded with unexpected twists, turns, and stunning surprises. The Groupie stories alone will leave you jawdropped. Turn off your phones and computers, get to know Cassandra, and settle in for a delicious, un-put-downable read.”—Pamela Des Barres

"For chilly nights, stay at home and read Yours Cruelly, Elvira, the dishy new memoir from Elvira (a.k.a. Cassandra Peterson), the longtime horror movie hostess and entrepreneur."—New York Times

"Cassandra Peterson reveals how she became the Mistress of the Dark, and her tale is far more complex than one might expect….Through it all, Peterson maintains the dry sense of humor beloved by viewers since her Movie Macabre days, showing off her affection for corny puns even when she’s recalling painful memories. Her book is a must-read for anyone interested in 1970s Hollywood, horror movies, or just Elvira herself—a pop culture icon of the highest order." —BUST Magazine

“Yours Cruelly, Elvira is packed with insider details and a few shocking surprises which no one saw coming, except folks closest to her plunging neckline….Peterson's memoir is written in much the same style as her persona and delivers her mildly sardonic yet warmly funny lines easily, but it's not all jokes and sarcasm. There's an honesty that satisfyingly saturates these chapters. Fans will savor personal stories about her rocky upbringing, her determination to make it in Hollywood, and, most touchingly, her deep shock and sadness at losing several close friends to the burgeoning AIDS epidemic while attempting to remain focused on her career. There are a few zingers Peterson elaborates on which will undoubtedly surprise even hardcore fans of this dark enchantress.”—Bay Area Reporter

"If you've ever wondered if there are 1000 fascinating stories behind the iconic character, the answer is yes....The book is full of a million ways she became that way."—NPR’s “Bullseye”

“The writing in the memoir is deeply personal and heartfelt, detailing Peterson’s relationships with her parents, her siblings and her partners throughout the years. Seemingly she doesn’t hold back on details, allowing the audience to appreciate a life lived, with many lessons learned along the way….Ostensibly Yours Cruelly, Elvira is a book for horror fans and lovers of this character, and no doubt if a devotee remembers tuning in on Saturday nights to see Elvira introduce the horror flick of the week, there’s a lot of nostalgia within these pages. However, Peterson is after something more profound and revelatory than mere nostalgia. Her stories are meant to teach lessons, bear witness and show just how wild a life’s journey can be from the farms of Kansas to the top of the media world….This is not Elvira’s book, it’s Peterson’s, and that’s a good thing."—Hollywood Soapbox

From the Publisher

12/01/2021

Peterson's memoir of life in the limelight is titled after her iconic role but covers a much more storied career. Peterson narrates, delivering the product in a polished manner that incorporates her distinctive brand of humor. As is the case for many Baby Boomers, the music of her era helps define her through childhood and drives the direction of her career. She covers the tumultuous years of Beatlemania and the summer of love before sharing stories of finding work as dancer and singer in the 1970s. She has encountered seemingly every classic rock star, from Frank Zappa to Jimi Hendrix to Elvis. However, the meat really begins when she moves to acting, and lands the role of Elvira. Here, her voice shows its greatest enthusiasm for the character, as well as her compassion for animals, though the narrative turns away from show biz stories and further toward her personal life. VERDICT For one generation of readers, the people Elvira encounters will have significant weight, but for others, this book may be more of an introduction.—Aaron Heil, State Lib. of Kansas

Library Journal - Audio