Hello friends!

Today and the next episode we focus on one of the most famous serial killers of all time, and the most prolific female serial killer of all time, Elizabeth Bathory! Known for bathing in virgin girl's blood she slaughtered 600 peasant girls to try to stay young!

Except, she didn't. Like she super didn't. She was a super crappy person, but the bigger issue was that she was a single woman richer than the king of Hungary in the 1600s, and let's just say the men in power did not like that one bit.

A bit of retconning and centuries of folklore perpetuated by the Catholic Church, and you have yourself a female Dracula! Who was really just your run of the mill sadistic noble given the time period and atmosphere in Hungary at the time.

Have some fun with us today as we debunk a ton of rumors, talk about how Elizabeth ended up with so much power and wealth as a woman, and how her lesbian serial husband killer aunt who totally is also a witch and teaches torture methods totally taught 6 year old Elizabeth, contrary to the historical record (and common sense) how to be an evil lesbian husband killing witch. Spoiler, she didn't.

Check out this amazing book that is THE source for everything Elizabeth Bathory:

Craft, Kimberly. Infamous Lady: The True Story of Countess Erzsébet Báthory: Second Edition. 2nd ed., CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014.

Hello! Here's the second part of our Siege of Leningrad episode. This one gets into the gnarly and vile conditions that the besieged faced, resulting in over 800,000 civilian deaths.

We totally understand if you want to skip this one, we had no idea how dark this topic was going to get.

Here's our sources for this episode.

Sources:

Alexievich, Svetlana, et al. The Unwomanly Face of War: An Oral History of Women in World War II. Reprint, Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2018.

Glantz, David. The Siege of Leningrad 1941-1944: 900 Days of Terror. Brown Partworks, 2022.

Ivans War Life and Death in the Red Army. Picador USA,2006, 2022.

Reid, Anna. Leningrad: The Epic Siege of World War II, 1941-1944. 1st ed., Walker Books, 2011.

And check out pictures from the siege on our website, www.anecdotesforawkwardfolks.com.

During WW2, the siege of Leningrad was a vastly underreported and horrific chapter in the USSR's history. Survivors were penalized if they talked about conditions after the fact, so a lot of what we now know about the total loss of life and murder, and even cannibalism that took place trickled out during the course of several decades.

We read several books on the subject, and today we're going to take you on a journey through yet one more example of how freaking stupid Stalin was.

This is a two part episode; this episode outlines the history and set up for why Leningrad was so unprepared for a siege, as well as the political scene. Episode two gets into the conditions of the siege itself. We recommend not listening to Episode two if the following is triggering: cannibalism, starvation, child murder, suicide, or sexual assault.

In hindsight, maybe not the best water cooler anecdote, but we sure did learn a lot!

Sources:

Alexievich, Svetlana, et al. The Unwomanly Face of War: An Oral History of Women in World War II. Reprint, Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2018.

Glantz, David. The Siege of Leningrad 1941-1944: 900 Days of Terror. Brown Partworks, 2022.

Ivans War Life and Death in the Red Army. Picador USA,2006, 2022.

Reid, Anna. Leningrad: The Epic Siege of World War II, 1941-1944. 1st ed., Walker Books, 2011.