All of Elvira’s comedy, music, dance routines and sexual innuendos you’ve come to love or hate over the past four decades at Knott’s Scary Farm will be back this Halloween with only one thing missing: the Mistress of the Dark herself.
But rest assured, there will be no shortage of Elvira at Knott’s this Halloween season.
The “Yours Cruelly Elvira XXperience” event will celebrate Elvira’s 20 shows over the past 40 years during the annual Halloween Haunt at Knott’s Berry Farm.
Knott’s Scary Farm returns on select nights from September 19 through October 31 with more than 1,000 monsters lurking in the haunted mazes, scare zones and fog-filled streets of the Buena Park theme park.
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Elvira star Cassandra Peterson will make several appearances in Scary Farm 2024, but she won’t be wearing the skimpy costume or playing the classic horror character.
Peterson will be present at three book signings and two panel discussions. The moderated panel discussions will take place on October 18 and 20, followed by book signings. The panel discussions will be open to all Scary Farm visitors.
Peterson will also be at Knott’s for the opening night of Scary Farm on September 19 for another book signing (without a panel discussion).
Elvira Mistress of the Dark was the most well-known and longest-running celebrity to serve as the face of Knott’s annual Halloween event — a list that included Wolfman Jack, Sinister Seymour and “Weird Al” Yankovic.
“She left such an impact on the fans. A lot of them still miss her being here,” said Rob Perez, Knott’s show director. “This is a way to give them back the history and a taste of what the shows were like and give them as close to the real thing as possible.”
The show “Yours Cruelly Elvira XXperience” will be performed nightly from Scary Farm to the Walter Knott Theatre.
Remastered videos featuring highlights, behind-the-scenes footage and interview clips from Elvira’s 20 seasons at Knott’s will stream throughout the evening.
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There will be no shortage of content with at least five hours of Elvira highlight videos airing each night.
“I’m going to have to cut down a lot on the number of pieces,” Perez said in an online video interview. “There will be a lot of pieces to display.”
Die-hard Elvira fans and Knott’s Scary Farm season pass holders won’t have to binge in one night, according to Perez.
“They will be able to come back and schedule the parts they want to see,” Perez said. “The show will be continuous, allowing people to come and go as they please. We will have specific times for when the highlights start.”
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Perez said exact showtimes have not yet been set, but the plan is to have Elvira highlights from the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2013 and 2017 begin at the top of each hour.
This means that if you want to see Elvira’s first show in 1982, you’d better head to the Knott Theatre right when Scary Farm starts each night.
Just be prepared for poorer video quality and more amateurish production values with ’80s shows. But that’s part of the fun and historical nature of the career retrospective.
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Highlights from each era are expected to air at the top of each hour, followed by behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with Elvira.
Highlights of the 2013 “Elvira’s Sinema Seance” will include a seven-minute mini horror movie parody featuring Elvira, created for the show Scary Farm.
The “Elvira XXperience” will offer a full screening of the comedy variety show from its final season at Knott’s in 2017.
“I hope we can have that last show at midnight, so it’s kind of like a midnight movie,” Perez said.
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The walls of the Knott Theatre will be lined with exhibits from every Elvira show from 1982 to 2017, and Mistress of the Dark photo ops will be available throughout the event.
Knott also dug into Elvira’s archives for memorabilia from the past four decades of her career and history at Scary Farm.
Elvira’s Macabre Mobile will be making its way to Knott’s from Las Vegas. Her famous chaise longue and candelabra will also be on display, along with other show props and vintage merchandise.
Knott’s is also trying to obtain Elvira’s signature Mistress guitar from BC Rich and an Elvira pinball machine, which may or may not happen.
“We’re working on things that we think would really surprise people,” Perez said.
Originally published:
California Daily Newspapers
