One day while one of her female servants was combing her long black tresses the brush got snagged pulling on her hair.This infuriated the Countess. She hit the young girl so hard Elizabeth's hand was splattered with the girls blood. Afterwards she noticed that the skin that had come in contact with the girls blood looked more vibrant and younger. This lead her to begin to bathing in the blood of young women in order to retain her radiance and beauty that was now beginning to fade.
With the help of a few of her closest servants she was able to carry out her cruel and sadistic blood soaked tortures. Some of the people who helped were her nurse Ioona Joo, her maid Darvula and a male servant named Johannes.
Most of the tortures were cared out in the dungeon of her castle. Aside from the more commonly known iron maiden she also had some specially designed torture machines. She would often throw women in a spiky cage which hung from the ceiling. As it spun around her victims would be thrown into the spikes of the cage, tearing their flesh and sending down a shower of blood for the Countess to bathe under.
She would often torture women for days and sometimes weeks before killing them. They were then drained of their blood so she could bathe in the warm fresh blood of her victims.
In addition to being whipped, slashed and bitten she also subjected these girls to other cruelties. Some were covered with honey and left out in the forest to be preyed upon by insect and wild animals. In the winter others were taken out to the court yard and turned into frozen statues as her servants poured buckets of icy water on them.
Most of the women Countess Bathory killed were servants and young peasants girls. Eventually she started killing women of higher status. This eventually lead to the discovery of her blood thirsty crimes.
On New Year's Eve in 1610 her dungeon of blood laced torture was discovered along with numerous dead bodies and some victims not yet dead. Her wealth and status kept her from being charged or executed for her crimes. Although her accomplices were put to death. Bathory was walled up in a desolate room of her castle. Four years after her imprisonment began she died.
Elizabeth Bathory was believed to have killed approximately 650 young women. She is know as one of histories most violent and bloody killers, A Vampire who found youth and beauty in the blood of the innocent. |
