When it comes to fall festivities, no one knows Halloween quite like Cassandra Peterson. More than four decades ago, she made her debut as beguiling horror hostess Elvira on a local TV show in Los Angeles, cultivating a role that was equal parts goth and Valley Girl. The iconic character would gain popularity worldwide, appearing in several films and TV series, fittingly earning her the title Queen of Halloween.
“The first costume that my mom ever made me was out of black and orange crepe paper,” Peterson recalls. “I told her I wanted to be the Queen of Halloween, so [she and my aunt] made me a costume with a scepter, crown, and this little black and orange dress [when] I was 5 years old.”
Last year, Peterson landed a spot on the New York Times best-seller list with the release of her autobiography Yours Cruelly, Elvira, in which she recounts her journey to becoming the Mistress of the Dark. Though stardom has certainly been a whirlwind for the bombshell, Peterson always manages to come out on top with her unapologetic humor and one-of-a-kind persona.
Peterson recently spoke with Shondaland about how she’s spending her Halloween this year and what you should do to make your spooky season a screaming success.
RENÉE WATT: When you said you wanted to be the Queen of Halloween when you were 5, do you look back at that now and feel like you cast a spell or something?
CASSANDRA PETERSON: I absolutely do! I think I must have said that and broken through some kind of wall or something into another dimension. Imagine a 5-year-old kid saying, “I want to be the Queen of Halloween!” and cut to 900 years later, I’m the Queen of Halloween!
RW: You’re what Santa Claus is to Christmas, or the Easter Bunny is to Easter.
CP: Or the turkey is to Thanksgiving. Everybody wants a piece of me!
RW: Exactly! When did that role of Elvira begin to feel real?
CP: At first, it was just a local TV show. It was super-low budget. I was making $350 a week and going out on other acting auditions trying to get a real part. In the beginning, it didn’t feel like something I’d be doing for the next 30 years. It felt like, “I hope this is something I’ll be doing for the next 40 days!”
Anyway, I think I really got the vibe that something was happening when I began getting fan letters, and I mean stacks and stacks. Back then, there was no email, so I would get these big mail sacks from the post office of fan letters. All of a sudden, we were like, “Holy crap! This is really something! People are really digging this!” Then, from there on out, it just grew.
RW: When was the last time you got to dress up as other than Elvira for Halloween?
CP: I think the last couple of costumes that I wore before Elvira was Glinda the Good Witch from Wizard of Oz. The other one was just a black G-string with rhinestones on the edge with a black bra with tassels on it that was cut in the shape of a star over my boobs. I had a whip and all kinds of leather bracelets with chains. I was kind of like a female leather daddy. [It] was crazy I wore [that] out on the street, but I was surrounded by gay men, so I didn’t have to worry that much.
RW: What advice would you give to someone who wants to make their own Halloween costume?
CP: Well, find somebody who knows how to sew because I don’t. I have to come up with a costume this year. I’m going to a Halloween party for the first time, and I am not dressing as Elvira! I’ve gotta come up with something.
I’m wondering, you know, what I should advise myself to do? I’m thinking of just going to a high-end costume shop and renting it. I think it’s so cool to pick a character from your favorite movie or TV show. I was thinking of being Michelle Yeoh’s character from Everything Everywhere All at Once and just going with blood on my face and a googly eye stuck to my forehead [with] a little red vest and a flowered shirt, but no one would probably know what the hell I was doing.
RW: What is the best part of wearing a costume?
CP: The best part is you’re anonymous, and you can get away with all kinds of stuff. That’s what Elvira’s like for me. When I’m my usual self, I’m normal, but when I’m Elvira, I feel like I can get away with saying or doing anything to people — and I don’t piss them off usually. I can make jokes to people, and they just laugh.
It just gives you this incredible sense of freedom, and I think that’s what Halloween is about: You get to dress as anything you want. You can look like a total slut, and nobody says you’re a total slut. You’re just having fun.
Over the years, I’ve seen people dressed as things that I think they really want to be, like it came from their deep psyche. Wearing a costume is like a Rorschach test. You’re dressing as something you really want to be deep down inside, so be careful when you’re choosing that costume.
RW: I’m sure you’ve seen a lot of people emulate the Elvira look. What’s the most important thing to consider when re-creating your iconic style?
CP: You need the hair and the eyelashes. No, it’s actually your boobs. You really need those unless you’re a child. I think that’s a very important element of Elvira. The mistake I see a lot of people make is the hair. The hair is damn hard. I’m going to give everybody a clue here on how to make your hair better: The top wig can be a separate piece that you make into a bouffant that’s shorter. Then, the bottom wig can be one of your old Cher wigs from the Halloween store. The weight of the long hair drags the bouffant down, and it is almost impossible to keep up.
RW: If someone were to throw a Halloween party, what elements should they include to ensure its success?
CP: You’ve got to decorate, and you better start now because you really have to give off a spooky vibe. That takes quite a bit of time, energy, and money, so get busy on that right away. The other elements are spooky food and snacks, like finger sandwiches, “dead man’s meatloaf,” or those kinds of items for your buffet.
I also think having a theme is a great idea. Give everybody a theme. Don’t just say, “Wear a costume.” Do some kind of a crazy theme, like what you wore to prom, come as one of your parents, or anything you come up with. You’ll have more fun with that than everybody just showing up wearing a sheet over their head and being a ghost.
RW: Have you ever passed out Halloween candy to trick-or-treaters?
CP: Honestly, I’ve never been able to stay home and pass out candy. Ever. Well, that’s not true. In the first year of the pandemic, I had to stay home. I was all set to pass out candy, but nobody came because it was a pandemic, so I had to eat all the candy myself. It was such a bummer.
RW: What’s your favorite Halloween candy?
CP: I love, love, love candy corn. I just love biting the little white tip off of it, and then eating the second part and the third part. They all taste the same, but in my head, they’re different.
RW: Do you prefer treats or tricks?
CP: Well, I do like a good trick, I’ll tell you! I love to TP somebody’s yard or, of course, the ever-popular burning bag of doggy doo on the doorstep. I love that one, and I’ve got plenty of doggy doo at my house. Honestly, tricks are fun.
You can also write crazy messages on the windshield of people’s cars. If you dip your finger in isopropyl alcohol and write a message on someone’s window, it doesn’t show up until they use the window defroster, and then they’ll see it. You have to be sure to write backwards though, so don’t forget that. I’ll take the treats, though. I like the candy.
RW: What are your favorite activities to get in the Halloween spirit?
CP: I was just decorating my front porch. I love just the whole vibe of buying pumpkins and setting them on your porch with orange flowers around them. I have some bats that I just received today that I’m going to stick up all around my front door. That gets me in the holiday spirit. Normally, I’m working so much, I don’t have time to decorate. If I had the time, I would just go crazy decorating my house, but someone has to be the Queen of Halloween, and I guess it has to be me.
RW: Does Halloween have any deeper meaning or spiritual significance for you?
CP: Nope! I hate to say it, but I think Halloween is the best holiday of the year. No gifts to buy anybody. You don’t have to run around sending cards and wrapping presents. You don’t have to make any giant dinners like Thanksgiving. You don’t need to have your relatives over. You just dress up as your fantasy character and go have fun. I mean, come on, what’s better than that? It’s the funnest day of the year.
Renée Watt is a Pacific Northwest-based professional psychic, astrologer, and witch. Her mystical insights have been featured in Vogue, Cosmopolitan, and InStyle. She hosts the weekly podcast The Glitter Cast, which features celebrity ghost stories and interviews with leading professionals in her field.
Get Shondaland directly in your inbox: SUBSCRIBE TODAY
