For hundreds of years, people all over the world have been fascinated by the mysterious tales of vampires. Although in the general public, the consensus is that no such creature actually exists, the fact remains that may not necessarily be accurate. Granted, vampires as we see them in the movies probably don’t exist. However, there do seem to be a few elements of truth sprinkled throughout the vampire legends.
Although many believe the concept of vampirism originated with a Romanian Prince by the name of Vlad Tepes – – more widely known as Vlad the Impaler – – he is not the only one associated with this folklore. It is, of course, widely accepted that Bram Stoker used Tepes as the basis for his character Dracula. Particularly since Tepes’s Romanian surname was Draculea, which loosely translates into Dracula. And there is certainly no denying that many the allegations associated with Vlad were damning. But to his people, he was considered somewhat of a hero; making it appear as though he had a kind of Jekyll and Hyde character.
Although impalement was believed to be the prince’s favorite form of execution, it was by no means the only torture in which he is said to have indulged. It also appears as if no one was exempt from his wrath. He supposedly thought nothing of torturing and/or killing men, women, or children and peasants or nobility alike. His methods were horrific employing such techniques as blinding, burning, mutilating his victims. Some believe that he also indulged in scalping, skinning, freezing and boiling people alive.
In truth, however, there were others just as merciless and just as depraved as Vlad himself. One of the most noted, and actually considered by many to be the first true vampire, was Countess Elizabeth Bathory. For those who don’t believe in vampires, there is still no denying that she reigns supreme as one of the most prolific serial killers of all time.
Born in 1560 to a Transylvanian family, Elizabeth was born into wealth and privelege. She was considered royality because she was related to King Steven Bathory of Poland. Coincidentally, it was Steven Bathory who was responsible for Vlad Tepes regaining his throne and thereby giving the prince enough power to indulge in his peculiar depravities.
As was often the case in those time, Elizabeth was married off at a young age. At 15, she was literally handed over to another member of royalty. His name was Count Ferencz Nasdasdy. The 26 year-old-man decided to take her surname and add it to his own. This allowed the countess to keep her family name, which ranked higher in nobility than that of her husband, the count.
The couple took up residence at Castle Csejthe, deep in the Carpathian Mountains of Transylvania. But the count was rarely home. He spent most of his time away fighting in one skirmish or another. Elizabeth, therefore, quickly became bored until she discovered some new interests. First, her major domo introduced her to the occult in general. Next, her aunt taught her how to torture and maim those servants, or others, that displeased her. She used the black arts to justify her actions and indulged in her new found torture techniques as a means to while away her lonely hours.
One of her favorite pastimes was the torture of her husband’s debtors and her own servants. She chose these individuals because they were readily accessible as well as prone to give in by virtue of their status. Using silver claws, she would pull and tear at sensitive parts of their bodies. When she tired of that, she would whip her subjects, not on the traditional back, but on the front of their bodies. This allowed her to view the horror and pain as she inflicted it. When her husband died in 1600, Elizabeth escalated her sick pastimes even further.
The countess was known to be extremely vain. Although she considered herself to be quite beautiful, most did not view her the same way. Perhaps the old adage that “beauty is only skin deep” applies to how most people viewed Elizabeth. By this time, in her 40’s, she was extremely jealous of the youthful virginal beauty of her many maid servants. The more she surrounded herself with these young women, the more jealous she became; and the more cruel.
It is believed that Elizabeth’s final turn to the dark side occurred as the result of an innocent accident. One evening as one of her maid servants combed Elizabeth’s hair, she inadvertently pulled too hard. Elizabeth, in a state of fury, back handed the young woman, drawing blood as her sharp ring scrapped against the girl’s delicate skin. She, of course, drew blood, which fell onto the back of her hand.
According to history, Elizabeth believed that she felt some kind of rejuvenation as the young girl’s blood spilled onto her hand. The countess rubbed the blood into her skin and supposedly received a kind of orgasmic reaction. Wanting to feel more and see how blood might affect the remainder of her body, the countess ordered her man servant to strip the maid, slit her throat, and drain her blood into a huge vat in which she could bathe.
In order to assure a constant supply of young girls for her, the countess put out an announcement among the peasants that she would take “selected” young ladies into her castle to work with her in a kind of finishing school atmosphere. Most families jumped at this opportunity for their young daughters thinking that this was a chance for their children to rise above peasant status to marry well. However, most families never saw their children again. Before long, the village cringed in horror whenever they saw the countess’s black carriage for it meant certain doom as a number of young women were rounded up; as many as 25 at a time.
For more than 10 years Elizabeth indulged in her atrocities. It is said that she invented more and more ingenious forms of torture for her victims who she caged and forced to watch as their peers died at the hands of the countess or her accomplices.
One night, in a fit of anger, Elizabeth bit one of her victims, drawing blood into her mouth. She discovered that she liked the taste and that added to the orgasmic feel of the entire ritual. From that time on, biting became a regular form of Elizabeth’s torture. At times, she would even catch the blood in her mouth as it drained from the victim’s throat into the bathing vat. It is even said, that she would bite into the throat the drain the blood into her mouth more quickly.
Although there were whispers and rumors floating about the countryside concerning the “goings on” at the castle, no real proof existed that authorities could use against the countess. And the truth is, as long as she only committed crimes against peasants, the authorities could easily turn a blind eye. However, as Elizabeth’s sadistic tastes became more blatant, she was no longer satisfied with just killing peasants. She wondered, if the blood of such insignificant mortals could give her power, what might the blood of nobles bring?
Switching her attentions from peasants to nobility proved to be Elizabeth’s downfall. One of her intended victims escaped, running home to tell the tale of Castle Csejthe. As luck would have it, Elizabeth’s cousin happened to be the governor to the province in which her home was located. He, after receiving orders from King Mathias of Hungary, paid a surprise visit to his cousin. He couldn’t believe what he found.
One dead victim still hung over the vat where the countess bathed, her blood slowly draining in preparation of Elizabeth’s next ritual. Another girl was located nearby. She had already been tortured and was said to be half out of her mind. Her body was pierced with holes, burned in spots, and showed evidence of human teeth marks. In the dungeon, the governor found dozens of other girls, some of which had also been tortured and many of which were catatonic with fear. Further investigation, led authorities to believe that the countess might have been involved in the death of as many as 600 to 700 young women.
Although a formal trial was held, Elizabeth was never convicted of a crime. Because she was a member of nobility, she was considered above the law and could not put to death. While the King actively sought a way around the law, he eventually realized that he could not. So instead he had Elizabeth walled up in her bedroom. Every window and door was bricked shut. She was, in effect, buried alive inside her own home. Although guards passed food to her through a small opening, the countess never saw another human being during her confinement, nor did she ever again see the light of day. She died in 1614.
Most of Elizabeth’s accomplices were each beheaded and cremated after convicted of their crimes. Two of them, however, were not. They were charged with being witches and, following the policies of the day, burned alive for practicing dark magic.
Thus ended the reign of Hungary’s most notorious serial killer and perhaps the first true vampire. It is believed by some historical scholars that Stoker’s Dracula was a actually an amalgamation of Vlad and Elizabeth. Whether or not that is the case, we will probably never know. Perhaps it is just enough to realize that these types of individuals exist; not just hundreds of years ago, but even today.
In recent years, literature and film has tried very hard to move the image of vampires from evil to those who are merely misunderstood. However, I’m not certain they will ever be able to erase the horrific actions of people like Tepes and Bathory. And that is probably as it should be if we ever hope to protect future generations from today’s all too human monsters.
