The study "When the bad bleeds" examines the function of manticism in the English revenge tragedy of the Renaissance. Mantic elements are supernatural phenomena such as omens, dreams, spirits, prophecies and curses that have a prophetic, forward-looking function in the tragedy of revenge. The study analyzes a representative selection of revenge dramas by Shakespeare's contemporaries, including The Spanish Tragedy, The White Devil, and The Revenger’s Tragedy, to draw general conclusions about the use of manticore in this genre. The analysis of the cultural context and the functionalization of mantic elements in the Elizabethan, Jacobean and Corolin revenge tragedy shows their essential function in the structure of the plot. They generate and stimulate audience expectations and are not just rhetorical decorum, but structural elements that transfer knowledge about the plot and the conventions of the genre that is characterized by vegelty. An interpretation of the revenge tragedy is only fruitful if mantic providentialism is included.