Selección Terror: La Casa de las Serpientes

"La Casa de las Serpientes" by Clark Carrados This Spanish pulp horror story from Editorial Bruguera (1979) presents a criminal con operation centered on a snake-worshipping cult. A woman named Syphara poses as priestess of "Madre Pythonia," conducting theatrical ceremonies in an underground chamber where a mechanical giant python appears to consume a nude female victim—actually an actress named Ginny performing for payment. The elaborate hoax attracts wealthy, credulous attendees who pay $200 per session and contribute substantial donations. A man named Dunstan discovers the deception and attempts blackmail, offering technical improvements to the mechanical serpent in exchange for partnership and sexual access. Syphara kills him using a venomous asp hidden in a cigar box, demonstrating her ruthlessness. In a second chapter, two men—Alan Russendyll and Ken Owens—attend a ceremony as observers. Russendyll analyzes the technical trickery (magnesium powder, electrical ignition, sound effects) and identifies the priestess's scheme as legally permissible fraud, though he finds the actress vaguely familiar.