The Exotic Fair of a Wandering Muse
Erotica Author Angela Caperton
Books
Woman of the Mountain
2008 Eppie Winner
Now available in paperback from Amazon
Read my erotic short story "Understudy" in Lust at First Bite! Available from Amazon!
Read "The Morning Trade" in Girls on Top from Cleis
Read "Under a Moving Star," in Coming Together: Against the Odds. Phaze E-book available now; paperback coming in June
Read "Making Rain" in Coming Together: Al Fresco
Read "Calendar Girl" in the voyeur/exhibitionist anthology Peep Show, available from Cleis, November 2009
Exotic Fair of a Wandering MuseDark Angels V: Erzsebet Bathory - Part II
Again, here is my good friend Theresa Elizabeth Bathory with Part II of the Dark Angel entry on Elizabeth Bathory!
Help me, O Clouds.
O Clouds, stay by me.
Let no harm come to me.
Let me remain healthy and invincible.
Send, O send, you powerful Clouds, ninety cats.
I command you, O King of the Cats, I pray you.
May you gather them together,
even if you are in the mountains,
or on the waters,
or on the roofs,
or on the other side of the ocean.
May these ninety cats appear to tear and destroy
the hearts
of kings and princes,
And in the same way
the hearts
of teachers and judges,
so they shall harm me not.
Holy Trinity, protect me.
~Prayer Erzsabet Bathory kept on her until her death
Bathory, the name holds so much mystery, darkness, and sadistic vampirism but is her reputation deserved? In part one of my essay on the Countess I reviewed the “historical” account and legend that is generally accepted as “fact.” In this part I will offer an alternative theory on the infamous, yet little known, Erzsabet Bathory.
Unfortunately, no one can prove this theory because the official court transcripts and documents are still locked away by the Hungarian government, which raises curiosity and suspicion as to why. All we know comes from accounts by those who attended the trials and their accounts are suspect as well as most were on the side of the prosecution.
We do know from their accounts that the witnesses all gave fantastic accounts of torture, sadism, and “witchcraft”. Those who were prosecuted, and some who testified, were, by spectator’s accounts, tortured, meaning that the interrogations must have been harsh enough to be apparent even to observers. This has to raise doubt then as to the validity of the testimony given.
The infamous register that was testified to by Zusanna that recorded the number of victims killed and the manner of each death was never introduced as evidence because no one knew the whereabouts of the document. It could not be produced and the contents of this register only exist as testimony from a tortured defendant.
Let’s look at that number of victims -- purportedly from 600 to 650 maidens. Consider that, in 1526, shortly before the Battle of Mohacs, the total population of all the Hungarian territories taken together (including Transylvania and Croatia) amounted to 3,500,00 – 4,000,000. The country had some 30-35 royal free cities (civitates) that comprised about 100,000 inhabitants. Besides, these there were some 800-850 rather agrarian oppida that were controlled by feudal lords, Given the average number of their inhabitants did not exceed 500-600*1 one can see the impact 600 to 650 maidens’ deaths would have. We are talking about the population of an entire area in less than a 20 year period.
Consider also the fact that Erzsabet was not allowed to attend either of her own two trials; she was not allowed even to submit testimony by writing and, even then, was not found guilty at either trial. Subsequent attempts to bring her to trial by King Matthias II were met with opposition by the Bathorys and finally Erzsabet was walled up in her bedroom with a slit large enough to pass food through to her.
So then what other reason then would there be to try and imprison her if she was not the mass-serial killer she was charged with being? Let us consider Erzsabet herself. First she was a woman who headed the most powerful family in Eastern Europe. As a family head, she was successful – she increased the Bathory’s holdings three-fold. She was an intelligent woman and well spoken by all accounts, able to speak and read three languages when most of the aristocracy could not even write their own names. She was widowed and beautiful; in short she was a threat to the male-dominated patriarch of the times.
Just as other powerful women in history have been maligned (Cleopatra purportedly gave head to Caesar’s entire legion in one night and Catherin the Great was said to have slept with her horse), it is not hard to imagine that Erzsabet Bathory was also victim to the same slanderous and scandalous attacks. There is another reason, as well, one that is extremely compelling. The King of Hungary, King Matthias II, owed the Bathory family more money than he could ever hope to repay and Erzabet, and her family, were next in line to the throne. Stefan Bathory was king of Poland (1575-1586) and considered one of Poland’s greatest kings and is still considered a hero.
If Erzsabet Bathory had been found guilty of the crimes with which she was charged, especially witchcraft, all her holdings would have become property of the crown. This would have eliminated Matthias’s debt to the Bathory’s and also helped to ensure his throne’s safety from the family. By removing Erzsabet, by imprisoning her in the castle’s room, the Bathory family might have stopped further repeated attempts by the King to bring her to trial.
Does this mean she was innocent? Perhaps not, since her alleged murder of peasants was the type of act the aristocracy could get away with without fear of punishment. Was it possible that she was as history has depicted her? Yes, but is it probable? We will likely never really know and, because of that, her legend is both infamous and compelling while the truth, as usual, may lie somewhere in between.Devoid of all breath in the air
Even Death paled to compare
To the taint of Her splendour
So rare and engendered
'Pon the awed throng gathered
There...
~Beneath the Howling Stars – Cradle of Filth
*1 Urban Societies in East-Central Europe by Jaroslav Miller
What I Like - Music: Josh Ritter
Drake and I both love music. I like Loreena McKinnett, for instance, while his tastes run more to classic country, punk rock, and Stravinsky, so between us we cover a lot of melodic ground. But one taste we share is for lyrical songwriting accompanied by acoustic instruments – folk music for want of a better term.
The singer-songwriter tradition of American music has roots at least as deep as Stephen Foster and 20th Century masters like Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Townes van Zandt, and many others, but the 21st Century is proving to be a new frontier for some very exciting songwriters. Our favorite is a 33-year-old native of Idaho named Josh Ritter. With five studio albums since 1999, Josh is neither prolific nor especially well-known, but we truly believe he is the best guy out there writing songs today. And he’s an amazing performer.
If you haven’t heard his music, probably the best place to start is with his 4th album, The Animal Years, although his 2nd, The Golden Age of Radio, is almost as fine. He writes about love, America, music, and other things far more surreal and brings a freshness and intelligence to every note and word.
Here are three of his more unusual performances from Youtube. I hope you enjoy them as much as we do.
Guest Blogging at TRS Blue Today!
I'm guest blogging over at TRS Blue today!
What do you think about laughter in bed?
Drop on by. I'd love to hear from your opinion about humor and sex.
Dark Angels IV: Erzsebet Bathory
For this issue of Dark Angels, I tapped a good friend of mine, Theresa, a web designer and a woman with a rich knowledge of this particular dark angel…“She demanded the Heavens and forever to glean
The elixir of Youth from the pure
Whilst Her lesbian fantasies
Reamed to extremes
O'er decades unleashed
Came for blood's silken cure”
Bathory Aria ~ Cradle of Filth
When the topic of Dark Angels comes up there are many names that can come to mind, from the mythical Lilith and Baba Yaga to Lizzie Borden to Madame Blavatsky in modern times. Yet one name tends to stand above all the others as the darkest of these fascinating women – the Countess Erzsebet (Elizabeth) Bathory.
Many do not know her legend and fewer still know her history. The Guinness Book of World Records lists her as history’s most prolific serial killer with anywhere from 600 – 650 maidens her victims.
Little is actually known about Countess Bathory as none of her letters survived her. Erzsebet Bathory, was born in Hungary, August 7th, 1560, the daughter of Baron George Bathory and Baroness Anna Bathory. George and Anna were both Bathory’s by birth; he a member of the Ecsed branch of the family and she of the Somlyo. Such inbreeding was not uncommon in the aristocracy of 16th Century Eastern Europe, as the purity of the noble line was seen as paramount.
Her legend may have inspired Bram Stocker’s Dracula even more than the legend of Vlad the Impaler. Another Bathory - Stephen - fought alongside Vlad in one of his many attempts to reclaim the Wallachian throne and became Prince of Transylvania in 1571, so it is possible that Stoker encountered the Bathory’s during his research.
Elizabeth was a great beauty and at the age of eleven, she was engaged to Count Ferenc Nadasdy. Three years later they married. Elizabeth retained her maiden name, and Ferenc added it to his own less distinguished one, and became Ferenc Bathory-Nadasdy. After her marriage, Elizabeth was mistress of the Nadasdy estate around Castle Sarvar. Here the Nadasdy’s held a reputation as harsh masters. Ferenc is said to have shown her some of his own favored ways of punishing his servants. There are also tales of the couple engaging in diabolic rites and patronizing occultists and Satanists.
Ferenc was a warrior by nature, and frequently absent. Elizabeth occupied her time by taking numerous young men as lovers. She also spent time visiting her aunt, noted at the time for her open bisexuality, and contemporary reports seem to consider Elizabeth’s sexual ambivalence to be an integral part of her overall personality.
It was during her husband’s many absences that Elizabeth is reputed to have begun torturing young servant girls for her own pleasure, although speculation again has Ferenc as her early teacher in harsh treatment. Hearsay testimony at her trial reports she took to beating her maidservants with a barbed lash and a heavy cudgel, and having them dragged naked into the snow and doused with cold water until they froze to death creating statues from their frozen bodies.
In January 1604, Ferenc Nadasdy died of an infected battle wound, though some sources state that it was inflicted by a harlot whom he refused to pay. Elizabeth transferred herself to the royal court at Vienna with almost unseemly haste, and took to spending much time at her castle at Cachtice in north-west Hungary (now Slovakia).
This was the period in which Elizabeth is said to have committed her greatest atrocities, under the guidance of Anna Darvula, described as the most active sadist in her entourage. Alleged to be a witch Darvula was also said to be Elizabeth 's lover.
It was this time that legend tells us that she discovered, on striking a servant girl who accidentally pulled her hair whilst combing it, that blood appeared to reduce the signs of aging on her skin. Darvula purportedly told Elizabeth that bathing in the blood of young girls was the secret to staying young. Legend said that she also bit, to the point of tearing flesh from the throats, shoulders and breasts of these maidens. These acts were done in the course of lesbian acts of carnal indulgences while committing sadistic acts of violence.
Elizabeth's proclivities went largely undetected - or at least ignored - until around 1609 when Darvula had died of natural causes. Fearing that the blood of peasant maids was no longer “vital” enough to keep her youth she opened a school to maidens of noble blood but little wealth. The deaths of peasant girls might be overlooked, but the murder of nobles, even those of such limited means as those Elizabeth selected, lead to her downfall.
The King of Hungary ordered her arrest and her cousin, Count Cuyorgy Thurzo, lead a raid on Castle Cachtice and supposedly found the bodies of dead girls in the hallway, and discovered many other victims dead, dying, or awaiting torture in cells. Other accomplices of Elizabeth’s - Dorothea, Helena and Ficzko – were arrested, along with Katarina Beneczky, a washerwoman newly entered into the Countess' service. One more of Elizabeth’s friends, Erszi Majorova, escaped capture in the raid but was later also arrested. Elizabeth herself was held but not taken away with her associates.
In January 1611 Elizabeth's accomplices were subjected to two hurried show trials, in which they gave evidence, almost certainly extracted under torture, and were convicted of their heinous crimes in a matter of days. In the second trial, another servant named as Zusanna gave evidence of the existence of a register, in her mistress' handwriting, which recorded over 650 victims who had died at the Countess' hands over the years.
Elizabeth Bathory was not allowed to attend or give testimony at either trial, and was never convicted of any crime. The Bathory family walled Elizabeth up within her bed chamber, with only small slits for ventilation and the passing of food. Three years later, a guard looking through one of the slots saw the Countess lying dead.
Elizabeth died in Castle Cachtice on 21 August, 1614. The bulk of her estate was divided, according to her will, between her children. She was taken from the castle and buried at her birthplace at Ecsed.
Her legend is powerful, dark and disturbing but is it true? In the second part of her story I will examine the “facts” and the few truly historical records that are available to explore this dark angel, her likeness hung in the black gallery, commanding unease, demanding of Death to breathe… Superhero Sex! - "Lawman" accepted at Circlet!
Earlier this year, Curt Purcell at The Groovy Age of Horror asked me if I'd ever written superhero erotica. At the time, my answer was, no, but that exchange definitely planted a seed.
I am thrilled to announce that my erotic short story "Lawman" will appear in the Circlet Press erotic superhero anthology, Like a Mask Removed.
I don't have a release date yet, but it will probably be late summer/early fall. This anthology will be available in eBook format. Updates! - Out of the Gutter, "The Coming Age", and more!
Lots of news this week! Of course, look just one post down and you'll see the news about Best Women's Erotica 2010, but also this week a few more developments slipped into my email.
Out of the Gutter # 6 - Sexploitation
My erotic story "Life Model" was accepted by this unique indie pulp magazine. The preliminary list of contributors has been posted! Just scroll on down to the 15 -20 minute reads, and there you'll see Angela Caperton.
Image by Elfdaughter
"The Coming Age" - published by Circlet
I received an email from my editor at Circlet on Friday. They had such a great response to their call for submissions that they will be publishing two volumes of erotic stories with Steampunk themes . "The Coming Age" will now appear in the new title - Like a Corset Removed! Rather fitting really, considering the nature of the story.
Look for Like a Corset Removed late this summer.
Stories available at Barnes & Noble and on the Kindle!
My publisher eXtasy Books informed me that the print version of Woman of the Mountain is now available at Barnes and Noble!
You can also get all my eXtasy titles on the Kindle! Check out it out here.
Keep your eyes peeled. The next installment to my Dark Angels series is on its way! This one will be special because it's a guest entry by a friend of mine with her own lively writing style and a strong interest in the subject matter. "Timbre" Accepted for Best Women's Erotica 2010
When I first started to write erotica, I did what many authors do - I read what other authors were writing in my chosen genre, tried to learn from them, really paid attention to what turned me on. I read a lot of erotica anthologies, and one of the best series I found was the annual Best Women's Erotica, edited by Violet Blue, from Cleis. I knew after reading the first collection, I wanted one of my stories to be in a BWE anthology someday.
Last year, I submitted my story "The Morning Trade" for BWE 2009, and while it didn't make the cut for that anthology, I was thrilled when Violet Blue selected it for another anthology she was editing called Girls on Top. Not quite a win, but hey, this second place was VERY nice!
When the call went out this year, I knew I had to try again.
The best kind of magic happened. A story hit me like a spontaneous orgasm, grabbed me by the … let’s say “throat” … and wouldn't let me do anything else until I had it all down in words.
That story was "Timbre".
I just got the email this evening. Violet Blue has selected "Timbre" for the Best Women's Erotica 2010 anthology due out in December.
Yes, my friends...even at 10PM, I was popping champagne!
So, look for Best Women's Erotica 2010 in December 2009 from Amazon and other online retailers, plus in bookstores! I’m incredibly happy to be part of it! Now Available - Coming Together: Against the Odds
Last year I wrote a short story for one of the ERWA Storytime theme weekends. The theme for that weekend was erotic mystery. What I wrote was the story "Under a Moving Star", a story that is my tribute to noir or hardboiled fiction, and of course it wouldn't be complete with hot sex!
I am very proud to have "Under a Moving Star" as part of Coming Together: Against the Odds available now through Phaze Books as both an eBook and a volume that will be available in paperback in June!
Remember too, the proceeds from the sale of this book will be donated to Autism Speaks.
"Under a Moving Star"
By Angela Caperton
In an age of suspicion and dread, we must find love where we can. Under a Moving Star is the story of Jack Cain, private detective, caught in a web of murderous intrigue and personal obsession as he pursues the solution to a mystery with international implications.
EXCERPT
I lit a Camel and offered it to her. I figured she had more to say, so I waited. She puffed and sat back in the chair, her robe parting around her thighs, barely covering the golden paradise I had seen earlier.
“You ever have the feeling that everything you know is a lie?” she asked me in a flat voice. “That all this…” She gestured at the tasteful modern furnishings, the paneled wall, and the big, ugly world beyond them. “…is just smoke and mirrors?”
I smiled and hoped my eyes were as kind as I’ve been told they are. “Somebody told me once that everyone’s truth is someone else’s lie,” I said.
She looked at me directly, her eyes full of hurt and something else. Maybe hope.
“Will you make love to me?” she asked, and the top of her robe fell open, the lime-green sleeves sliding down the smooth white of her arms and shoulders, pooling on the sofa around her waist. She fiddled with the sash, and then she was naked and perfect.
I had no breath in my lungs, only heat, and I went to her, kneeling, my hands gentle on her waist. She leaned down and gave me her lips like a gift, and I fell into her kiss, wet and open, the faintest taste of the pills and booze still lingering on her lips. My hands found her breasts, firm, the nipples like little sensitive stones. She moaned when I touched her, and she bit my lip as we kissed. Jana rose against me, her back arching, her hands pulling my jacket away, as hungry as mine.
Gently but firmly, I pushed her back onto the sofa, my right hand sliding down the hard plane of her stomach into the pretty thicket at the base of her belly. My fingers found the cleft and the little bud within it, and I knew exactly how to touch her.
What I Like -- Comics!
I do like good comic books, and there have been several very good ones lately. These aren’t your typical comics, no real super heroes among them, but they are worth your time if you like unusual storytelling.
First a little background for non-comic book readers. Three of these books are published by Vertigo, the adult, darker line from DC Comics, publishers of Superman, Batman, etc. Vertigo has been around for over 15 years and has been responsible for some of the best supernatural horror-fantasy comics ever published, including Neil Gaiman’s amazing Sandman series. Vertigo established a new level of creative risk-taking early on in its life and that tradition continues strong today.
Decades ago, DC published a war comic called GI Combat, featuring an unlikely series called The Haunted Tank. It was pretty standard war comic fare -- the guys in a Stuart tank fight Nazis in Europe and North Africa. The series’ unique gimmick was that the tank was haunted by the ghost of Confederate general Jeb Stuart, who appeared as a sort of inspirational mascot , providing little lessons of valor and wisdom that helped the crew survive in battle. Vertigo has just concluded a new 5-issue mini-series, written by Frank Marraffino and drawn by Henry Flint, bringing the Haunted Tank into the modern world. Set in Iraq in the early days of the ongoing unpleasantness, the comic tells the story of a modern tank crew, including an African American crewman who is outraged at the presence of a ghostly, blatantly racist Confederate general. Brutally funny, surprising, even occasionally shocking, the series manages to be a commentary on war, war comics, race relations, courage, and the rough politics of America in the new millennium. Not everyone would like this series, but it earns bonus points for courage and inventiveness, and I loved it!
Like rock music in the 60s, comics had a “British invasion”in the late 80s and 90s. An influx of insanely
talented writers energized and revived American comics and ushered in an age of artistic imagination that is still evolving. Perhaps the most prolific of the Brits is Grant Morrison, who recently seems to be writing half the output of DC’s super hero line. Seaguy, also from Vertigo and drawn by Cameron Stewart, is a sort of surreal parody of super hero comics. The current three-issue mini-series is part two of an eventual trilogy. The titular character is a hero in a world without heroics, a brightly colored universe lorded over by Mickey Eye, an enormous, beloved-by-the-masses eyeball, who rules all media and may be god or the devil, or both. Both hilarious and disturbing, Seaguy is, according to its creator, a metaphor for life, the first trilogy being childhood, the second adolescence, and the forthcoming third maturity. Again, not a comic for all tastes, but profoundly entertaining stuff for those who appreciate twisted creativity.
Alan Moore is perhaps the best known of the invading Englishmen. A wildly entertaining writer, Moore is most famous as the author of The Watchmen, but he is also highly regarded for other works, including The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (LXG). LXG comprises a series of stories illustrated by Kevin O’Neill about a band of evil-fighters that has existed for centuries and that features famous characters from literature and popular fiction. The first issue of the current LXG trilogy, long-awaited and foreshadowed by a one-shot volume last year called The Black Dossier, has just been published. Entitled 1910, the comic showcases Moore’s usual inventiveness and his astonishing erudition and knowledge of popular culture from past decades. The story interweaves occultism and obscure (to modern readers at least) characters with the world of Brecht and Weill’s Threepenny Opera (which, again, will miss most of its audience or at least send them off to Netflix to rent the superb 1931 film based on the musical play). Relentlessly layered with literary and historical references, smartly written in every word, 1910 may be the best LXG volume so far. The two subsequent issues will be set in 1968 and 2008 and should be equally fine. 1910 is published by Top Shelf, the same company that produced Moore’s wonderful Lost Girls erotica set in 2006.
Lucifer, another Vertigo series, written by Mike Carey and drawn by Peter Gross, was a sort of spin-off of Sandman that ran for 75 issues, telling the story of the lord of hell after his abdication from his traditional job. Now Carey and Gross have returned with a great new title The Unwritten, that shows promise of being the new star in Vertigo’s firmament. DC seems determined to market the book as some sort of Da Vinci Code clone, which may doom it, but the comic is something else entirely. The protagonist is the putative son of a vanished popular writer of a series of children’s fantasy books. In the course of the first issue, our hero, who was the real-life model for his father’s Harry Potterish creation, learns that his past is far more mysterious than anyone would have ever guessed. Wonderfully smart and entertainingly written, The Unwritten may well be the best of the four books I’m reviewing here, and I would recommend it without reservation to anyone who is interested in graphic fantasy.
More News!
There are times in an author's life that feel like, well....it's raining gold.
This has been one of those seasons.
As some of you may have read, I sold several stories just a couple weeks ago, now this week brings a couple more developments.
First, my story "St. Nicholas' Eve" - a story I am VERY proud of - will appear in the Circlet Press book "Like a Sacred Desire". Then I hear that my story "Under a Moving Star" in the anthology Coming Together: Against the Odds has had it's release date bumped up to next week!! Yes, folks, you can buy this extraordinary anthology that will benefit Autism Speaks next week! "Under a Moving Star" was a wonderful stretch of my creative juices both back into time - the Cold War - and into a sexuality I am only at the edges of.
I loved the story that came from my heart, and I hope my fans enjoy it too!
Look for "Under a Moving Star" on May 18th and look for "St. Nicholas' Eve" later in the summer from Circlet! 
