Elizabeth Báthory
She may have been a vicious female serial killer. It is impossible to know what  part of her story is fact and what part is fiction. Her gruesome legend has become a part of folklore. She is the central character in a number of books, plays and movies. As the "blood countess", she has often been compared to another fictional character, Count Dracula. Some scholars now argue that Báthory was not a murderer but instead may have been the victim of a political betrayal.