So Supernatural - HAUNTED: House of Faces (Belmez Faces)

Podcast: So Supernatural
Host(s): Yvette Gentile and Rasha Pecorero
Producer: audiochuck | Crime House
Air Date: October 3, 2025
Episode Theme:
A journey into one of the most mysterious supernatural phenomena of the 20th century: "The House of Faces" (Las Caras de Bélmez). This episode details the surreal story of Maria Gomez Camara, whose kitchen floor began manifesting inexplicable, evolving portraits in 1971. The hosts dig deep into paranormal hypotheses, skeptical explanations, government cover-ups, and the legacy of the faces.

Main Theme

The episode explores the baffling case of the Bélmez Faces—haunting and ever-changing images that appeared on a Spanish kitchen floor, sparking worldwide fascination, scientific investigation, and rumors of both fraud and the supernatural. The hosts unravel the timeline, examine the evidence, and weigh possible explanations, leaving listeners to decide: miracle, hoax, or something truly supernatural?

Key Discussion Points and Insights

Setting the Stage: The Bélmez Face Phenomenon

• Introduction to Paranormal Cases ([02:05])
  • Ashley Flowers introduces the theme of perception vs. reality with a rhetorical question: "Do we give our imaginations too much credit sometimes?"
  • She outlines Maria Gomez Camara’s story: in 1971, Maria discovers a face on her kitchen floor, which soon multiplies and eventually leads to a chilling discovery—headless skeletons buried beneath her home.

The First Face and Its Evolution

• Initial Discovery ([06:33]–[09:13])

  • Maria, a lifelong resident of quiet Belmez de la Moraleda, Spain, finds an unexplained stain on her kitchen floor.
  • Initial attempts to clean it fail; soon, the stain evolves overnight, gaining distinct facial features and shifting positions on the floor.
  • "It always stays in the kitchen, but from one day to the next, it shifts a few inches or even a few feet in either direction." – Rasha ([09:13])

• Community Reaction & Destruction ([10:41])

  • Maria shows neighbors who are creeped out and suggest something evil may be at work.
  • The family smashes the kitchen floor and replasters, believing the problem solved.
  • "They literally smash the concrete kitchen floor into a million tiny pieces..." – Rasha ([10:41])

More Faces and Escalating Public Obsession

• The Faces Return and Go Public ([12:04]–[13:38])

  • A new, different face appears days later, fueling Maria’s fears.
  • Word spreads; townspeople—curious and religious—flock to see the phenomenon. Some call it a miracle.
  • The mayor intervenes, forbidding Maria from destroying any more faces; the first face is preserved, others continue to form.

• Tourist Attraction and Accusations of Fraud ([18:03]–[21:44])

  • By winter 1971, the Bélmez Faces phenomenon draws nationwide and international attention. New faces manifest monthly, sometimes before witnesses.
  • Maria starts accepting voluntary tips and selling photographs as souvenirs. This leads to skepticism and suspicions of a hoax.
  • "If she worked at a typical job in her village, it would take her nearly 12 years to make as much as she does in roughly five months of showings." – Yvette ([20:46])

Scientific and Skeptical Investigations

• Physical and Chemical Analysis ([21:17])

  • Skeptics investigate, sampling floor material to look for artistic mediums.
  • Results: presence of paint, oil, and silver salts (a chemical used in photography that can produce images), suggesting possible forgery.

• Countering Skepticism with Unexplained Phenomena ([22:53])

  • Detractors claim the faces are painted, but reports abound of images moving, transforming, or disappearing in front of witnesses—including researchers.
  • "There are a ton of eyewitness reports of people seeing these faces transform right before their eyes." – Rasha ([22:53])
  • Question raised: can a chemical painting move or change before your eyes?

Official Cover-ups and Conspiracies

• Government Investigations ([24:00])

  • Spanish government scientists and, later, police both investigate. In both cases, findings are never released; files go missing.
  • Rasha and Yvette strongly imply a cover-up ("Doesn't that seem all too familiar? Oh, we've misplaced the file." – Yvette, [25:10])

• Rumors of Operation Trident ([26:24])

  • Whispers of a secret government program, "Operation Trident," allegedly suppressing the truth behind the faces, though no proof exists.

• Independent Research: ([27:05])

  • Independent teams seal the house for months with no access, yet upon reopening, new faces appear—strengthening the mystery.

The Mass Grave Discovery

• Excavation and Shocking Findings ([29:44])
  • Investigators dig under the house and find numerous headless skeletons—centuries-old remains from a medieval cemetery, over which the house was built.
  • "They have no idea how the headless skeletons ended up here." – Yvette ([30:30])
  • After the skeletons are reburied and the kitchen restored, the faces keep appearing until Maria’s death in 2004.

The End of the Faces and Theories

• Final Faces and Their Cessation ([33:21])

  • Faces stop appearing after Maria’s death—except for a fleeting episode at her childhood home.
  • Remaining images—including the first ("La Pava")—exist to this day.

• Skepticism and Alternative Explanations ([34:22])

  • Skeptics argue Maria perpetrated the hoax for profit.
  • Paranormal investigators suggest "thoughtography"—the psychic projection of images—might explain the phenomenon.
  • "Maybe Maria did create the faces, but... she wasn't aware that she had psychic powers." – Rasha ([34:40])
  • Thoughtography, first explored by Tomokichi Fukurai in the early 1900s, involves projecting mental images onto surfaces.

The Human Story and Unanswered Questions

• Personal Connections ([38:55])

  • Discussion about Maria's late brother-in-law, Miguel Chamorro, whose face may resemble one of the images—linking personal grief to alleged psychic phenomena.

• Philosophical Reflection ([39:31])

  • Yvette ponders, "What if these eerie encounters aren't just random, but messages we weren't meant to decode? There is more to this than meets the eye." ([39:31])

Memorable Quotes & Timestamps

• On the persistence of the phenomenon:
  • "No matter how hard she scrubs or what different products she uses on the stain, she can't wipe it away. This stuff, whatever it is, seems to now be a permanent part of her floor." – Rasha ([06:33])
• Summing up the mystery:
  • "If these images really were painted or chemically applied to the floor, they wouldn't shift. They'd be a permanent part of the concrete." – Rasha ([22:53])
• Doubting the skeptics:
  • "Two investigations where the findings are never released or announced sounds like a cover up to me." – Rasha ([25:57])
• Miracle, message, or just perception?
  • "We’re so quick to obsess over what we’re seeing, trying to prove it’s real, that we forget to ask ourselves, why are we seeing these things in the first place?" – Yvette ([39:31])

Key Timeline

| Timestamp | Segment & Event | |------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 02:05 | Ashley introduces the legend of the House of Faces | | 06:33 | Yvette and Rasha detail Maria's discovery and the stain's evolution | | 10:41 | Maria shows neighbors, then destroys the original floor | | 12:04 | Second face appears | | 13:38 | Faces become a tourist spectacle, mayor intervenes, original face preserved | | 18:03 | Faces multiply and public fascination grows | | 21:17 | Skeptics test floor samples, find paint, oil, silver salts | | 22:53 | Faces change shape/move before witnesses | | 24:00 | Government investigates, files vanish | | 27:05 | Independent study: house sealed off, but new faces manifest | | 29:44 | Discovery of headless skeletons beneath the house | | 32:37 | Reburial of remains; faces keep appearing until Maria’s death | | 33:21 | Faces appear once in Maria’s childhood home, then cease entirely | | 34:40 | Introduction of thoughtography theory | | 39:31 | Final reflections; are these faces evidence, art, or a psychic message? |

Summary in the Hosts’ Tone

• The hosts maintain an inquisitive, open-minded tone throughout, balancing skepticism with their own fascination for the supernatural. They often challenge simple explanations and encourage listeners to keep questioning, echoing the episode’s central mystery: how can we determine the truth of the unexplained?
• The episode features a rich mix of folklore, scientific inquiry, personal storytelling, and philosophical musing—concluding that, in the case of the House of Faces, evidence refuses to neatly align with any one explanation.

Conclusion

The "House of Faces" episode offers a captivating deep dive into one of the world’s strangest paranormal mysteries, weaving together historical fact, scientific analysis, and the humanity of those at its center. Whether fraud, miracle, psychic imprint, or unsolved mystery, the Belmez Faces continue to intrigue—leaving listeners, in the words of Yvette and Rasha, to become their own judge of the unknown.