See Elvira Prescribe Netflix Horror Movies For Your Health
Elvira is back, this time on Netflix where she's prescribing horror movies as a way to cure the most common psychological ailments
This article is more than 2 years old
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark is getting her biggest platform yet to usher in the spooky season that she’s become so synonymous with.
This year, Elvira has teamed up with Netflix after apparently finishing her medical degree in order to present the weekly series Netflix and Chills with Dr. Elvira. In the first promotion for the show, which will drop every Sunday, the horror icon sits in her macabre office with a patient who is apparently seeking therapy for things like anxiety and worry about things both small and cataclysmic.
What’s the cure for such widespread worry? Well, according to Dr. Elvira, horror and thrillers are here to improve humanity’s wellbeing. She argues in the promo, that restlessness is caused by stress and fear, all things that the shock response from horror and thrillers vent out of people. When one watches a scary movie (or show), Elvira notes that it releases adrenaline, cortisol, and norepinephrine. This results in a mood boost and, in the end, results in a better mood. In short, she presents the somewhat medically supported argument that horror is good for your health.
And that’s the argument that Elvira will continue to make each Sunday as she runs Netflix audiences through the week’s offerings on the platform. Nerdist reports that part of the streaming giant’s monthly offerings include brand new horrors like There’s Someone Inside Your House, Fever Dream, Night Teeth, and Hypnotic. While promoting new horror films is obviously in the Mistress of Darkness’s wheelhouse, Elvira is known for her affinity for classic horror, so she’ll obviously be highlighting some of those offerings in the Netflix library as well.
The outlet reports that Elvira, whose real name is Cassandra Peterson, started playing the macabre Mistress of Darkness in 1991 as the host of B-horror movies in Los Angeles at local station KHJ. The role was small and humble, but she soon proved that her appeal was greater than Los Angeles. After becoming a staple at the Knott’s Berry Farm Halloween Haunt, she soon exploded into stardom by hosting more national horror roundups and even got her own DC Comics series. She was briefly a Coors Light mascot and even starred in her own movie as the character that’s now hosting Netflix’s entire spooky season.
She details her incredible journey to fame in her recently released memoir appropriately titled Yours Cruelly, Elvira. Among the many revelations about herself that came out in the book was the fact that she has been in a loving relationship with a woman, Teresa “T” Wierson, for almost 20 years.
According to The Advocate, Elvira explained that she initially thought her now-love was a man when she spotted her at Hollywood’s famous Gold’s Gym decades ago. When they had a chance encounter in the ladies’ room, they became platonic friends. However, after she ended her 25-year marriage to (singer turned her manager) Mark Pierson, she and Weirson reconnected.
Elvira explains that one night, Weirson showed up at her door in the rain after ending a long-term relationship herself. With nowhere to go, Elvira invited her into what was most likely her macabre residence where they helped each other through the difficult time, eventually turning romantic. Now it seems the Queen of Evil has a queen of her own to Netflix and Chill with during October’s Netflix and Chills month.
