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\nCassandra Peterson, the actress and personality known for her campy alter-ego Elvira, is releasing a new entertaining guide, Elvira’s Cookbook from HellThe book features dozens of whimsical recipes like Spook-Ghetti and Eyeballs, plus craft ideas and hosting tipsPeterson tells PEOPLE about her labor of love \u2014 and the “two big reasons” she doesn’t dress up as the iconic character these days<\/p>\n
Cassandra Peterson<\/a>, a.k.a. Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, is emerging from the shadows and stepping into the kitchen.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n Elvira\u2019s Cookbook from Hell<\/a>, available Tuesday, Sept. 30, features crafts, hosting tips and recipes that embody the star\u2019s irreverent and campy style.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \u201cFor years and years and years, I had wanted to do this, more of an entertaining guide for the goth crowd. Not so much Halloween<\/a> specific, because as I’m sure you’re aware, there are a billion Halloween cookbooks out there,\u201d Peterson, 73, tells PEOPLE.\n<\/p>\n \u201cMost of the Halloween cookbooks and things of that genre are geared more towards kids, which is great. But I wanted this to be more of an adult party time \u2014 so things like a romantic graveside picnic and things that a goth-geared person would be interested in,\u201d she continues.\n<\/p>\n With whimsical recipes like Spook-Ghetti and Eyeballs (pasta featuring meatballs decorated with mozzarella and black olives), Guaca-Morbid (guacamole spewing out of a jack-o-lantern\u2019s frowning face) and Sausage Guts (ground meat molded into an intestine-like swirl), the book has plenty to offer anyone who wants to throw a party that\u2019s anything but ordinary.\n<\/p>\n Cassandra Peterson as Elvira.<\/p>\n Courtesy of Cassandra Peterson, 2025<\/p>\n But deciding which treats would make it in the final version required a fair amount of (witch) trial and error.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \u201cOh my God, we had so many different recipes that bit the dust before the book,\u201d says Peterson, who developed the Elvira persona more than four decades ago when she hosted the syndicated series Elvira\u2019s Movie Macabre.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \u201cWe just couldn’t make them work. 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,\u201d adds the alum of comedy troupe The Groundlings.\n<\/p>\n The cookbook even has a callback to her 1988 cult classic movie Elvira: Mistress of the Dark, in which she whips up something called Adraka Kozarole. \u201cPeople always wondered what it was, what was in it,\u201d says Peterson. \u201cIt’s actually a little bit inspired by my childhood. My mom wasn’t, what I would say, a fantastic cook. She usually topped mostly everything with crunched potato chips and Cheese Whiz. It’s basically a green bean casserole that I had as a kid for Thanksgiving.\u201d\n<\/p>\n Cassandra Peterson in 1988’s ‘Elvira: Mistress of the Dark.’.<\/p>\n Nbc\/New World\/Kobal\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n Peterson says her longtime partner Teresa \u201cT\u201d Wierson<\/a> was her reluctant taste-tester. \u201cA lot of things weren’t really up her alley,\u201d says Peterson. \u201cShe eats so insanely clean. She’s quite athletic. She kind of eats salad for breakfast, lunch, dinner.\u201d\n<\/p>\n Though the cookbook features several images of Peterson dressed as Elvira \u2014 towering black wig, tight-fitting and low-cut ensemble, full face of make-up \u2014 the Kansas native doesn\u2019t often get into costume anymore.\n<\/p>\n The cover of ‘Elvira’s Cookbook from Hell.’.<\/p>\n Grand Central Publishing<\/p>\n \u201cI kind of cut it off. There gets to a point where nobody’s going to want to see a really old Elvira,\u201d she says.\n<\/p>\n When fans ask her why she stopped, \u201cI go, \u2018Well, two big reasons that are really a lot lower these days,\u2019\u201d she quips.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n “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, \u2018Oh, that poor woman,\u201d says Peterson. \u201cI don’t want to run her into the ground. But yeah, nobody wants to see an 80-year-old Elvira.\u201d\n<\/p>\n Besides, dressing up \u201cgets old after the hundred millionth time of doing it, I’ll tell you,\u201d she adds. \u201cAsk any drag queen.\u201d\n<\/p>\n These days, she gets clocked by fans when she\u2019s not in character, which is a relatively new phenomenon for her.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \u201cI had 30, 35 good years where nobody recognized me. It was awesome. I could go anywhere in L.A. where they’re very focused on seeing celebrities. I gave that all up when I sort of did my autobiography and when I began appearing at conventions as Cassandra. Before, I was always Elvira,\u201d says Peterson, who released the memoir Yours Cruelly, Elvira<\/a>, in 2021.\n<\/p>\n \u201cOnce I let the cat out the bag, that was the end of that. So yeah, people recognize me everywhere I go, nonstop. And it’s something I’m really having to get used to. I just never had to deal with that,\u201d she says.\n<\/p>\n Cassandra Peterson on May 15 in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n Michael Tullberg\/Getty<\/p>\n \u201cI had a funny thing happen where I had a picture of me at the airport appear in a magazine, and that had never happened. And then the next thing I know, a girl appears at one of my conventions dressed as me at the airport,\u201d says Peterson. \u201cShe\u2019s wearing my exact outfit.\u201d\n<\/p>\n Whether she\u2019s in or out of character, one thing remains a constant, though \u2014 the quote from her 1988 movie that fans ask her to recite.\n<\/p>\n \u201cPeople come up to me and say, ‘Hey, could you just say one thing to me: How’s your head?\u2019\u201d\n<\/p>\n