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Yours Cruelly, Elvira cover art

Yours Cruelly, Elvira

By: Cassandra Peterson
Narrated by: Cassandra Peterson
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Publisher's Summary

The woman behind the icon known as Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, the undisputed Queen of Halloween, reveals her full story, filled with intimate bombshells - and told by the bombshell herself.

On Good Friday in 1953, at only 18 months old, 25 miles from the nearest hospital in Manhattan, Kansas, Cassandra Peterson reached for a pot on the stove and doused herself in boiling water. Third-degree burns covered 35 percent of her body, and the prognosis wasn't good. But she survived. Burned and scarred, the impact stayed with her and became an obstacle she was determined to overcome. Feeling like a misfit led to her love of horror. While her sisters played with Barbie dolls, Cassandra played with model kits of Frankenstein and Dracula and idolized Vincent Price.

Due to a complicated relationship with her mother, Cassandra left home at 14, and by age 17 she was performing at the famed Dunes Hotel in Las Vegas. Run-ins with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., and Tom Jones helped her grow up fast. Then a chance encounter with her idol Elvis Presley changed the course of her life forever and led her to Europe, where she worked in film and traveled Italy as lead singer of an Italian pop band. She eventually made her way to Los Angeles, where she joined the famed comedy improv troupe The Groundlings and worked alongside Phil Hartman and Paul "Pee-wee" Reubens, honing her comedic skills.

Nearing age 30, a struggling actress considered past her prime, she auditioned at local LA channel KHJ as hostess for the late-night vintage horror movies. Cassandra improvised, made the role her own, and got the job on the spot. 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 funny, and sometimes heartbreaking tale of a Midwest farm girl's long, strange trip to become the world's sexiest, sassiest Halloween icon.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2021 Cassandra Peterson (P)2021 Hachette Books

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Funny and heartfelt

Cassandra’s storytelling is so compelling you’ll be hooked instantly . Fantastic insight into her life ! Her journey into and out from Elvia is pure magic !

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Amazing!

Wow what a great listen! Fallen in love with Elvira all over again! So many great stories! I cried, I laughed and felt very inspired!

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👌

great story and loved the narration. she was so comfortable you could almost imagine you were sitting having a cuppa and a chat

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cruely amazing!

what a fantastic and amazing life. such a great book with a bombastic audiotrack

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  • Tim
  • 13-11-2022

Beautiful, touching and hilarious.

I laughed, I cried and felt a connection to the words of this inspiring woman whom I have long admired.
Thank you Ms Peterson for sharing your story with us all. Your loves, hates, vulnerabilities, strengths and struggles reminded me that we put celebrities on pedestals where we admire them, criticise them, judge them, and scrutinise them but that you, like us are beautifully human. Even the Mistress of the Dark has a human story behind her. Love, love love!!

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The Queen of Halloween

One of the best books I've listened to this year
thank you Elvira for entertaining me foe so many years xxx.

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The best audiobook I have listened too

Thank you Cassandra for your honest Insightful and witty storytelling, it really touched my soul.
I have taken away reflections of my own life to which I totally thank you for.
10/10

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Very enjoyable

What an amazing life, sometimes charmed, sometimes tragic - a kind of real life Forrest Gump.

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Cruelly Entertaining

Loved it , Must read one of the best books you could read about a beloved Halloween Queen

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Wonderful

A truly wonderful and enjoyable listen. Cassandra’s career and life is a patchwork quilt of wins, losses and adventures as she navigates her way to success as one of the most enduring and loved comedic character actresses of all time. As I finished the book I wanted to just reach out and give her the biggest hug, because I felt like she had already given me one with her stories.

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.