The Convent of Hell

Infobox Book
name = The Convent of Hell
title_orig = El convento infernal


author = Ricardo Barreiro
illustrator = Ignacio Noe
genre = Graphic Novel, Erotic
publisher = NBM Publications, EUROTICA
release_date = 1997

"The Convent of Hell" is an erotic graphic novel published in the United States by NBM Publications in 1997. It was written by Ricardo Barreiro and drawn by Ignacio Noe. It appeared originally in Spanish under the title "El convento infernal".

The book is notable primarily for its combination of a controversial storyline--involving deviant sexual practices between nuns and a demon at an isolated convent--and high-quality painted artwork depicting the graphic hardcore content. It is uncommon for a single work in this genre to contain both these elements.

The story also contains references to the Cthulhu mythos created by H. P. Lovecraft.

The version published in the U.S. is missing three pages from the original published in Europe. They were almost certainly removed because they depict sexual activity involving a cherub--an angel with the physical appearance of a young boy.

Plot Synopsis

The story takes place in the year 1951, at an isolated convent near the Spanish city of León, presided over by the sadistic Mother Juana; in the opening scene, two other nuns assist her in torturing a younger nun with a gigantic wooden dildo. The next day, an ornate door, secured with a heavy bolt and several padlocks, is discovered behind a shelf unit in a cellar storeroom; Mother Juana and Sister Teresa, her second-in-command, examine a 200-year-old plan of the convent, but the door is not shown on it.

That night, Mother Juana has a dream. She sees Sister Agatha, a nun at the convent in the past, performing a summoning ritual which blasts a large hole in the storeroom wall, from which a demon, Beelzebub, emerges. Agatha, having been knocked outside her protective circle by the explosion, is then sodomized by Beelzebub; Juana awakes from her dream in a state of sexual arousal, and begins masturbating, eventually inserting a lit candle into her anus.

The next day, Mother Juana brings Sister Teresa and three younger nuns to the storeroom; they pry the locks off the door, preparing to open it. Sister Luisa (an elderly nun) comes into the storeroom, carrying a forbidden book she has found in the convent library, the "Necronomicon" of the Mad Arab, Abdul Alhazred. She shows Juana a page that refers to three doorways into the world of the evil Elder Gods, one of which is located within their convent. Juana admonishes Luisa for believing such blasphemies, and orders the final latch of the door to be opened.

The nun that opens the door is immediately attacked and raped by seven penis-tipped tentacles. Mother Juana is overcome by lust and masturbates at the sight; Sister Teresa eventually attacks the tentacles, driving them back behind the door, but she's too late to save the life of their victim. At a meeting that evening, Teresa and Luisa suggest contacting Rome, but Juana convinces them that, to avoid a scandal, the door should just be re-sealed the next morning.

Later that night, as a violent thunderstorm rages, Mother Juana leaves her room, goes down to the cellar, and begins removing the boards that were hastily nailed across the door that afternoon. She begins a chant similar to that used by Sister Agatha in her dream. In a scene that was mostly deleted from the US version of the book, she's interrupted in her ritual by a cherub, an angel in the form of a young boy, who urges her to desist. Juana rejects his warning and attacks him, nailing his wings to the door. She then rapes him, draining his life-force through fellatio, and presents his desiccated corpse as a sacrifice to Beelzebub. The door bursts open and the demon emerges, proceeding to have sex with the eager and willing Mother Superior.

Sister Teresa and Sister Luisa, awakened by the storm, notice a brilliant light coming from the storeroom and go to investigate. Sister Luisa confronts the demon, but he quickly kills her. Beelzebub then zaps Teresa with a miniature lightning bolt, causing her to succumb to lust and join him and Mother Juana in their mating. Later that night, Juana and Teresa order all the nuns into the chapel. Juana invokes Beelzebub; the figure of Christ on the chapel's crucifix transforms into the demon. He uses the same demonic power that corrupted Teresa on all the other nuns, who then engage in a lesbian orgy while the convent is engulfed in a fiery maelstrom.

Several weeks later, the Pope sends a priest, Father Kruger, with two assistants, to investigate. Kruger is given a revolver loaded with silver bullets. All appears normal when the priests arrive at the convent; that night, however, Sister Teresa seduces and kills the two younger priests, while Mother Juana attempts to do the same with Kruger. He resists her temptations at first, but she's joined by Beelzebub. Kruger shoots the demon with his silver bullets, but Beelzebub is completely unharmed; he subdues the priest, and enables Juana to drain his life-force as she did to the cherub.

Later still, a newly-wed couple, lost in the mountains while trying to find the hotel where they intend to begin their honeymoon, end up at the convent. Sister Teresa offers them shelter, but they become the succubus-nuns' next victims. Teresa drains the husband of his life, while his wife becomes Beelzebub's sexual plaything. The next morning, however, the wife manages to escape from the convent, and travels to Rome to inform the Pope of the situation. The Pope sends in the Church's secret army of warrior monks, the Knights Templar, who parachute into the convent. Mother Juana attacks and subdues the Templar Commander, but when she tries her usual method of draining his lifeforce, his "consecrated dick" does her great injury, and she is killed by the other Templars with flamethrowers; they proceed to do the same to the other nuns in the chapel. Beelzebub is cornered in the storeroom after Sister Teresa is killed trying to protect him; at first, he is unconcerned by the flamethrowers, but the Commander reveals that his is filled with holy water. The demon is forced to retreat back through the portal, which the Templars then seal forever, as the rest of the convent is left to burn.

Bibliography

*Harvard reference | Surname=Barreiro | Given=Ricardo | Surname2=Noé | Given2=Ignacio | Title=The Convent of Hell | Publisher=NBM | Year=1997 | ISBN=1561631922
*Harvard reference | Surname=Barreiro | Given=Ricardo | Surname2=Noé | Given2=Ignacio | Title=El convento infernal | Publisher=La Cúpula | Place=Barcelona | Year=2003 | ISBN=8478335455 | URL=http://www1.dreamers.com/productos/41204_COLECCION_X_114_EL_CONVENTO_INFERNAL.html