Elvira... Mistress of the Dark

She's sexy... she's sultry... she's scandalous. She's the Queen of the Macabre. It's not hard to understand why the Mistress of the Dark has inspired the most popular Halloween costume of all time. Women ~ and a not-so-surprising number of men ~ have embraced the Elvira look ever since Cassandra Peterson introduced her cleavage-clad character more than 25 years ago. Peterson's professional entertainment career began at age 17, when she was hired as a Las Vegas showgirl. She thought she hit the big time when she got together with Elvis, but the King persuaded her to leave Las Vegas to pursue a singing career. "He didn't say Vegas was a bad thing, but that it was bad for me to stay there for the rest of my life," remembers Peterson. In the '70s she was a struggling actress doing guest roles on shows like Fantasy Island and Happy Days, and performing with the popular comedy group The Groundlings. When offered $300 to host horror films for the nationally syndicated television show Movie Macabre in 1981, Peterson jumped at the chance. The Valley Girl vampire wowed audiences with her tight slinky gown, large black wig, barely watchable horror movies, and well, you know the rest. Want the look? Here's how you can turn heads 360 degrees and be the life of the party this Halloween.