First published 2021
Cassandra Peterson opens her memoir with the accident that shaped everything. At 18 months old, she pulled boiling water onto herself in rural Kansas, leaving third-degree burns across 35% of her body. The scars made her feel like an outsider, drawing her to horror movies while other girls played with dolls. She fled home at 14, performed in Las Vegas showrooms by 17, and rubbed shoulders with Sinatra and Elvis. A pivotal meeting with Presley sent her to Europe, where she fronted an Italian pop band and appeared in films. Back in Los Angeles, she joined The Groundlings comedy troupe with Phil Hartman and Paul Reubens. At nearly 30, facing rejection as an aging actress, Peterson auditioned to host late-night horror movies on local TV. She improvised a campy, sexy character and landed the job immediately. Peterson chronicles her transformation from Midwest farm girl to Halloween's most recognizable icon with unflinching honesty about trauma, ambition, and reinvention.
Genres: autobiography, horror, memoir, biography-memoir
Vibes: emotional, intimate, suspenseful
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, underdog
Setting: Italy, Kansas, Las Vegas, Los Angeles
Period: 1970s, 1980s
284 pages · Hardcover · Grand Central Publishing
Content warnings: abuse