The Woman Who Drank Blood

@Lolaze (5093)
St. Louis, Missouri
May 8, 2016 6:23pm CST
Most of us have heard of Dracula and his historical influence Vlad the Impaler, but how many have heard of an infamous figure who was called the Blood Countess?  This evil monster abducted and killed young virgins from the villages surrounding her castle and bathed in their blood to preserve her youth.  There were rumors that these abducted women were also cut, burned, mutilated, and tortured with needles before being bled to death as well.  It was only when the evil Blood Countess began to set her sights on prey in higher society. Elizabeth Bathory was a Hungarian countess who was in charge of running and defending the family castle and lands while her husband, Ferenc Nadasdy, was away in battle.  Her husband returned from battle sick with some unknown illness and died after a long and painful illness.  It was after his death that rumors began to swirl about horrible acts Bathory committed in regards to young women sent into her care and in relation to peasant girls from the nearby village whom had gone missing and were never found.  Perhaps her husband's death caused something in her mind to snap, or maybe simply got less careful after his death as she felt she no longer had to hide her atrocities from anyone. The story, as it goes, is that one day the Countess slapped one of her maids in a fit of rage.  A large ring on her hand cut the girl's cheek in the process and her blood splattered onto Bathory's face.  When she went to the mirror to wipe away the blood, the Countess seemed to think her skin where the blood had touched looked more youthful.  From that, she quickly went from rubbing blood on her face to bathing in the blood of virgin girls.  Her victims were servant girls and those snatched from the nearby villages she ruled over, at first.  Later she moved on to murdering and bleeding the daughters of minor nobility who were sent to her to learn the etiquette of being a lady. That would be what lead to her eventual downfall.  While fellow nobility were able to overlook the horrors she committed upon the peasant population, they couldn't turn a blind eye when it was directed at their own class.  Bathory was arrested and King Mathias originally wanted her to be sentenced to death, but other nobles convinced him it would cause too much of a scandal.  She was instead, upon being found guilt, walled up in the bedroom of a castle with only a small slot open to provide her with food.  She died there after four years and was eventually buried in the family crypt.
3 people like this
6 responses
@ricki_911 (21626)
• Toronto, Ontario
8 May 16
We learn something new everytday. But do we actually know this is fact?.
1 person likes this
@Lolaze (5093)
• St. Louis, Missouri
8 May 16
There are numerous accounts backing this up. There are also a few though saying she is a victim of false propoganda though.
@Deepizzaguy (93615)
• Lake Charles, Louisiana
8 May 16
Thank you for sharing the story of the Blood Countess. I get chills just thinking about someone who drinks blood just to stay young. It sounds like a story that the late actor Boris Karloff would call a "Thriller."
1 person likes this
• United States
9 May 16
Yes I have heard of this. She was convinced that douing this would work, and very vain for thinking only of her beauty.
@IvySaysHi (4469)
• United States
8 May 16
I have heard of her but not ths much. Love the spookiness!
@puddleglum (1380)
• United States
9 May 16
I have heard of her. Hers is an interesting, often overlooked legend. If you like computer games, there is a pc game about her. You can read about it here.
Bathory: The Bloody Countess for iPad, iPhone, Android, Mac & PC! Explore the ruined castle once owned by the infamous Countess Dracula in this spine-chilling hidden object adventure!!
@polyxena (2628)
• Sturgis, Michigan
9 May 16
Us Hungarians are strange . My husband has a softspot for talking about Elizabeth Bathory