Yours Cruelly, Elvira: Memoirs of the Mistress of the Dark

Cassandra Peterson has been playing the spectacularly funny and statuesque vamp Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, for four decades, and now the comedic bombshell has written a real bombshell of a memoir. Although Peterson's sardonic sense of humor and love of punny wordplay shines through, Yours Cruelly is not fluff. This memoir is explosive, surprising and written with wrenching candor as Peterson explores the physical and emotional abuse in her childhood and her family's three generations of addiction.

At 14, she started working as a go-go dancer at a bar, doing her school work between dance sets. After high school, she became a Las Vegas showgirl. On her 18th birthday, she declined an offer from magician Siegfried (minus Roy) to be her first sexual partner. She also fended off Andy Williams and had a career-changing encounter with Elvis Presley. Her sexual encounter with Tom Jones landed her in an ER. At 29, her agent told her she was too old to make it in Hollywood but she found success when she created the character of sexy punk vampire Elvira and landed a job hosting horror movies at a local Los Angeles TV station.

Peterson's captivating tale is one of survival and perseverance. After six miscarriages, she finally gave birth to her daughter at age 43. When her abusive 20-year marriage ended, she found love with her female personal trainer, and the two have been together since 2002. (This book is her first public disclosure.) Peterson's inspiring life story is written with wit, empathy and verve. --Kevin Howell, independent reviewer and marketing consultant

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