Remember when MTV was quirky and cool?

Well, it was. In fact, in 1984, MTV asked Elvira, the legendary Mistress of the Dark, to host a six-hour special on Halloween night.** That special was titled, "Elvira's MTV Halloween Party" and looking at it now, it seems so experimental, like the theater kids were let loose in a TV studio, and I mean that as a good thing.

Forces of Geeks writes:

Elvira was given a 6 hour programming block on Halloween night 1984 to show all the spooky music videos there were interspersed with her usual shenanigans. Not just that but the middle 2 hours of this was a showing of Night of the Living Dead (with a special, shot for MTV, intro by George Romero) which Elvira would pop up into now and then.

Watch in this video uploaded by YouTuber Rockula Presents as the campy queen of Halloween pimps her own merch, brings on special guests, and shares old black-and-white horror movie clips and many music videos -- ranging from The Specials' "Ghost Town" to Oingo Boingo's "Little Girls" (no, that isn't Peter Dinklage at the 8:19 mark) to The Residents' version of "This is a Man's World" and, of course, Bauhaus' "Bela Lugosi's Dead."

Also see her demonstrate the proper way to carve a Jack-o-Lantern, you know, with a chainsaw.

Other notable moments:

-- I believe that's John Paragon playing "Breather" (uncredited) at the 13:05 mark. You may remember Paragon was the actor behind Jambi, the genie of Pee-wee's Playhouse. Read the rest

Cassandra Peterson, the talented actress who has portrayed Elvira since television's 1981 Movie Macabre, is considering hanging up her wig! Ageism and sexism are things even horror movieshow hosts need to think about.

Via LA Weekly:

Though this year is being billed as her last time attending Comic-Con, she’s not sure if that will be the case. “I said it was going to be my last year when I was 40, when I was 50, when I was 60,” she says. “It’s not really my last Comic-Con, but it’s probably my last Comic-Con in Elvira drag, because really, how long do people want to see that?” she asks, half-joking.

“I do have to draw the line. I’m turning 65 this September, I’m trying to keep it together, I’m not sure how many years I can keep this working out,” she says, gesturing to her body. She’s worried about how she’s perceived — she doesn’t want to wear out her welcome.

“I don’t think women should have an expiration date, [but] unfortunately, some things don’t hold up as well as others, so there is a thing about playing a particular character — my character is based very much on the sexy, so continuing to try to be really sexy until you’re really old might not work,” she says. “Humor definitely takes the edge off of it, because if you’re self-deprecating, you can still be sexy, and it’s sort of OK, as long as it resonates that way with the fans.”