Countess Erzebet Báthory

“The Bloody Lady of Čachtice, was a Hungarian countess who lived in the Čachtice Castle near Trenčín, in present-day Slovakia, relative of king of Poland and prince of Transylvania, Stefan Batory. She is considered the most infamous serial killer in Slovak and Hungarian history.

It is believed that Elizabeth Báthory tortured and killed an indefinite number of young women, though it is often cited as being in the hundreds, between the years 1585 and 1610.

Her initial victims were local peasant girls, many of whom were lured to Čachtice by offers of well-paid work as maids in the castle. Later she may have begun to kill daughters of lower gentry, who were sent to her castle by their parents to learn high society etiquette by the opportunity to attend a sort of ‘finishing school’.. Abductions seem to have occurred as well.

The Báthory case inspired many stories, featuring the Countess bathing in her victims’ blood in order to retain her youth. This inspired nicknames like the Blood Countess.”

Information from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Bathory Other Links: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A593084 http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/predators/bathory/countess_1.html