Last year I wrote about “Snake Gods and Were-Serpents” with stories like Frank Belknap Long’s “The Were-Snake” and A. Merritt’s “The Snake Mother”. Turns out there are a bunch of serpentine ladies and gigantic slitherers out there I missed. Here are fifteen more great tales of Science Fiction and Horror offering green beauties and giant snakes. (Think of it as Tinder for Monsters.) You’ll want to swipe right and read these great stories.
I have to acknowledge a pre-Pulp serpent woman in Bram Stoker’s The Lair of the White Worm (1911). Appearing before the Pulp magazines proper, it must have had some effect on the lizardy ladies to come. The book was made into an equally bizarre film by Ken Russell in 1988. Who can forget Amanda Donohoe with those giant fangs?
“The Nightmare” The Jungle Tales of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs (Blue Book, May 1917 ) Tarzan eats some bad meat and has a nightmare about a giant snake then fights a real snake.
“The Serpent Woman” by Seabury Quinn (Weird Tales, June 1928) was Jules de Grandin’s twentieth case. He earlier faced off against a giant snake ghost in “The Tenants of Broussac”. This time it is a woman who owns a large snake. In both cases, de Grandin kills it with a sword.
“The Curse of Ximu-tal” by Harry Noyes Pratt (Weird Tales, August 1930) has a Mayan temple to the god, Ximu-tal. The treasure lying there is not unprotected.
Buccaneers of Venus by Otis Adelbert Kline (Weird Tales, November December 1932 January February March April 1933) was a six-part serial set on Venus. The evil toad men use reptiles as mounts.
“The Snake-Men of Kaldar” by Edmond Hamilton (Magic Carpet, October 1933) is the sequel to “Kaldar, World of Antares”. Stuart Merrick’s second adventure on Antares puts him up against the Gurs, the snake-men of Kaldar. The first installment appeared in Oriental Stories, which changed its name to Magic Carpet. The final segment appeared in Weird Tales.
“The Devil in Iron” by Robert E. Howard (Weird Tales, August 1934) was only one of several Conan stories to feature giant snakes. There was also “Black Colossus” (Weird Tales, June 1933) and “Beyond the Black River” (Weird Tales, May June 1935). All these snakes encounters were combined in the 1982 film, Conan the Barbarian.
“Coils of the Silver Serpent” by Forbes Parkhill (Weird Tales, February 1936) has a giant anaconda in a tale that could have inspired a monster movie, with the serpent unleashed on an unsuspecting city. The villain of the piece is named Vroom. He ends up inside the snake.
“The Golden Amazons of Venus” by John Murray Reynolds (Planet Stories, Winter 1939) was opener for Planet Stories‘ first issue. The villains on Venus are the Scaly Ones and their leader, Lansa. The Earthmen fight them and even get to ride on Venusian dolphins.
“Wings of the Lightning Land” by James MacCreigh (Fredrick Pohl) (Astonishing Stories, November 1941) One of Pohl’s psuedonymous tales to fill up his magazines.
“Daughter of the Snake God” by John York Cabot (David Wright O’Brien) and William P. McGivern (Fantastic Adventures, May 1942) is a wartime story about fighting Nazis in Peru. The hero, Curtis, takes out the giant snake with a spear.
“Venusian Nightmare” by Ford Smith (Oscar J. Friend) (Thrilling Wonder Stories, Winter 1944) has another editor using a pseudonym to fill his magazine. This one features a Venusian Medusa. What is it about Venus, that all the serpent come from there?
“The Secret of the Serpent” by Don Wilcox (Fantastic Adventures, January 1948) tells the of life of a giant serpent from the snake’s POV. Bob is turned into a serpent by a mad scientist, but ends up with the girl.
“The Sea-Kings of Mars” by Leigh Brackett (Thrilling Wonder Stories, June 1949) is better known as The Sword of Rhiannon.The influence of Robert E. Howard and his Kull story, “The Shadow Kingdom”, seems obvious looking at this cover. The Sword of Rhiannon takes Matt Carse to Mars’s ancient past where he fights the Dhuvians.
“The Fall of Lemuria” by Richard S. Shaver (Other Worlds, November 1949) was part of the author’s “Shaver Mystery”. Shaver explains how we got our myths from ancient Lemuria and that it is all true.
Rest in Agony by Ivar Jorgensen (Paul W. Fairman) (Fantastic Adventures, January 1952) The novel appeared under the title Devil’s Virgin under Fairman’s own name. The book is more similar to occult paperbacks of the 1970s but it does include one giant serpent that grows from evil magic.
Conclusion
Snakes did not disappear from magazine covers with the passing of the Pulps. The Men’s magazines loved to put heroines in peril with large serpents. The straight adventure story with snakes is probably older than the Pulps. The movies use it all the times. Who can forget Indiana Jones in a pyramid filled with cobras? There is an entire franchise of Anaconda films, in which we get to see CGI serpents devour people. Who can forget Snakes on a Plane? Our innate repulsion towards serpents is probably older than being human. So as Tarzan says: “Kreegah! Bundalo! Hista!” Beware of snakes!
