{"id":151647,"date":"2025-08-16T23:02:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-16T23:02:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/151647\/"},"modified":"2025-08-16T23:02:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-16T23:02:12","slug":"elvira-and-thirteenth-floor-set-los-angeles-haunted-hayride-takeover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/151647\/","title":{"rendered":"Elvira and Thirteenth Floor Set Los Angeles Haunted Hayride Takeover"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tIt\u2019s been over four decades since Cassandra Peterson<\/a> first brought her sexy and sassy alter ego Elvira<\/a>, Mistress of the Dark to television screens, putting a bodacious spin on the movie mocking horror schtick popularized by Vampira and Sinister Seymour before her. On the classic 80\u2019s horror series Movie Macabre, based in Hollywood, her quip-filled cinematic commentary, campy California girl charm and prominent cleavage made her an immediate hit, garnering national syndication, a major motion picture and a fiendish fanbase that\u2019s endured to this day.<\/p>\n

\n\tElvira also became the face of Halloween via a partnership with Knotts Berry Farm in Buena Park, Calif. that included a thematic stage show and a myriad of merchandising. After a couple hiatuses, Peterson ended her relationship with Knotts for good last year, but it was far from a farewell to scary season celebrations for this beloved glamour ghoul.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI had been with Knotts for so long, it kind of ran its course,\u201d Peterson, 73, tells The Hollywood Reporter during an exclusive Zoom chat announcing her brand new partnership with Los Angeles Haunted Hayride<\/a> and its producer Thirteenth Floor Entertainment. \u201cI love Knotts, but I\u2019m really happy to partner with Thirteenth Floor because it was getting kind of repetitive. I\u2019m happy to inject some fresh, new energy into the character and into the things I\u2019m doing. It\u2019s very exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tElvira\u2019s Home Sweet Haunt at L.A. Haunted Hayride from Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group<\/p>\n

\n\tLaunched in 2009 by the Mark Cuban-backed Ten Thirty One Productions, the Hayride was acquired by Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group \u2014 known for putting on Halloween events across the country \u2014 in 2018. Peterson, who used to live in Los Feliz, Calif., says she took her daughter to the nearby haunt in Griffith Park every year. \u201cFor me, it\u2019s very special. It\u2019s one of my favorite L.A. attractions at Halloween. I\u2019m thrilled to be affiliated with such a cool event.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThirteenth Floor\u2019s CEO and founding partner Chris Stafford, also on the Zoom, reveals that Elvira will be injected into the narrative and lore of Haunted Hayride in a multitude of ways.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe kind of reworked the Hayride backstory in 2019,\u201d he explains. \u201cWe created the town of Midnight Falls and the interesting thing from a story standpoint, is that it\u2019s perpetually trapped in the 1980s. They\u2019re having their annual Halloween festival and the inhabitants are creepy, kooky and offbeat. It\u2019s sort of horror comedy-themed so Elvira was a natural fit.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe hayride component, in which guests pile into a slow-moving open wagon and roll through the depths and darkness of the park full of chilling sights, freaky props and scare actor encounters, changes a bit every year. For 2025, there will be \u201cFM radio-style\u201d audio programming dubbed \u201cElvira After Dark,\u201d with thematic playlists in between comical commercials as the host guides what guests will see next.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn addition to the ride, the event presents mazes and its most popular, called Trick or Treat, is being renamed \u201cElvira\u2019s Trick or Treat Mayhem\u201d featuring a facade of her new home in Midnight Falls. Also, one of the Hayride\u2019s most popular props, its creepy animal skeleton carousel, will have an Elvira-themed overlay featuring her dog Gonk, from the eponymous 1988 film.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019m a child of the \u201880s so Elvira has been a legend to me for many, many years,\u201d Stafford enthuses. \u201cWe couldn\u2019t be happier to work with her and her team. We\u2019re trying to breathe some new life into the brand and trying to do some different things because we share a fanbase, especially in the L.A. market.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tA vast yet close-knit community, especially on the West Coast, dark culture enthusiasts look forward to October every year, but these days they don\u2019t limit themselves to fall. Retailers like Bath & Body Works and Michael\u2019s stores now release items for \u201cSummerween\u201d and there\u2019s even a wicked August convention called Midsummer Scream, which Stafford says led to the new partnership. The con\u2019s executive director and co-founder David Markland is credited with introducing him to Peterson. The duo officially announced Elvira\u2019s Haunted Hayride alliance and activation plans today at the Pasadena event.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tA view of guests entering Los Angeles Haunted Hayride.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe haunt and Halloween fans are just rabid here so I think it\u2019s a great synergy,\u201d Stafford adds. \u201cThere will be unique retail opportunities for both of our fans, and experiential opportunities for people to escape from reality a little bit more this Halloween. I think we all need that and that\u2019s part of why it\u2019s as popular as it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tPeterson concurs. \u201cSince I started doing things for Halloween back in the dark ages, it has just grown and grown,\u201d she says. \u201dIt doesn\u2019t slow down. It\u2019s gotten to be such a big industry, it\u2019s encroaching on Christmas when it comes to spending money. And the nice thing is, everybody\u2019s shopping for themselves. It\u2019s almost like self-care. You buy things for yourself to wear, have fun and go to parties.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSpeaking of commerce, Peterson, who owns the rights to her character, which she created as part of the Groundlings comedy troupe in the early \u201880s before getting the KHJ-TV (now called KCAL) movie host gig, capitalized on Elvira\u2019s universal appeal early on. It turned her into a multi-million dollar business year-round. From clothing and jewelry to home decor, Elvira remains an alternative pin-up, popular with movie buffs and goth culture vultures alike. <\/p>\n

\n\tThirteenth Floor hopes to take advantage of the star\u2019s sales potential beyond the Hayride. \u201cThe retail element will involve exclusive merchandise that will only be available at Thirteenth Floor events, about 17 or 18 locations across the nation,\u201d Stafford shares. \u201cThese exclusives will reach all across our footprint.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn addition to new t-shirt designs and retro-style collectables, Peterson says she\u2019s excited about a new Elvira apron with a rendering of her famous low-cut black dress available as part of Thirteenth Floor\u2019s exclusive \u201cBaker\u2019s Bundle\u201d (featuring her new cookbook and other goodies).<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s really cute if you need a fast costume \u2014 just slap it on and you\u2019re good to go,\u201d she says, adding that Elvira\u2019s Cookbook From Hell (Hatchette), will be out worldwide in September. Featuring fearsome food and drink recipes alongside eerie entertaining ideas, it follows up her 2021 New York Times best-selling memoir, Yours Cruelly, Elvira.<\/p>\n

\n\tThough Peterson won\u2019t be there in the flesh every evening, she is scheduled to attend Haunted Hayride\u2019s media night in September and her spirit will be fully integrated into the experience. As the Thirteenth Floor team completes planning, Stafford doesn\u2019t want to give everything away, but he assures, \u201cthere will be a lot of different creative ways to interact with her.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cElvira has become a character that kind of transcends me,\u201d says Peterson reflecting on the cultural impact of the fearsome femme. \u201cHer image has become a part of Halloween. It\u2019s a little like Santa Claus is to Christmas, so it\u2019s something that can continue for years and years and years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tElvira.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCredit: David Goldner\/Courtesy of Subject<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s been over four decades since Cassandra Peterson first brought her sexy and sassy alter ego Elvira, Mistress…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":151648,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,88957,88958,88959,2961,224,5337],"class_list":{"0":"post-151647","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-cassandra-peterson","11":"tag-elvira","12":"tag-haunted-hayride","13":"tag-la","14":"tag-los-angeles","15":"tag-losangeles"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115040940849710158","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151647","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151647"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151647\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}