 A number of murderers have performed seemingly vampiric rituals upon their victims . Serial killers Peter Kürten and Richard Trenton Chase were both called " vampires " in the tabloids after they were discovered drinking the blood of the people they murdered . Similarly , in 1932 , an unsolved murder case in Stockholm , Sweden was nicknamed the " Vampire murder " , because of the circumstances of the victim 's death . The late @-@ 16th @-@ century Hungarian countess and mass murderer Elizabeth Báthory became particularly infamous in later centuries ' works , which depicted her bathing in her victims ' blood in order to retain beauty or youth . 
