Bathory |top| - Estella

We are obsessed with forgotten aristocrats. A name like "Estella" implies grace and refinement. A surname like "Bathory" implies brutality. The combination promises a story where a beautiful woman is also a monster—the perfect antihero for the gothic romance revival.

Estella (from Great Expectations ) is famously damaged; she cannot cry. Elizabeth Báthory was allegedly incapable of empathy. Estella Bathory merges the two into a character who chooses numbness. In an era of "toxic positivity," the allure of a character who says, "Feel nothing; look perfect," is surprisingly seductive. estella bathory