Rochdale actress and director writes Gothic horror play based on life of world's worst female serial killer

Countess

A Rochdale actress and director has written an ‘immersive’ Gothic horror play based on the life of the world's worst female serial killer. 

‘Countess’, written and directed by Amanda Fleming, is based on the tale of Elizabeth Báthory, an infamous Hungarian aristocrat, who has been described by the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s most vicious female serial killer.

According to legends and folklore, Báthory believed bathing in the blood of virgins would retain her youth. As a result, the Countess was accused of torturing and killing as many as 650 young women between 1585 and 1609.

She was arrested in 1610 alongside some of her servants, who were burned at the stake. Due to her status, Báthory wasn’t put on trial, but was walled in at Cachtice Castle (now part of Slovakia) where she died on 21 August 1614, aged 54.

Most accounts of her gruesome exploits were published long after her death, but Báthory’s life is thought to have had some influence on Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula. She was even portrayed by Rochdale actress Anna Friel in a 2008 historical drama horror film called Bathory: Countess of Blood.

Amanda first began directing in 2014, after her success at the Cannes Film Festival that year, where she starred as Hera in ‘Titans of Newark’, a 30-minute comedy about the Greek gods.

https://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/86662/local-actress-stars-in-film-to-be-shown-at-cannes-film-festival

She made her directing debut with ‘What a Drag’, a 30-minute short about the lifestyle of drag queens, followed by ‘Dear Boss’, a six-minute short with a twist about Jack the Ripper.

https://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/92228/amanda-fleming-back-with-new-film-about-the-lifestyle-of-drag-queens

Amanda is also adapting Countess for radio, and performances of the play will take place at the Todmorden Unitarian Church in August.