Demon summoner. Sadist. Child murderer. 

History is peppered with dark and disturbed characters. People who left unchecked, exercised untold horrors onto the unsuspecting, the marginalized, and the vulnerable. Often, these folks operated from positions of privilege and power, as we saw last week with our tale about the Blood Countess, Elizabeth Bathory. One man in particular – a precursor to Elizabeth, if you will – takes the cake in terms of bloodshed, madness, and overall mayhem. This man, a perhaps lesser-known counterpart to history’s true crime “heavy hitters”, is alleged to be the fabled inspiration for the fairy-tale character of ‘Bluebeard’.

A man reportedly so vile, so inhumane, that he makes the tales enshrouding Elizabeth Bathory seem like a walk in the park. Today, I will tell you the story of the child murderer, heretic, and serial killer, Gilles de Rais.

Macabrium is produced by Macabrium Creative and hosted by Megan Alda and Derek Stephen Brown, with writing and research by Chloë Kibbe, Megan Alda and Derek Stephen Brown. 

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