Cassandra Peterson to Host Elvira-Inspired Transylvania Tour

October 23, 2022 John A. Hernandez

What if I told you that it was possible to explore one of the spookiest destinations in the world with Elvira, Mistress of the Dark? Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? Well, it’s not!

You now have an opportunity to travel to Transylvania with Craftours and Cassandra Peterson, the actress, and comedienne behind Elvira. Cassandra knows a thing or two about traveling as we discovered in her memoir Your Cruelly, Elvira: Memoirs of the Mistress of the Dark, currently out now in paperback. In the book, she discusses her travels around the world as an actress and rocker in Italy, her time on the road in the US with a traveling troupe of gay sketch comics, and her time in Romania filming Elvira’s Haunted Hills, which is where this unique travel opportunity comes into play.

(Photo of Cassandra Peterson by Alan Mercer)

In celebration of Elvira’s Haunted Hills, Cassandra Peterson and the film’s director Sam Irving are teaming up with Craftours to host a celebration of the beloved film in the country where it was made. In 2021, It was originally conceived as a 20th-anniversary celebration, but it was initially postponed due to the pandemic and then due to the conflict in Ukraine. The new dates for the excursion are May 6-14, 2023.

Highlights of the nine-day excursion include:

A tour of the spectacular Palace of Parliament with a local professional guide.
Tour and private dinner with Cassandra in Dracula’s Castle (Bran Castle)
Traveling through the scenic countryside of Romania
Panoramic city tour of Bucharest with a local professional guide
A visit to the UNESCO World Heritage village of Sighisoara
Visiting the Bran Village Museum to learn more about Romania’s history
Visiting the Liberty Bear Sanctuary to see bears in their natural habitat
Panoramic city tour of Brasov with a local professional guide
An optional cooking lesson with a professional Romanian chef
Special arts & crafts workshop with a local Romanian artist
Tour of Peles Castle, former Summer Palace of the Romanian Royal Family
A Craftours lanyard, luggage identifier, and Elvira’s Haunted Hills gift
Photography and autograph session with Cassandra Peterson
Q & A session with Cassandra and Sam

Bran Castle (Photo Credit: Jorge Fernandez Salas/ Unsplash)

Can you imagine having a private dinner with Cassandra Peterson in Dracula’s Castle?! We just had to sit down with the legendary actress and performer to discuss this once-in-a-lifetime tour, her book, and some of her favorite travel destinations.

Vacationer: Hello Cassandra! It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’ve read Yours Cruelly and can say, in all honesty, that it was amazing. It’s got everything – drama, intrigue, and a whole lotta laughs! Can you tell me about the new material that will be included in the paperback release?

Cassandra Peterson: Yeah! It was a lot of fun because we got to add more photos, which I really wanted to do. I had millions of photos I wanted to put in at the beginning, and I had to narrow them down to just the top 30 or whatever it was.

We added 32 images, not just photos, but things like a poem that I wrote in junior high that happened to be about spiders – so it’s kind of appropriate – and a few other things.

Very cool. One of the biggest revelations to come out of your book was your nearly 20-year relationship with your assistant Teresa “T” Wierson. What has changed for you since coming out last year and how has the reaction been from your fans and the public?

Cassandra Peterson: The reaction from my fans has been fantastic. In the very beginning a lot of people on my social media, I think something around 11,000 people, dropped me because they said I was disingenuous, hypocritical, things like that. So, they said goodbye, but I gained 60,000 new people. And that was just in the span of about a week! It was funny. My child said that would probably happen and it was true.

It’s been a real gigantic relief. It feels much better to be open with T and not have to act like she’s my assistant all the time.

Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (Photo courtesy of Cassandra Peterson)

I’m so relieved to hear that overall it was a good experience. In the book, you also detail the time you spent filming Elvira: Mistress of the Dark and the sequel Elvira’s Haunted Hills which was shot in Romania. I read that you would be hosting a trip out there to take a look at some of the filming locations. Is that still happening and are there still spots available to join you?

Cassandra Peterson: Yes! It’s filling up, but not sold out yet! It’s been disappointing because we had to postpone it twice already. First for the pandemic, then because of the war in Ukraine, because Ukraine borders Romania, and it was a little too close for comfort. We’ve now rescheduled it for the third time and I’m just hoping people aren’t getting disappointed.

I’m sure people understand that those postponements were out of your control.

Cassandra Peterson: Yeah, but we hope to make it work. I’m really excited about going there. I love Romania and had such a good experience filming Haunted Hills, and more recently The Munsters. I had a great time throughout the whole Transylvania region and at Dracula’s castle, in particular, which was fantastic. It’s like going back into that 15th century or something. It’s really beautiful.

Transforming into Elvira (Photo courtesy of Cassandra Peterson)

Ugh! It sounds amazing, definitely a bucket list-type excursion for fans of the macabre! But, besides Romania are there any other places you’d recommend to our readers?

Cassandra Peterson: Wow, funny you should mention that because I just got back from Greece and floating around all the different islands. Not all of them, of course, because there are a zillion!

Yeah, I went with T, my partner, and six friends, most of them gay, and we sailed around from island to island and swam and snorkeled and ate. It was fantastic. We went to one island called Poros and one called Paros, then Hydra, and Antiparos which was one of my favorites. They were all really small islands with not a lot going on and it was just wonderful. It was like being in a little village with the greatest food and the nicest people and the bluest waters. It was a really, really awesome vacation. We did not hit the big party islands like Mykonos or Santorini. We kind of stayed away from that.

Probably better or more private that way.

Cassandra Peterson: Yeah, it was much more private. We had our own boat that we were all on going from island to island. And I learned to swim! (Laughs) For the first time in my life! I learned to swim for the first time at 70 years old – first time!

That’s fantastic!! (laughs) And it really does sound like paradise.

Cassandra Peterson: It was. It really, really was.

Performing at Knott’s Scary Farm (Photo courtesy of Cassandra Peterson)

Well, speaking of leisure time, do you have any plans to retire Elvira?

Cassandra Peterson: Oh, I was just thinking about that today. (Laughs) I think about it every day. It’s so funny, you know, I started Elvira when I was 30. I said I was gonna retire it when I was 40. Then I said 50, then I said 60, then I said 70. (Laughs) And now I’m really going, OK? This is going too far. I gotta calm down here, you know?

I really have been thinking about, maybe hanging it up, at least the dress and the wig, but I think I’ll still be involved in Elvira as far as doing projects and doing books. I would love to do a documentary based on my book – those types of projects, and of course, merchandising and licensing. There are so many Elvira items out there. I think that could all go on without me dressing up in drag.

Absolutely! I’m just glad the world can look forward to more Elvira for years to come. Thank you so much for taking the time to chat, Cassandra. Wishing you safe travels and a very Happy Halloween!