Who was Elizabeth Bathory? The most murderous woman in the history of the world, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. This Hungarian countess, who flourished in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, tortured and killed anywhere between 50 and 650 young women for pure pleasure. She reportedly bathed in their blood to keep herself young and sexy, watched them freeze to death for fun, and was allegedly one of the inspirations for the character Dracula.

These Elizabeth Bathory facts are just part of this intriguing woman's story. The real life of Elizabeth Bathory included her role as an incredibly rich and powerful noblewoman in Hungary/Transylvania. She was the niece of a king, mother of a secret love child, and a sexually adventurous dame who also happened to enjoy torturing women. Well-educated, she spoke several languages and spawned hundreds of gory legends that persist until this day.