In the early 1980s, there was one woman who was the television authority on horror b-movies – Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. Her show Elvira’s Movie Macabre would showcase kitchy horror until 1986, and she eventually got her own movie, Elvira, Mistress of the Dark in 1988. For me, she was like a goth Barbie, which as a kid wasn’t an insult by any means. Her blood red lips, giant black hair and almost as enormous breasts were mesmerizing, and even to this day part of me wishes I had the guts to be a bit more Elvira. A mash-up of Cher, Siouxsie Sioux and Mötley Crüe video vixen, Elvira introduced many an 80s child and teenager to ridiculous classic horror films, and probably helped to fuel quite a few horror obsessions at the time. I was able to catch the later 80s reruns of the show and when my mom let me I was able to rent some of her home video series, Midnight Madness – the horror movies she featured were too cheesy for my mom to protest. Below is my tribute to one of my 80s idols, plus a few clips from her VHS series! Unpleasant dreams…
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