ladies who should be playing mythical head bitches in charge | MONICA BELLUCCI as ELIZABETH BATHORY, the most prolific female serial killer in history, who bathed in the blood of four hundred virgins to preserve her beauty.

It is still hot, not yet cooled from the warm inner confines of the girl’s throat. You lift one pale arm, your eyes half lidded, and watch as it marks your skin red, the way men paint their faces when they go to war. This is your own form of battle - make no mistake. To push back age is to push back death. You smile, settling in, the lifeblood of dozens whirling around you. You think you can hear whispers against the nape of your neck.