With a modern obsession with the macabre becoming more and more popular by the day, you’ve likely heard of this youth and beauty-obsessed countess of Čachtice Castle. The inspiration for modern renditions of vampirism, a murderess, one of the first female serial killers in documented history, Elizabeth Bathory, is constantly discussed in many circles.

With such a bloody history of torture and brutality, it’s almost difficult to believe anyone could be so cruel as the countess. Some historians today doubt the truth in the history we know of this horror story of European lineage, but we’ll let you be the judge of that. Let’s dive first into Bathory’s background, to understand where her penchant for violence started.