Elvira's World

The reality show still managed to infuse the Elvira franchise with new life, in an unexpected way: It was there that Peterson met Biaselli, who is an integral part of the new Macabre. After the two worked together on a subsequent Halloween special, Biaselli says, "I told her, 'There's no reason why you can't do 13 of these.' She was, like, '13? I'm gonna do 26! Gotta sell it internationally!' "

"We are of one mind," Biaselli says. "I go to work, I write, I sleep, and on my day off, I go to work with Cassandra. This is my happy time."

PHOTO BY KEVIN SCANLON

Cassandra Peterson, pushing 60 and still Mistress of the Dark

PHOTO BY KEVIN SCANLON

"People think I have been retired in a trailer in Pacoima."

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More About

• Cassandra Peterson
• Maila Nurmi
• Mark Pierson
• Ted Biaselli
• Arts, Entertainment, and Media

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As the day wears on, the set atmosphere becomes looser, bawdier. After a couple of hours of watching Peterson run through her so-dumb-they're-genius, sex-crazed routines, it's hard to not think and speak in Elvira's language. At one point, an assistant asks Cassandra if she's "ready for a DP." The crowd sitting around the video tap snickers like preteens. Peterson turns to Biaselli and says, "Not that kind of DP," her voice thick with wink. The assistant clarifies that she meant a Dr Pepper, of which Peterson drinks several each day. Peterson says she always called the soda DP, until she learned from her 15-year-old daughter that DP is also an abbreviation for double penetration. One of Cassandra's publicists chimes in with the punch line: "At 15, let's hope she's still on single penetration!"

Peterson calls a few days after the shoot. She tells me about the "mutual admiration club" she has with musician Jack White, who offered her an instrumental version of The Black Belles' "What Can I Do?" for Macabre's theme song. "Like, every friend of mine just pitched in and helped me out with this show, because they know that there's no budget," she laughs.

So what happens, I ask, if the show doesn't take off? Will you really be forced to squeeze into the Dress when you're 90?

"I really, really would like to retire in about a year from now," she says wistfully. In 2011, Peterson turns 60, and Elvira celebrates her 30-year anniversary. "Ahhh, but that really depends what's going on with the character. I'd rather go out when I'm on top and not when I'm, like, pathetic.

"I just have to wait and see how it plays out. But," says the freak show–turned-showgirl-turned–global brand, "it would be nice to have a life."

Elvira's Movie Macabre premieres Saturday night/Sunday morning at midnight on KDOC-TV. Check your local listings.