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While American serial killers get most of the spotlight when it comes to true crime documentaries and the like, Europe, too, has had its fair share of bloodthirsty serial killers. These murderers went on absolute rampages, tearing apart families and ruining lives. Fortunately, most were apprehended and put behind bars. But could you name the worst of the worst?

Read on to learn about the chilling tales of serial killers who tormented Europe.

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John Christie, "The Monster of Rillington Place," an English serial killer active in the 1940s and '50s, lured victims to his London apartment, strangling them. Christie also murdered his wife, Ethel. His crimes were discovered in 1953, and he was executed.

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Initially, his innocent neighbor Timothy Evans was wrongfully convicted. Christie's case highlighted flaws in the legal system, leading to changes in evidence handling (and exoneration for Evans).

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Fred and Rose West, a notorious British couple, committed a gruesome series of murders in Gloucester spanning three decades. Their crimes, involving torture, abuse, and the murder of women, including their own children, were unearthed in 1994 when police discovered human remains at their home.

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Fred West died by suicide in prison, while Rose West was convicted of 10 murders and sentenced to life imprisonment. This case remains one of the most chilling instances of a serial killer couple in British criminal history.

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Dennis Nilsen was a British serial killer responsible for a series of murders in London. Nilsen was active between 1978 and 1983 and was responsible for the deaths of at least 12 young men, most of whom were gay and homeless. He lured his victims to his apartment, where he would then strangle or drown them. Afterward, he engaged in acts of necrophilia and dismembered their bodies.

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Nilsen's crimes were discovered in 1983 when a plumbing issue at his residence revealed human remains clogging the drains. He was arrested, tried, and convicted of multiple counts of murder. He was sentenced to life in prison.

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Andrei Chikatilo, known as the "Butcher of Rostov" or the "Red Ripper," was a notorious Soviet serial killer. He operated primarily in the Rostov Oblast region, from 1978 to 1990. Chikatilo's victims were mostly women and children. He would lure them to remote locations, and then assault, mutilate, and murder them.

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Chikatilo's crimes went undetected for many years, leading to the arrest and execution of several innocent individuals falsely accused of the murders. However, he was finally apprehended in 1990. Chikatilo was convicted of 53 murders in 1992, and subsequently executed in 1994.

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Michel Fourniret, the "Ogre of the Ardennes," was a notorious French serial killer. Fourniret was active from the late 1980s to the early 2000s, and was responsible for the abduction, rape, and murder of several young women and girls in France and Belgium.

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He earned the nickname Ogre of the Ardennes due to the disgusting nature of his crimes and the region where many of his murders took place. Michel Fourniret was arrested in 2003, and he and his wife, Monique Olivier, were both convicted of their involvement in the killings. Fourniret was sentenced to life in prison for his crimes, and died in 2021.

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Elfriede Blauensteiner was an Austrian serial killer and nurse who gained notoriety for her crimes. She was active during the 1980s and early 1990s. Blauensteiner worked as a nurse and was responsible for the deaths of multiple patients under her care.

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She administered lethal injections to her victims and then attempted to make their deaths appear natural. Blauensteiner's crimes were discovered, and she was arrested in 1993. She was convicted of murdering multiple patients and received a life sentence for her actions.

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Karl Denke, a church organist, seemed to be an upstanding and respected member of the community. However, underneath this facade, lay a dark and evil secret. Denke killed at least 42 homeless and/or traveling people over 21 years. And he earned the nickname "The Forgotten Cannibal" doing so.

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As the nickname points out, Denke ate his victims. Denke also owned a shop that sold meat, but it's unclear what kind... Denke was finally caught in 1924. However, he took his own life before he could be questioned or convicted. When police searched his house they found numerous body parts.

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This Parisian swindler seduced and killed women during World War I. Landru was also known as "The Bluebeard of Gambais" and "France’s Lonely Hearts Serial Killer," because he preyed on wealthy widows whose husbands had died in the war.

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Despite being a husband and a father, Landru seduced almost 300 women. Even though no bodies were recovered, Landru was found guilty of 11 murders, with an additional 70 believed to be by his hands. In February 1922, he was executed by guillotine.

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Russian serial killer Mikhail Popkov was arrested in 2012. He was a policeman who used his occupation to trick victims into trusting him by offering late-night car rides. Popkov targeted women whom he believed were immoral, killing them for going out partying.

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One of the survivors, who was 17 at the time, said she was violently attacked and left for dead. Since his arrest in 2012, Popkov confessed to killing over 80 people, all women except for one policeman.

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Levi Bellfield is a British serial killer and convicted murderer who was active in the early 2000s. He was responsible for a series of violent crimes, including the murder of several young women in the London area.

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Bellfield was arrested in 2004 and eventually convicted of these and other crimes. He received multiple life sentences for his actions. Levi Bellfield's crimes were particularly shocking due to their brutal nature and the impact they had on the victims' families and the public.

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After the body of a retired police officer was found in 2005, Alexander Pichushkin's crimes began to be uncovered. Pichushkin also murdered one of his colleagues after she had left a note for her parents naming him as the person she would be with.

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A metro ticket was found on her body and surveillance footage showed Pichushkin with her. He became hungry for media attention and made a full confession. When he was arrested in 2006, police found a chessboard with 62 out of 64 spots filled, potentially the number of his victims, leading to his nickname the "Chessboard Killer."

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During his time as a nurse, Niels Högel allegedly killed as many as 300 patients. Högel intentionally put some of his patients into cardiac arrest so that he could save them in front of his colleagues. Unfortunately, many of them did not survive.

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Högel worked at two hospitals in Germany over a 15-year career. In 2008, while serving a life sentence for two murders he caused by lethal injection, he was found guilty of 85 more murders.

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Nicknamed "Doctor Death," Harold Shipman was one of the UK's most prolific serial killers in modern history. He was sentenced to life in prison in 2000.

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Shipman was found guilty of the murders of at least 15 of his patients through injections of lethal quantities of drugs such as morphine. The estimated number of his victims is potentially 218 over 23 years.

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Peter Sutcliffe, better known as "The Yorkshire Ripper," claimed the lives of 13 women during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Sutcliffe also made an attempt at murdering seven more. With his targets mostly being workers, their deaths received little attention.

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However, in 1977 everything changed when the body of a teenager was discovered at a playground. With her being so young, the public erupted. Sutcliffe was captured in 1981.

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Possibly the world's most recognized and infamous serial killer, Jack the Ripper was the ghost-like figure behind the Whitechapel murders in the late 1800s.

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The exact number of his victims is still unknown, however, five were identified, becoming known as the "canonical five." Jack would remove organs from his victim's bodies with doctor-like precision and send a number of them to the police, along with messages taunting them.

Sources: (WatchMojo) (Discover Magazine)