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In 1981, Cassandra Peterson conjured up the character Elvira, Mistress of the Dark—a dash of Elvis, a pinch of Vampira, and a generous helping of vaudeville comedy—for a local Los Angeles television show called Movie Macabra. She sported all black, with a giant raven beehive, cleavage for days, and a dagger on her belt, and had a cutting, dark sense of humor. Viewers couldn’t get enough: Before long, the show was picked up nationally and a goth icon was born.
For decades, Elvira has been a champion of the weirdos, outcasts, freaks, nerds, and horror fanatics, showing her audience that it’s not only okay but actually cool to be different. And now, just in time for spooky season (which can be 365 days a year, if you want it to be), the Mistress of the Dark has whipped up a new book, Elvira’s Cookbook From Hell (Grand Central Publishing). It’s a ghoulish guide to throwing the greatest ghastly gatherings imaginable.
Vogue spoke with the woman behind the wig to get her advice on being the hostess with the mostest, hear about her new projects, and find out why she finds graveyards so romantic.
Vogue: Why did you decide to do a cookbook?
Cassandra Peterson: I decided to do this probably 30 years ago. I love entertaining and cooking, so I started calling myself the Martha Stewart of the macabre. I am a big fan of Martha Stewart, and I thought I should do an entertaining and lifestyle book for the goth crowd. There is a huge goth crowd out there, but it was a hard sell. I couldn’t get a publisher for a long time, then finally someone understood that this book is for all year round for people who are into the lifestyle. It’s not just for Halloween. But it was hard to make a cookbook, almost harder than writing my autobiography, which took 10 years.
You are the Martha Stewart of the macabre! I love that.
Look out, Martha, I’m coming to town. I saw her in her magazine saying she’s the queen of Halloween. It’s like, Okay. You’re a lot of things, but you’re not the queen of Halloween.
No, that would be you! She does throw a great party, though. I went to one of her parties, and it was spectacular. Martha was there. The food was great. She had her hands in everything. She’s very particular.
Literally and figuratively, right? I’m a fan. She’s an amazing feminist icon. And she looks great, she’s still out there. And of course people rag on that all the time.
Well, we’re women, we’re not allowed to get older.
Isn’t that true? I created a monster a little bit with Elvira—being sexy and wearing all this cleavage. That doesn’t age well in anybody’s book.
There’s tape and all kinds of things that you can use, right?
Well, I got some ideas from the movie The Substance, but it didn’t work out so good for Demi Moore so....
Do you have a favorite horror host? Current or past?
My favorite would be [John] Zacherle. He was funny and wonderful and just adorable. I love Joe Bob Briggs. He is such a goofy guy. I didn’t know about these people until much later in my career, because where I grew up, in Colorado Springs, we didn’t have a horror host. And of course Vampira. Without her, none of the others would be around, including myself. She was the first.
What are your favorite horror movies of all time?
Classic horror movies—The Shining, Rosemary’s Baby, The Exorcist. I don’t think there’s anything scarier than The Exorcist. I sat next to Linda Blair at the premiere, and honest to God, I got up and left after a little while. I couldn’t handle it. She’s right next to me. I just got chills thinking about it.
Who’s your favorite final girl?
Linnea Quigley.
Linnea is a horror legend! If you could entertain anyone at your party, dead or alive, whom would you choose and why?
Vincent Price would be there. He is one of my heroes. He is an icon in the horror world and was a wonderful chef. He came to my house once and taught me how to make fish in my dishwasher.
That’s an amazing story. Anybody else?
Elvis would be there. He changed my life and set me on a different course. I always tell people I was once the youngest showgirl in Las Vegas, and if it wasn’t for Elvis, I would now be the oldest showgirl in Las Vegas. So Elvis really changed the course of my life. Who else would I have? Stan Lee, whom I loved very much, was an adorable man, creative, brilliant, and hilarious. And Pee-wee [Paul Reubens].
What a great collection of people. Is there anyone alive you would invite?
I’d invite my friend Jack White because he is awesome and cool. He is just hilarious, funny, interesting. He is a really great guy.
And he could do some musical interludes for entertainment.
Yes! I’d invite Linda Blair because she’s an icon. And Stephen King! Have you read his book On Writing? Honestly, he’s the person who gave me the inspiration for writing my autobiography.
What’s your favorite way to liven up a party if it’s dead?
Play music. It’s so important. It’s amazing how many dinner parties I go to and people don’t play music. It stimulates conversation.
How do you deal with unruly guests? If someone gets too intoxicated or they’re just loud and obnoxious or annoying at a party, how do you handle that?
Heavens, I have thankfully never had that situation in real life, have I? Oh, yeah. It was me! You just send everyone out. I’m like, “I’m going to bed.” I’ve actually cut out of my own parties. But how would I deal with a guest who’s unruly? I have a trap door in my house, and I just pull a cord.
Perfectly Elvira! You have several crafty projects in the book. Do you have other creative outlets that you enjoy?
I love cooking, and I like gardening. But honestly, my hobby is my work. I get to write, sing, make albums, design covers, design apparel.
What clothing companies are you working with?
It’s called Unique Vintage, and they just did an adorable line of sexy pinup things. Oh, I love it. And they sold out immediately. I just made a video for them, and by the time I made the damn video, the clothes were all gone. But they’re ordering a second run.
I noticed that you had a dog-treat recipe in your book, which I am very excited to try. Are you a dog person?
I’m a huge dog person. I’ve had so many. I had rescued rottweilers for years, but I had to switch over to little dogs because I travel so much and I can actually take them with me. I couldn’t take the rotties.
What’s your favorite recipe in the cookbook?
The one called Adraka Kozerole, from my 1989 movie, Elvira: Mistress of rhe Dark. This is sentimental for me because it’s a little bit from my childhood. It’s basically green-bean casserole, which is what we always had for Thanksgiving. You make it from scratch. But then the most important thing is that you put the crumbled potato chips on and the Cheez Whiz on the top because that is what my mother put on everything she made. In the movie, Elvira takes the potato chips and puts ’em in a chair and sits on them to crunch them up. So that is a fundamental recipe for me, not only because of my movie but because of my upbringing.
What would you recommend for a novice in the kitchen?
The most effective thing, and they look awesome, are the Devilish Spider Eggs. You just have to boil the eggs, and then I crack them all over with the back of a spoon and submerge them in purple and black food coloring overnight. And then when you shell the eggs, they look like they have spiderwebs all over.
You talk about entertaining in a graveyard in the book. Have you actually ever had a party in a graveyard?
Girl, I have spent so much time in graveyards, you wouldn’t believe it. I’ve spent as much time as anybody besides the gravedigger. I’ve shot videos and movies there. I’ve been in graveyards all over the country, even in Europe. I have a special affinity for graveyards. I love them. I like walking in them. I like looking at the gravestones. In Europe, there are some amazing graveyards—and, of course, New Orleans. You can also visit your friends and loved ones there and dine with them. But it’s kind of a romantic place, if you’re into graveyards.
What new projects are you working on that you’re excited for in the year ahead?
I just came out with a children’s book, Elvira’s First Book of Monsters. It’s really adorable. It came out better than my wildest expectations. It’s glow in the dark, and it has a wonderful artist from Spain named Pintachan. I wrote all the copy and little rhyming couplets, and it introduces little kids in a very friendly, not-scary way to Dracula, Frankenstein, the Mummy, and all the regular characters.
I was a very creepy kid, so I would’ve loved that.
Me too. I wish I had known you then, because everybody thought I was creepy and stayed away from me. I really got into horror when I was a kid.
Do you have any rituals to get into character as Elvira?
Everything has to be set up a particular way in a particular position. I know I have one and a half hours to put my makeup on, and I need to be able to grab what I need, where I need it. I need music, and it has to be pretty wild and raucous. I like metal. So that’s my little ritual. Oh, and I drink a lot of caffeine.
How do you differentiate between Elvira and Cassandra? Does that line ever get blurry?
Not really. It did at first, but now I know this is me. In the beginning the two seemed more blurred and I had a hard time differentiating how much of myself I wanted to bring into the character and how much of the character I wanted to bring into myself. When I go out as a normal person, do I wear all black? Do I try to be Elvira, or do I separate them very hard and fast? And I decided on the separating, and that was wonderful because it kept me virtually anonymous, which was such a blessing. Now that I’m writing books and showing up to places myself, my anonymity is out the window.
