The ageless late-night horror movie host \u2014 still a voluptuous cross between a vampire and a 1980s Valley Girl \u2014 says that when she\u2019s sick at home, nothing makes her feel better than a classic monster movie marathon featuring the crown princes of horror, Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe I\u2019m weird \u2014 well, I know I am \u2014 but the old movies are like comfort food for me,\u201d she says. \u201cEvery time I see them, I have this childhood flashback thing, being scared and maybe being comforted by my parents.\u201d
\nElvira\u2019s real name is Cassandra Peterson, and she\u2019s been a steadfast TV horror-show host for almost 35 years. While Peterson has appeared in a handful of roles without her creepy makeup and beehive hairdo, only as Elvira has she become an icon \u2014 albeit one solely associated with things that go bump in the night.<\/p>\n
She believes horror fans love to be scared stiff because these films elicit a response akin to drugs.
\n\u201cI think it\u2019s a chemical thing,\u201d says Peterson. \u201cIt\u2019s an adrenaline rush that people love. You get this big rush, and then you calm down.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like riding a roller coaster. You go from this high and then down again, a high and then down again \u2014 it\u2019s a real physical rush,\u201d says Peterson.<\/p>\n
Also, scary movies are great for romance. Try throwing one on for your next date night, she advises.
\n\u201cYou sit down on the couch, pop in a horror movie, and the next thing you know, she\u2019s all over you,\u201d says Peterson.
\nIf only one\u2019s blood could be warmed so easily.
\nPeterson\u2019s favorite creepy films tend to include the Universal classics like \u201cFrankenstein,\u201d \u201cThe Mummy\u201d and \u201cDracula.\u201d But she also has a soft spot for most Vincent Price movies.
\n\u201cI love \u2018House of Usher,\u2019 \u2018The Tomb of Ligeia,\u201d she says. \u201cThey\u2019re definitely cheesy, but they show how great Price was.\u201d
\nOther faves include the original \u201cHouse on Haunted Hill\u201d and \u201cNight of the Living Dead.\u201d
\n\u201cThat movie is cheesy and scary at the same time,\u201d Peterson says. \u201cIt\u2019s amazing how it still stands up to time, and it\u2019s such a strange commentary on social mores.\u201d
\nNewer gems include \u201cThe Conjuring\u201d and the first \u201cParanormal Activity\u201d she says.
\nBut the self-proclaimed Mistress of the Dark has a pretty dark view on slasher flicks. Movies like the \u201cSaw\u201d series, in which people are tortured and killed by maniacs, just don\u2019t appeal to her.
\n\u201cI like horror that is fantasy-based, a monster that you know is not going to get you when you walk out the front door \u2014 and it\u2019s no less scary\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
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