Cassandra Peterson, better known as Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, is trading her coffin for the kitchen. The cult favorite entertainer has just released her latest project, “Elvira’s Cookbook from Hell,” a campy guide packed with recipes, hosting tips, and crafts that reflect her wicked sense of humor.
Cassandra Peterson Releases ‘Elvira’s Cookbook from Hell’
Peterson told People that she envisioned the cookbook as more than just another seasonal tie-in. “For years and years and years, I had wanted to do this, more of an entertaining guide for the goth crowd,” she explained. “Not so much Halloween specific, because as I’m sure you’re aware, there are a billion Halloween cookbooks out there.”
Unlike the normal kid-friendly Halloween collections, “Elvira’s Cookbook from Hell” aims for adults who still want to get spooky with their food.
The book includes pun-filled dishes like Spook-Ghetti and Eyeballs (meatball pasta topped with mozzarella and olives), Guaca-Morbid (a jack-o-lantern vomiting guacamole), and Sausage Guts (ground meat shaped into intestines).
“We just couldn’t make [some recipes] work,” Peterson admitted. “And we did want to make everything fairly easy for people to cook. We didn’t want to have to be like, you have to be Julia Child to make this stuff.”
The cookbook even features a callback to her 1988 cult classic movie, “Elvira: Mistress of the Dark,” with a dish inspired by her mother’s casseroles. “My mom wasn’t, what I would say, a fantastic cook. She usually topped mostly everything with crunched potato chips and Cheese Whiz,” Peterson joked.
Why Peterson No Longer Dresses Up As Her Alter Ego
Although the book contains photos of Peterson in her signature look — black wig, plunging gown, and dramatic makeup — she says she rarely dresses up as Elvira anymore.
“I kind of cut it off. There gets to a point where nobody’s going to want to see a really old Elvira,” she explained.
When asked by fans, she answers with her trademark wit: “Well, two big reasons that are really a lot lower these days.” Peterson added, “I mean, there comes a point when you want to get out at the top of your game like Muhammad Ali. Don’t just keep going until people are going, ‘Oh, that poor woman.’”
She admitted wearing the costume “gets old after the hundred millionth time of doing it” and compared the routine to drag queens who know the feeling all too well. Instead, Peterson has embraced being recognized as herself after decades of anonymity.
“Once I let the cat out the bag, that was the end of that,” she said of appearing at conventions as Cassandra instead of Elvira. “So yeah, people recognize me everywhere I go, nonstop. And it’s something I’m really having to get used to.”
Still, fans can’t resist asking her to recite her most iconic line from “Elvira: Mistress of the Dark.” As Peterson put it: “People come up to me and say, ‘Hey, could you just say one thing to me: How’s your head?’”
“Elvira’s Cookbook from Hell” is available now wherever books are sold.
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Elvira Dishes on Her New Cookbook and Why She Left Her Iconic Wig Behind