Yours Cruelly, Elvira: Memoirs of the Mistress of the Dark- Audiobook Review

If you grew up in America in the 80s, Cassandra Peterson's alter ego Elvira was a fixture in the horror world whether through her hosting performances, movies or TV appearances, she would be there cracking wise. Growing up in England, Elvira was not so prominent here but seeped into the cult viewing consciousness through cameos and references in a myriad of shows. I knew of Elvira in my teens but didn't know how or why- she was just there.

The audiobook is read by Elvira herself and contains her usual sass and cheesy jokes.

So, when the autobiography of Elvira came out, I decided to take the plunge and find out more about the life of Ms. Peterson. I bought the audiobook as Peterson read that herself and I felt it would be interesting to hear the words read by the author. What comes through is the wisdom that comes with age and experience but also a heartfelt survivors account of the early abuse, unwanted attention in her teens and the toxic masculinity that pervaded much of the world at the time and world and how much this was normalised. The most interesting elements for me were her accounts of her run in with celebrities, some of who were kind and polite, whilst others were predatory and hurtful. I'm not one for Hollywood celebrity stories but these recounts show the dark side of Hollywood and the entertainment industry as a whole was used as a way by those in power to leverage their authority on whoever they wanted. The names dropped come thick and fast including Elvis, Robert De Niro, Frank Sinatra, Frank Zappa, Freddie Mercury, Tom Jones, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and so many more icons and A-listers.

Peterson is candid and discusses her highs and lows with honesty. She owns the decisions she has made but also explains how many of her life choices and chances were limited by those in authority; when she didn't put out on the casting couch there were repercussions but she doesn't regret her choices. In light of #MeToo, Peterson says she is not surprised and that this moment of reckoning was well overdue.
She ends on a note of hope and opens up about her recent personal life and bisexuality.

I really enjoyed this audiobook and Peterson's enthusiasm and candour make this a worthwhile autobiography to listen to.