History, both modern and ancient - has been rife with bloody legacies and murderous malintent
- mysterious figures shut away from the rest of the world in lofty, crumbling keeps - or
notorious bandits that plague the highways and byways of a brave new world, preying on
unsuspecting passers by and loot filled stage coaches.
The majority of folklore, European folklore especially, is derived from these very tales
- and the blood soaked pages of ancient history are a mortal reminder of the depraved depths
of the human mind.
So, let’s take a look, shall we?
Hello horror fans - and welcome back to the scariest channel on YouTube - Top 5 Scary
Videos.
As per usual, I’ll be your horror host Jack Finch - as today, we brush off the dusty old
tome - and take a look at the Top 5 Scariest Historical Serial Killers.
Roll the clip.
For the curious amongst you, that clip was from the legendary 1971 hammer horror flick,
Countess Dracula starring Ingrid Pitt - because, you know - we should all pay homage to our
history, right?
I guess so.
Well, either way - it segues nicely into our first point.
Oh, and also - I almost forgot.
What better way to do a historical serial killers video - than with my favourite historical
fork wielder of all time - Lucy McPhee!
What’s up Luce.
Kicking off at Number 5 - Elizabeth Bathory
Born Countess Elizabeth Bathory de Ecsed on the 7th August 1560 - Elizabeth was a Hungarian
noblewoman from the renowned Hungarian family of Bathory, that through her time on this
Earth - earned herself the macabre title of The Blood Countess.
Move over Vlad the Impaler - because this Countess was a much more terrifying Dracula.
Her span of crimes are alleged to have reigned from 1590 - to several years before her death
in 1609.
Purportedly, the Blood Countess was responsible for the deaths of over 650 people - and the
stories of her serial murders and savage brutality were verified by the testimony of over 300
witnesses and survivors of her murderous campaign.
Born to father Baron George VI and her mother, Baroness Anna Bathory - Elizabeth was of incredibly
high status in European aristocracy.
During her childhood, multiple sources corroborated that Elizabeth suffered multiple seizures
that caused epilepsy, which possibly stemmed from the inbreeding of her parents.
One of the misaligned treatments for this was to rub the blood of non-sufferer’s on
the lips of an epileptic - which lead to the speculation that her ravenous murders were
an effort to cure her illness.
Allegedly, her frenzy for blood even led her to soak in bathtubs filled with the blood
of virgins to keep her young.
Elizabeth Bathory died in 1614 - after being apprehended for her crimes in 1610, where
she was locked in a tower at Cachtice Castle, Slovakia until her death.
Coming in at Number 4 - Peter Stumpp
Otherwise known as The Werewolf of Bedburg, it seems that European history had a habit
of tying murder and sorcery into one neat little package.
Born Peter Stumpp sometime in the early 1500’s, The Werewolf of Bedburg was a German farmer,
in what previously made up The Holy Roman Empire.
He stood accused of lycanthropy, witchcraft and cannibalism, and allegedly, throughout
his murderous span of crimes, he was responsible for the deaths of over 18 victims.
Little is known about Peter Stumpp, but as chance would have it - the few scraps of information
that we do know about him was rediscovered in 1920 by renowned occultist Montague Summers,
who we covered in our recent Occultist’s video.
Stumpp also operated under the alias Abal Griswold, and his gruesome campaign spanned
from 1564 to 1589.
After his capture, Stumpp was witness to one of the most lurid and famous werewolf trials
in history - and after being tortured on a rack, he confessed to having practiced black
magic since the age of twelve.
In his confession, he claimed that the Devil had given him a magical belt that enabled
his metamorphosis into a great, hulking wolf.
His crimes had been undiscovered for twenty five years - and he confessed to eating fourteen
children - as well as two pregnant women and their unborn babies.
Even more terrifying, he admitted to murdering and consuming his own son - whose brain he
was reported to have devoured.
Grim.
Next up at Number 3 - William Burke and William Hare
If you ask anyone worth their salt about European history, they’ll tell you that the Burke
and Hare murders were some of the most calamitous crimes on record.
So much so, that they’ve even got their own feature film starring Simon Pegg and Andy
Serkis.
Who knew?
William Burke and William Hare were both Irishmen who later travelled to Scotland to work on
the construction of the Union Canal - where they met and quickly became friends, earning
a reputation for their boisterous behaviour and hard-boiled opportunism.
Well, as chance would have it - the pair quickly learned that they could make a decent living
by selling human cadavers to Medical Professors for dissection in anatomy lectures.
But these cadavers quickly came in high demand, and the shortage of corpses led to the duo
becoming body snatchers - or the better title, Resurrection Men.
When those ran out - the only thing left was for Burke and Hare to commit the murders themselves,
and thus began a killing spree that would take the lives of 16 innocent victims.
Hare and Burke would lure their victims, often women, to drink with them and ply them with
alcohol until they passed out - where they’d suffocate them before shipping their bodies
to Robert Knox, a medical professor who would pay them handsomely for their violent services.
In the end, William Hare was granted immunity from prosecution, after turning kings evidence
and confessing to his part in all 16 murders.
Burke was tried and sentenced to death, where he was hanged - and his corpse was dissected.
His skeleton was displayed at the Anatomical Museum of Edinburgh Medical School, where
it remains to this day.
Talk about poetic justice.
Coming in at Number 2 - Thug Behram
And a criminal who was so notorious, that he is often cited as the most prolific serial
killer in history - after being connected to up to 931 murders between 1790 and 1840
in Central India.
Thug Behram, who was born in 1765 - was also known as Buhram Jemedar and the King of the
Thugs.
Alongside his Thuggee cult, Behram was so notorious - that the English word Thug is
actually derived from the Hindi word Thag - which roughly translates to mean swindler
and deceiver.
So the next time you call someone a Thug, know that the crimes of this man are responsible.
Thug Behram’s modus operandi was to use his ceremonial rumal that he had sewn a large
medallion into - which is a Sikh head cloth similar to a bandanna - and use it as a makeshift
garrote to execute his killings.
After his capture, a man named James Paton of the East India Company was the officer
overseeing his trial - and quoted Thug Behram as saying that he had only been present at
931 murders - and would only admit to strangling 125 men with his own hands, and being witness
to 150 more.
Which - I don’t know, at that point - you may as well just admit to it all.
And finally - at our Number 1 spot - Catherine Monvoisin
And - whichever way you spin this story, one thing is for certain - Catherine Monvoisin
lived an incredibly interesting life.
So much so that she’s been depicted several times in film and television, and even has
her own manga partially based on her life.
Also known by her notorious nickname as La Voisin, Catherine was born some time in 1640,
and was a French fortune teller, commissioned poisoner - and professional practitioner of
alleged sorcery.
Her criminal legacy was so profound - that she worked her way to the top of a network
of fortuner tellers in her native Paris, who provided poisoning services, aphrodisias,
abortions - and the arrangement of Satanic black masses with infamous clients among the
French aristocracy.
Her criminal network, black magic and poisonings - are suspected to have killed anywhere between
1000 and 2500 people.
La Voison’s rise to infamy began after her husband became financially ruined, and so
she turned to chiromancy and fortune telling to support her family.
She was so skilled in these arts, that eventually - she developed a network of criminal intrigue
that was so prolific that it engrained itself in the French monarchy.
Eventually though, it all came to an end - and on the 17th February 1860 - La Voisin was
put on trial and convicted of witchcraft, where she was burned at the stake two days
later.
I guess in the end, crime doesn’t pay.
Well - there we have it horror fans - what do you think?
Let us know your thoughts about this video in the comment section down below.
Before we depart though, let’s do what we’re best at - and have Lucy and I read out some
of your more creative comments from over the past few days.
First up, Ghost TV 3016 says -- If you could be any SCP, which one would it be?
Next up, All powerful Lord Twego Hashirama calls no justu says -- Love these videos,
I bingle listen at work all the time.
Can I get a shout out?
No youtuber ever has when I ask.
-- Well, we can do you one better buddy - and you can get a shout out from the two of us.
That’s a - eh - a pretty lengthy name though buddy.
We’ll just call you AJ.
Unfortunately folks, that’s all we’ve got time for in today’s video - cheers for
sticking around all the way until the end.
If you were a fan of this video, make sure to hit that thumbs up button, as well as that
subscribe bell - and we’ll be seeing you in the next one.
As always, you’ve been watching Top 5 Scary Videos - she’s been Lucy McPhee, I’ve
been Jack Finch - and until next time, you take it easy.