Elizabeth moved to the smaller of the two family seats, Csejthe, a castle in the barren foothills of the Carpathians. Like any aristocrat of the period, Elizabeth had to throw herself into the work of organizing the running of the household, arranging repairs, ordering supplies and disciplining the servants. It was the latter that she soon found she enjoyed the most. Not content with the occasional beating for misbehaviour, Elizabeth punished her female servants for the slightest misdemeanor, sticking needles through their lips and under their fingernails. Her acts of sadism annoyed her mother-in law Countess Ursula, yet there was little she could do about it. To avoid arguments , Elizabeth practised her more perverse rituals inside her own bedchamber. She had these on visits to her aunt Klara Bathory, a lesbian nymphomaniac and self-confessed witch. A life of self-indulgence had made Klara inventive, and Elizabeth was soon playing a leading role in sadomasochistic orgies spiced with hints of Satanism and Witchcraft. Elizabeth found that she particularly enjoyed biting and pricking large-breasted blondes. At Castle Csejthe, she continued her hobby in the privacy of her bedchamber, tying up the servants who caught her fancy and torturing them for hours at a time.

Every now and then, Ferencz would return from his duties and would take Elizabeth on trips to Vienna, dancing all night and socializing with Europe's wealthiest aristocracy. It was during these trips that Elizabeth managed to conceive four children. Soon after Elizabeth took control of the castle, Countess Ursula died of natural causes. Without Ursula's disapproving eye, she could indulge her interest in black magic. A servant woman called Dorottya Sventes- or Dorko- became her aide and magical mentor. Dorko had been wet nurse to Elizabeth's first child Anna, and had a comprehensive knowledge of Carpathian folk magic. She also encouraged her mistress's sadistic tendencies, since becoming a partner in crime increased her power and influence. At all events, it seems clear that Ferencz rather approved of his wife's sadism, feeling that it improved her quality as a housekeeper. Cruelty is addictive, and with her husband away for months at a time, Elizabeth had no other way of keeping herself amused. She constructed a torture chamber in an abandoned wing of the castle, where no one could hear the screams. All Elizabeth's accomplices were lesbian or bisexual- the only man admitted into her confidence was her steward, a dwarf named Janos Ulvrari. A man servant was also responsible for the hiring of attractive girls from surrounding villages, but he was not allowed to see what happened to them.

Elizabeth's appetite by now was so overwhelming that she had no time in having each maid dragged down to the cellar almost as soon as she arrived; instead she was stripped naked and cut with razors or burned with red hot pincers. Then in a state of fevered excitement, Elizabeth would seize a whip or rod and flog until her frenzy reached a climax and subsided. This must be repeated several times. Even when physically exhausted, she enjoyed watching as her servants took over. In 1604 Ferencz became ill while on leave, and died within days. Elizabeth -now 44- was saddened by his death but not devastated. After only four weeks of mourning, she began to attend the court and, and let it be known that she was in search of a new husband, or at least a lover. Unfortunately, the years had not been kind to her. Self-indulgence had lined her face, and wrinkles were creasing her mouth and eyes. Although still beautiful, she was distinctly faded, a rose whose petals were about to fall. The solution came by accident and it was to mark Elizabeth's graduation from torturer to murderer. One day, while beating a maidservant Elizabeth punched her on the nose. The cartilage broke, sending a spurt of blood across the countess's face and arms. When she washed it away she noticed that the skin where the blood had been was now tighter and more youthful.

For a woman who believed in magic the conclusion to her was obvious. Her complexion had improved because a young girl's blood was full of the spirit of life. Blood was clearly an elixir of youth. And if nature was going to steal her youth, then she would take it back from others. From then on, killing became a ritual. As the blood would seep onto the stone floor, Elizabeth would smear it all over herself; the smell seemed to make her drunk. She would kneel by the victim, tearing at the flesh with her teeth, sucking at the wounds. Dorko and the servants would hasten up to scoop up the blood in cups; but it had to be used quickly, before it coagulated. Soon one victim was not enough. When they could be procured, two or even three naked girls would be stretched out on the floor and bled at the same time. The Countess' most intense pleasure was to see blood actually pumping as it came out of the arteries; sometimes it would be ankle deep. On one of her trips to Vienna Elizabeth heard of a new torture device. It consisted of a cage, lined on the inside with spikes and blades. She immediately ordered one and had it installed in the cellar of her townhouse. It hung from the ceiling by a chain. The victim would be forced to stand inside, and as she tried to keep her balance as it swung, Dorko would prod her with a stick or hot poker. Elizabeth would stand below, her face upturned to the blood that dripped down like rain from the eaves.

When old games grew stale, new ones were invented. For a while, Elizabeth made use of an iron maiden, a human-shaped coffin painted to resemble a woman, the lid studded with spikes. Girls were placed inside and the door closed slowly, the blood ran out of the base and was collected. When the gore began to clog up the hinges, it was abandoned. Finally Elizabeth would actually bathe in blood. Two or three girls would be butchered over the bath so that the blood would still be warm when the countess stepped into it. Seated there, she would scoop it up in handfuls and rub it into her skin, gazing intently for signs that it was restoring her youthful complexion. These rituals continued on and although Elizabeth thought no one knew about them, rumours began circulating and her future looked uncertain. During Christmas 1610, Elizabeth played hostess to some of the most distinguished people in the land, including king Matthias, Count Megyery and her cousin Count Thurzo. And during the celebrations, her cousin confronted her with the accusations that were being made against her. She denounced them as malicious gossip. Eventually Thurzo seemed convinced, and when he and the other guests left, Elizabeth must have sighed in relief. That night, three girls were taken down to the cellar.

Unfortunate for Elizabeth, the Count and his companions- Megyery, and a judge named Cziraky - had only gone as far as the next village. There they gathered evidence that left them in no doubt about Elizabeth's guilt. That night -December 30, 1610- they returned back to the castle with a detachment of foot soldiers. No one was expecting them, and they were able to enter unopposed. Inside the torture chamber, they found one dead girl hanging by her wrists; her breasts were cut, and her mouth swollen and bleeding from severe burns. On the floor beside her lay the other girl whom Elizabeth had attacked that night. She was still alive, though barely. In an adjoining set of rooms, they found girls chained ready to be tortured. Many were half-mad with confinement and terror. They told stories of being fed on human flesh. The delegation quickly located and arrested Elizabeth, and while searching through her possessions, Thurzo found a baby skin curse, with his name freshly written on it, as well as those of the king, Megyery and Cziraky. There was also a small notebook which contained the names of every girl whom Elizabeth had killed- the total came to 610. Dorko and her helper were sentenced to have their fingers torn out with red hot pincers, before being thrown and tied onto a bonfire. The sentence of life imprisonment had been passed on Countess Bathory. Stonemasons had already been to Castle Csejthe, and they walled up the windows and doors of the Countess' bedchamber, with the Countess inside, leaving only a hole through which food could be passed. Erzsébet Bathory survived in her dark prison for four years. The last years of her life must have been horrific, confined to total darkness for 24 hours a day, unable to do anything but sit or lie in the dark.