Elvira Returns to the Small Screen in Shudder’s ‘Elvira’s 40th Anniversary, Very Scary, Very Special Special’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Back in the day… Saturday Nights were quite the special affair for horror fans. Simply because that was when most local networks, offered up some kind of spooky themed programming. In some cases, they would just show a horror movie, or a horror show around midnight, such as a black and white classic like The Fly or Tales from the Darkside, while others… offered up hosted horror content. The kind where a local host would introduce a scary story and break it down for their viewers or offer commentary before breaking for a commercial and returning from one, and they added a special flair to the movie, the kind that Joe Bob Briggs keeps alive these days.
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But sadly, not every city had their own Bill ‘Chilly Billy’ Cardille or Svengoolie to entertain the masses when the sun went down, sometimes they had to rely on syndication to get their horror host fix and in my neck of the woods, the local midnight show carried Elvira’s Movie Macabre. A delightful horror show hosted by Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (aka Cassandra Peterson) and week in and week out, she’d provide fans with delightfully spooky films both modern and classic and offer up her majestic commentary along the way. But while her show went off the air in 1986, her star power never faded. Allowing for her to become the star of her own horror feature and outright become a pop culture icon as well, and as we approach the 40th Anniversary of Elvira’s arrival on television, the horror streaming service Shudder has figured out the perfect way to celebrate this momentous occasions and her contributions to horror.

In that, she’s getting her own special on the network, one that will feature a four-film marathon and well, here are all the details on Elvira’s triumphant return to television (and a promo for the show) … courtesy of Shudder.

‘Shudder, AMC Networks’ premium streamer for horror, thriller and the supernatural, welcomes the beloved Halloween queen of camp Elvira (Cassandra Peterson) for a one-night movie marathon event, Elvira’s 40th Anniversary, Very Scary, Very Special Special.  Joining Shudder’s annual “61 Days of Halloween” lineup, the special debuts Saturday, September 25 at 8pm ET in the US and Canada via the Shudder TV feed within the Shudder app and will also be released on demand to all Shudder platforms (US, Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand) and AMC+ beginning Monday, September 27. Similar to the cult classic, late-night television series Elvira’s Movie Macabre, which debuted in 1981, Elvira will lend her own blend of witty commentary to a horror movie lineup that includes Elvira: Mistress of the Dark, House on Haunted Hill, The City of the Dead and Messiah of Evil.
“It’s always tough turning 40, but what better way to mark the occasion than a one-night stand with Shudder, the spookiest of streamers? It’s going to be the ultimate Hallow-anniversa-ween bash, and you don’t want to miss it,” said Elvira.

“Elvira is a legend who’s been lighting up our screens and delighting fans for 40 years, and we’re honored to celebrate the ‘Queen of Halloween’s’ fantastic career milestone with her new ‘very special’ special, the perfect treat for Shudder members this Halloween season,” said Craig Engler, GM of Shudder.

Elvira’s 40th Anniversary, Very Scary, Very Special Special includes the following films:

Elvira, Mistress of The Dark (1988)
Upon arriving in a small town where she has inherited a rundown mansion, a famous horror hostess battles an evil uncle, and townspeople who want her burned at the stake.

House on Haunted Hill (1959)
William Castle's gimmick-laden horror thriller is a fairground fun house come to life. Vincent Price stars as a suave eccentric millionaire married to a beautiful and greedy gold digger. Together they are hosting a party in a sinister haunted house. Five guests are invited to spend the night and each will get $10,000--but only if they survive until morning. The doors are locked at midnight. Will you make it out alive?  

The City of the Dead (1960)
In this atmospheric classic, a professor (horror icon Christopher Lee) sends a student to Whitewood, Massachusetts, the site of 17th century witch burnings. Once there, she learns the satanic secrets that live on.

Messiah of Evil (1973)
A young woman goes searching for her missing artist father. Her journey takes her to a strange Californian seaside town governed by a mysterious undead cult. William Huyck & Gloria Katz's hypnotic, unsettling independent horror is a must-see gem.

So, as you can see, Elvira is returning to the small screen in style, with a show that suits her talents perfectly and we here at Nerds That Geek cannot wait to see her return to a style of show that she helped to take mainstream, when her 40th Anniversary celebration gets underway on September 25th, only on Shudder.

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