There have long been whispers, coming from the castle; from the village square; from the dark woods.The great lady-a countess, from one of Europe’s oldest families-is a vicious killer. Some even say she bathes in the blood of her victims.
When the king’s men force their way into her manor house, she has blood on her hands, caught in the act of murdering yet another of her maids.
She is walled up in a tower and never seen again, except in the uppermost barred window, where she broods over the countryside, cursing all those who dared speak up against her.
Told and retold in many languages, the legend of the Blood Countess has consumed cultural imaginations around the world. But despite claims that Elizabeth Báthory tortured and killed as many as 650 girls, some have wondered if the Countess was herself a victim- of one of the most successful disinformation campaigns known to history.
So, was Elizabeth Báthory a monster, a victim, or a bit of both? This book traces the Countess’s downfall, bringing to life an assertive woman leader in a world sliding into anti-scientific, reactionary darkness-a world where nothing is ever as it seems, revealing just how far we will go to destroy a woman in power.
The Blood Countess: Murder, Betrayal, and the Making of a Monster by Shelley Puhak is published on 17 February, 2026.
This is one of more than 220 historical books published this year which are summarised in Historia’s Books to look out for feature.
