99 cents Sunday - Saturday I, BATHORY, QUEEN OF BLOOD

Countess Erzsebet Bathory was real. She is history's notorious 'Blood Countess.' A sexual sadist and mass murderer, she believed bathing in blood was the secret of eternal youth. She killed hundreds of serving girls in order to bathe in their blood, but she also enjoyed torturing them. She was a human monster of that there is no question. But what if she was turned into a vampire and thus became immortal? What then?

That is what this novel is about. Her creator and then lover, Anton, does just that. And so an immortal blood monster begins to stalk the world!

AN EXCERPT:

"For the first few years, my sole focus was on you. There was no one I wished to be with more. But then, in time, something began to happen, to take hold of me. My worst fear was realized, for now, after so many years, I once again wished to kill. Not for feeds either, but for pleasure. For torturous delight! All the old urges were returning and I found myself powerless to do anything about them. 

Once, when you left to visit Jacques, I gave in to those murderous desires! Your coven had followed him to Brussels so you left me in the care of Lucerne. “Take good care of her,” you told her, and she promised she would. How were you to know what would happen? When I told her how I longed to hunt for prey, she looked thrilled. 

She confessed she liked doing that although she had never done what I had. You see, Anton, I had told her who I’d been in life! You eventually found that out and nearly destroyed me for lying. But in time it became just one more lovers’ quarrel. I soon discovered something new. It was more fun acquiring prey myself. Nothing gave me more pleasure than getting my own victims! Sometimes I’d go to their homes and gain entrance by asking if I could come in. A lady in distress, they thought, poor gallant fools—and so they asked me in. 

In a matter of moments, they were drained. Once, Lucerne and I went through five adult males. Handsome they were, naked and drained..."

***

 5 stars! A blood-soaked rendition of the fictional life of a real-life multiple murderer, history's 'Countess Dracula'

5 stars! Vampires and blood baths!

Solid Gothic horror from Gill.

Amazon 

99 cents Nov 20-26

Bathory Primer

Countess Bathory's Castle ruins in Čachtice, Slovak republic

Countess Erzsebet Bathory

So who was this woman they called The Blood Countess? And why was there an edict passed that prohibited anyone mentioning her name for one hundred years after her death?

Erzsebet Bathory was born into a noble, titled family. They had power and knew how to use it. As I said in a previous blog post, this was no Golden Age of Elizabeth. There was rampant superstition not only among the general population but among nobles like Bathory, despite her impressive education.

To actually believe, as she did, that there were magical properties in blood that could ward off signs of aging, is the best indicator of her lethal superstition. Top that off with being a sexual sadist, add the element of absolute power to that, then consider because of that power, she had serving her, other sadists in her inner circle who were competing with one another in order to suggest more vicious methods of torture. Yes, the blood baths weren't enough there was the torture and sadism as well.

If the villagers thought their daughters were missing, they knew there was no redress. What does that mean? It meant they had to suffer in silence until it got so bad that her crimes were eventually discovered. And despite the King wanting her put on trial alongside of her 'helpers,' he did not get his wish. The point was made that it would besmirch the reputation of other noble families.

She married at age fifteen and was, I feel introduced to a very dark side of 'love' making by her husband Count Ferenc Nádasdy who took her name upon marriage as her family name was greater than his own.

She wanted children desperately and was from all accounts a very loving and good mother. I find that fascinating. Although I think she was the product of a peculiar family to say the least and a brutal age, I think had she been occupied solely by her children and in a loving marriage with a different sort of man she would not have killed as she did. Having said that, I wouldn't swear to it.

Back to Bathory:  her world was so unlike anything we can possibly relate to. Even given a different sort of lifestyle which might have included being from a different country and time, she'd still have been a mass murderer in my opinion. Had she not had absolute power, her crimes would have been less. Still, the sadism would have been there. Had she been a member of the general population (anywhere, any time) I think she still would have done horrible things and (hopefully) been discovered.

We'll never know of course but it is interesting to think about. Over the years, I have read a lot of books and even forensic psychiatric journals (a doctor friend of mine loaned me his medical library card)! I poured over them. Then I went on to read books written by F.B.I. profilers, writing about infamous serial killers like Ted Bundy. Why are there people like that and why are they so different? What's wrong, when did it go wrong, is it genes or is it environment? There are many opinions. Are such people 'born bad' or is that not possible?

The fact that there are such people is why I write horror. I am trying, I suppose, to understand human evil.

*~*

This is my book. I tell like it was. The only fiction is she becomes a vampire. But let's face it, she was pretty close to being a genuine vampire, don't you think? Still, existing for four hundred years as does in I, BATHORY, QUEEN OF BLOOD and but needing blood to drink also, is a pretty interesting premise to me!

AMAZON

99  cents from Feb 16 - 22

I Bathory, Queen of Blood is Coming Soon!

The blood-soaked tale of Countess Erzsebet Bathory will be out soon! Creativia Publishing has it. It was not an easy novel to write. She was a monster in real life with absolute power. The more I thought about her, the more of a challenge I knew I faced. I love challenges! 

How to do it was the thing. I knew I had to get into her skin completely, to see the world as she saw it, lived it and murdered in it. I worked on motivation and based her character on two things, insanity and deviancy, her motivation was, as I see it, jealousy and the young girls who served her paid the price. She was obsessed with her fading beauty, with the horror in the knowledge that she would one day be old. By the way, I did become Bathory as I use what I learned when I studied method acting many years ago. It gives realism to the character I've been told and it helps me write as well!

In modern terms we'd say she was a bipolar sexual sadist with complete power. She was free to do whatever she wanted and she did. Her family name was so highly regarded, her husband took it upon their marriage!

The fact that she never stood trial but was instead walled up in her castle, despite the king wanting her to be tried, speaks volumes as they say.

This is not the whole story as I've depicted it. More about that in another post leading up to publication, book cover, link--etc!

Stay tuned!

Update on Bathory Book!

Countess Erzsebat Bathory and her favorite mirror. The one she could lean on and study her face for any signs of aging. If only there had been plastic surgeons then! Upwards of 200 (figures vary) young women might not have perished!

You know about her, right? The quirky but 'fun' countess who had absolute power and could do whatever she pleased? Sadly, she had a penchant for bathing in blood. She thought it would help her to remain young-looking.

Sigh.

She was so rich and powerful, that her husband who was also rich and powerful, TOOK HER NAME!

To make a long story short (as they say), when I thought to write about Countess Erzsebat Bathory, I knew it would be a challenge. I like to get into my characters' skins, especially my main character. That is a left over from my having studied method acting many years ago, wherein you become your character.

I think she was jealous aside from wanting to remain youthful so I made her fly into 'red mist' rages, fuelled by insane, lethal jealousy. That was the motivation. That was when she kills. And she kills a lot!

I don't want to tell you more right now, I will in future posts. This book will go into the Creativia line up soon and I wanted you to know what to expect. You'll be reading a lot more about this!