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40 Fang-tastic Facts about the History of Vampires

Tim Flight October 24, 2019 26 min

Wiertz Museum - The Premature Burial — The Premature Burial by Antoine Wiertz, 1854. Wikimedia Commons

21. Elizabeth Bathory probably didn’t bathe in blood, and no one thought she was a vampire until recently

Countess Elizabeth Bathory aged about 25, contemporary copy of a 1585 Hungarian original. Wikimedia Commons

You’ve heard of the Blood Countess, right? The one who bathed in the blood of virgins every night? Well, have you heard of the wealthy Hungarian widow slandered by her male relatives to steal her property and money? Indeed, there is no real evidence that Elizabeth Bathory (1560-1614) ever killed anyone, let alone bathed in their blood. But the legend of a mad woman trying to achieve eternal beauty in her mighty castle soon entered folklore. And that’s precisely where writers of vampire fiction in the 19^th century found it. Until then, no one ever called her a vampire.

Written by

Tim Flight

I am a freelance historical and literary writer based in West Yorkshire, UK. I read for a funded PhD in English at the University of Oxford (Magdalen College) and graduated in 2016. I am a former lecturer in Medieval English Literature at Royal Holloway, University of London. My publications include peer-reviewed articles in academic publications, and pieces in mainstream magazines such as History Today and Fortean Times. For more information, please see www.drflight.co.uk