Newly-out horror icon Elvira celebrates 40th anniversary with a ‘very scary, very special’ TV event

Sep 23 2021
Written by Jonny Yates

Elvira is celebrating her 40th anniversary with a Halloween, horror special for streaming service Shudder. (YouTube)

Elvira, the Mistress of the Dark, is celebrating her 40th anniversary with a very scary, very special event.

To celebrate 40 years of being a horror icon, she will return to hosting duties, with a one-night movie marathon for streaming service Shudder.

Entitled, Elvira’s 40th Anniversary, Very Scary, Very Special Special, it will include her debut feature film Elvira: Mistress of the Dark, alongside her picks of some classic flicks.

It’s part of Shudder’s 61 Days of Halloween series and will premiere on the platform from 25 September, with Elvira lending her unique blend of witty commentary to the special.

Elvira says: “It’s always tough turning 40, but what better way to mark the occasion than a one-night stand with Shudder, the spookiest of streamers? It’s going to be the ultimate Hallow-anniversa-ween bash, and you don’t want to miss it.”

Cassandra Peterson, the actress behind the queen of horror, Elvira recently came out, revealing she has been in a relationship with a woman for 19 years.

She opened up about her relationship with Teresa ‘T’ Wierson in her newly released memoir Yours Cruelly, Elvira.

After divorcing her husband of 25 years, she explained how having Wierson around was a “huge relief” and that she “began to feel happier” than she had been in years.

Following her announcement her fans came out in droves to support the long-standing LGBT+ icon, and now-openly queer actor.

So what’s on the lineup for Elvira’s 40th Anniversary, Very Scary, Very Special Special? Well the spooky marathon will include:

Elvira, Mistress Of The Dark (1988)

In the character’s feature film debut, the famous horror hostess inherits a rundown mansion that’s in the heart of an overtly prudish community – who want her burned at the stake. The film received a mixed reaction upon its release, with Cassandra Peterson receiving a Worst Actress nomination at the Razzie Awards. She responded by iconically saying: “I even lost the worst actress, now that’s sad!”.

House On Haunted Hill (1959)

William Castle’s gimmick-laden horror thriller is a fairground funhouse come to life. Vincent Price stars as a suave eccentric millionaire married to a beautiful and greedy gold digger. Together they are hosting a party in a sinister haunted house. Five guests are invited to spend the night and each will get $10,000 – but only if they survive until morning. The doors are locked at midnight. Will you make it out alive?

The City Of The Dead (1960)

In this atmospheric classic, a professor (horror icon Christopher Lee) sends a student to Whitewood, Massachusetts, the site of 17th-century witch burnings. Once there, she learns the satanic secrets that live on.

Messiah Of Evil (1973)

A young woman goes searching for her missing artist father. Her journey takes her to a strange Californian seaside town governed by a mysterious undead cult. William Huyck & Gloria Katz’s hypnotic, unsettling independent horror is a must-see gem.