Cited as one of the first vampires in history, Elizabeth Bathory, also known as the "Bloody Countess", tortured and killed between 100 and 650 girls in 1590 until 1610. The Hungarian noblewoman is known as the most prolific, not to mention most sadistic, female serial killer of all time. Her childhood and family may have played a role in the person she later became. The torture methods used were gruesome and unorthodox, and many myths arose from his alleged actions. It's now impossible to figure out where fact ends and fiction begins in her story, but the legend of Elizabeth Bathory lives on. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Elizabeth Bathory was born on August 7, 1560 to a Protestant family that was one of the most powerful families in Hungary at that time. Her father, Baron George Bathory, and her mother, Baroness Anna Bathory, were both Bathory at birth. Probably due to inbreeding within her family, Elizabeth is said to have suffered from seizures, loss of control and fits of rage from an early age. As a child, she witnessed her family's brutal punishments by officers on their estates. One tale is about a gypsy accused of theft who was sewn into the belly of a dying horse and left to die. Some of her family members were also disturbing, including an uncle who taught her Satanism and an aunt from whom she learned sadomasochism. (Medical bag)When Bathory was 11 years old, she was related to Ferenc Nádasdy from another Hungarian aristocratic family and when she was 15 years old they married and settled in Csejthe Castle. It is believed that Ferenc showed her some of his ways of punishing his servants, and to please her, he would build a torture chamber to her specifications. While Elizabeth was a loving mother to her children, she was cruel to her servants and handmaids. Elizabeth and Ferenc firmly believed in discipline. If a maid misbehaved or broke the law, she would be punished harshly, although it was not uncommon for Hungarians to degrade Slovaks, whom they saw as peasants and beneath them. Though somewhere along the way, the line between discipline and torture was blurred. (British) A common form of discipline taught to Elizabeth by Ferenc was something called star kicking. A maid was tied up and pieces of oil-soaked paper were stuffed between her toes. The documents were then allegedly set on fire, sending the maid into a frenzy, trying to put out the fires. The servant kicked until she saw stars, hence the name kicking star. (Historical Footage) Although her husband helped with the acts of torture, it was not until his death in the early 1600s that Elizabeth's true evil was realized. (Medical bag)She moved to one of her castles in Cachtice, in northwestern Hungary, which is now Slovakia, and began surrounding herself with servants to aid her in her torture practices. Legend has it that one day a maid was brushing Elizabeth's hair when she accidentally pulled too hard and it tore out a knot in her hair. The countess exploded in anger, jumped up and hit the girl with the back of her hand. The blow was so strong that it made the girl bleed and some of that blood remained on Elizabeth's hand. Later that night, Elizabeth noticed that the skin on her hand where the blood had been shed looked younger than she had seen it in many years. This gave her the idea that if such a small amount of blood could make her hand look like that.