Witch Craft

Cassandra Peterson on her vampy alter ego

by A.D. Amorosi

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"Halloween is the new black — it's closing in on Christmas in terms of money spent and popularity," says Cassandra Peterson. The 59-year-old Los Angeleno and former Groundlings member is probably better know as the character she created in 1979 for a gig as a horror TV hostess: Elvira. Since then, the buxom spookhouse mistress has become so popular that she's had to officially clone herself via reality TV with 2007's The Search for the Next Elvira. We rapped with Peterson before coming to Philly for the entirety of Halloween to host events at the Poe House, the Penitentiary and the Bellevue.

City Paper: When was the last time you genuinely frightened anyone?

Cassandra Peterson: This morning, when I screamed at my daughter to get ready for school. It wasn't pretty.

CP: Were you a horror kid?

CP: Oh God, was I. That's why this was the perfect job for me. Vincent Price was my favorite actor. House on Haunted Hill was my favorite movie. And when other little girls were doing Barbies, I was making models of the Wolf Man. That's why I had no friends. Even in my 20s I hung with a crowd who yearned to see nothing but campy fare — the La Chiene Society, we were called. I was always almost exclusively into horror and kitsch.

CP: You pretty much say what you want as the character. Ever get you in trouble?

CP: Only as myself. Not as Elvira. She can say the most outrageous things and people just laugh. If I meet a large girl, for instance, I can insult them as Elvira: "Hey, you can pack a lot in that corset, honey." I can say terrible things and get away with it. Now, if I said those things as myself, I'd get punched in the nose.

CP: Was it money or franchising Elvira that brought about the reality show? Or are you just fed up?

CP: Franchising was exactly what I wanted to do.

CP: And how's that working for you?

CP: We picked one girl to represent Elvira. She's just meeting and greeting people at haunted houses and parades. And she comes at a low, low bargain price. [Laughs] Older fans always tell me that I can't have another Elvira. But kids seem to always just ask, "Are you the real one?" Yeah. But then I thought how good a gig Santa has — thousands of him, going to malls, raking in cash. You know how much money I'd make if there were 10 of me?

CP: So what's the hardest part of being her?

CP: Putting myself in that dress. Then an hour and a half of makeup. Once I get into the whole drag, I'm happy as a clam. But 27 years of it ... ugh.

CP: You were in the Groundlings when you went for the audition that made you famous. What other characters did you try before hitting on something so iconic?

HALF OFF DEPOT

Why live life at full price?

CP: I wish I could say that I had a fabulous stable of characters at the Groundlings. But I wasn't as much a character person as I was playing a dippy Valley Girl personality. I'm not even sure I can take credit for being Elvira, as I just went in for an audition as a horror host on a local TV channel and used my valley-speak character on their ghost.

CP: Did you keep in touch with Tom Waits after you got photographed with him for the cover of Small Change?

CP: That's such a mystery to me. I mean, I see the cover and I go, "That looks like me." But I do not have one recollection of doing it. Then again, I don't have a single recollection of the '70s. I went straight from the '60s to the '80s. Isn't that sad?

CP: Were you hit on the head or were the drugs that good?

CP: Who knows. I was a Playboy model — for the club, the modeling agency and the magazine. I did a million things: music videos, album covers, romance novels where the guy with the long hair is leaning over the girl draped across the bed, movie one sheets. Ever see Raggedy Man? I'm on the poster. Not in the movie.

Elvira in Philly | Fri., Oct. 31, 5:30 p.m., Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site; 7:30 p.m., Eastern State Penitentiary; 10 p.m., Park Hyatt at the Bellevue; visit gophila.com/halloween for details.