Boo! It’s our Bullseye Halloween Special! Elvira Mistress of the Dark, Andy Daly and more!

Episode notes

Photo Credit: Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Cassandra “Elvira” Peterson on her career, her childhood and creating the “Elvira” look

Cassandra Peterson, better known as Elvira Mistress of the Dark, is probably the most famous Halloween character ever since Dracula. Her look— giant jet-black wig, the long black Addams Family wiggle dress and glossy black nail polish against pale skin has been iconic for over three decades.

Elvira’s appeared on countless TV shows, hosted her own and starred in two movies with a third animated film possibly in the works. Since 1983, she’s appeared live on stage at Knott’s Berry Farm for a special nightly Halloween performance.

Where’d it all start? Back in 1981. Peterson had just been hired to host the spooky B-Movie TV show Movie Macabre. In those late night episodes, sprawled out on a red velvet couch and wearing all black, Cassandra Peterson became Elvira.

The former Groundlings improv player joins Jesse to talk about her career as Elvira and the character’s impact on her fans.

Halloween celebrations are scaled back due to the 2020 pandemic but that hasn’t stopped our favorite horror hostess from celebrating the season!

Photo Credit: Michael Buckner/Getty Images for GQ

Andy Daly on ‘The Song that Changed his Life’

Next up, we’ve got a very special edition of our “The Song that Changed my Life” series from one of our favorite comedians and actors Andy Daly. He’ll tell us why he loves the Monster Mash!

Also, Jesse checks in with April Wolfe of Switchblade Sisters and Who Shot Ya podcast’s Alonso Duralde who doesn’t let the fact that he’s “El Mero Mero De Navidad” keep him from sharing his favorite films from the horror genre.

Photo Credit: ELEONORE BAKHTADZE/AFP via Getty Images)

The Outshot: “I Put a Spell on You”

And finally, we have our Outshot. Jesse points out how Nina Simone’s rendition of Jay Hawkin’s “I Put a Spell on You” is better than the original.

Happy Halloween, everyone!

In this episode...

Jesse Thorn

Host

Kevin Ferguson

Senior Producer

Jesus Ambrosio

Producer

Richard Robey

Maximum Fun Producer

Daniel Huecias

Maximum Fun Production Fellow

Daniel Arón Speer

Video Editor

Guests

Cassandra Peterson
Andy Daly
Alonso Duralde
April Wolfe

About the show

Bullseye is a celebration of the best of arts and culture in public radio form. Host Jesse Thorn sifts the wheat from the chaff to bring you in-depth interviews with the most revered and revolutionary minds in our culture.

Bullseye has been featured in Time, The New York Times, GQ and McSweeney’s, which called it “the kind of show people listen to in a more perfect world.” Since April 2013, the show has been distributed by NPR.

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