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| Blood bath | |
| Classification: | Miscellaneous |
| Associated franchises: | Dracula |
| Associated programs: | American Horror Story Penny Dreadful |
| Character examples: | Delphine LaLaurie; Elizabeth Bathory; Evelyn Poole |
A blood bath is the process of bathing in human or animal blood. This grotesque practice is most commonly attributed to the historical figure of Elizabeth Bathory, who was a Hungarian countess and serial killer who lived from 1560 to 1614. Bathory believed that she could maintain eternal youth and beauty by bathing in the blood of virgins. Clearly, virgin blood was not something that people would give up willingly, so he had to cultivate her desires through acts of murder. It is unclear exactly how many people contributed to Bathory's bathing rituals, but it is believed that hundreds of young women lost their lives between 1585 and 1609.
In the remake/sequel film Fright Night 2: New Blood, the character of Gerri Dandridge was actually Countess Dracula, and maintained a giant pool of blood in her castle in Transylvania. Her needs were a bit more intricate than Elizabeth Bathory as she required the blood of a virgin who was born at midnight on the night of a blood moon. Bathing and consuming this blood would have enabled her to maintain her vampire powers, while also allowing her to walk in the sunlight. To this end, she captured Amy Peterson, who fit the parameters she required. However, Gerri was defeated by the efforts of Amy's boyfriend, Charlie Brewster, and reality TV star Peter Vincent.
In the season three story-arc of American Horror Story named "Coven", an 18th century French Creole woman named Delphine LaLaurie would smear blood on her face, believing that it would wash away wrinkles and excess fat. She likely bathed in blood as well, though this was never shown.
On the Showtime television series Penny Dreadful, a witch and medium named Evelyn Poole, aka Madame Kali, would bathe in a tub of human blood. She was even known to smoke while bathing, and would douse her cigarette out in the tub.
It is said that the DC Comics cult leader Joseph Blackfire would bath in blood in order to prolong his lifespan. Whether this is true or not is unclear, but what is known is that at the time of the "Cult" event, he was known to be over a century old though he had the appearance of a middle-aged man.
The character of Lady Death, who became veritable death goddess, was also known taking baths in pools of blood.
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- Blood bathing and Bathing in blood both redirect to this page.