The Enigma of Salazar House

**The Enigma of Salazar House**, renamed **The Horror of Salazar House** in the updated Steam re-release, is a 2020 point-and-click horror game created by Ignacio Maldonato, a.k.a. Maldo19, and published by Torture Star Video; Puppet Combo's publishing label. It is the fifth game published by Puppet Combo, and the first published under the Torture Star Video label. The game can be purchased from Torture Star's itch.io page and from Steam.

## Summary

Elisa, a young reporter, is sent to investigate the abandoned mansion of Renowned author Jaime Salazar, who disappeared, along with his entire family, in May 1986. Setting out to find the truth of what happened in that house, she gets a lot more than she bargained for when she realizes the house of Salazar is not totally empty!

## Characters

* Elisa Muñoz
* Jaime Salazar
* Isabel Salazar
* Gabriel Salazar
* Gloria Salazar
* Javier Salazar
* Cazán
* The Gardner
* The Devil

## Endings

* 0 of 8 - "Obsession": Elisa crawls too far into the opening in the bathroom and is ovewhelmed by a strong desire to keep going. She begins to feel a pleasant sensation, like being with her family, and fails to notice the walls getting increasingly more narrow. Eventually, Elisa becomes stuck and unable to turn back, begging for help. The ending screen retells the story of the Salazar Family disappearance, adding that reporter Elisa Muñoz was sent to investigate the mansion, but was never seen or heard from again
* 1 of 8 - "A Journalist's Disappearance": After getting the key in the bottom of the well, Elisa heeds the Gardener's advice and go back to her car to leave. Elisa frantically searches her pockets for the car keys right before being violently killed by an unidentified attacker, splashing her blood over the car door. The ending screen retells the story of the Salazar Family disappearance, adding that reporter Elisa Muñoz was sent to investigate the mansion, but was never seen or heard from again.
* 2 of 8 - "He is Gone Forever": Elisa is able to lay the Salazar family to rest except Isabel by putting out their candles, but doesn't relight them. If Elisa enters the last room, she is jumped and stabbed to death by Isabel. An old conversation between Jaime and Isabel is seen, in which Jaime unsuccessfully tries to convince his wife to let go and accept the death of their son, while Isabel, blinded by desperation, says that she's willing to do anything to get Javier back, voicing her intent to revive him with the Black Book.
* 3 of 8 - "Escape": Elisa is able to lay all members of the Salazar family to rest except Isabel by putting out their candles. Rather than enter the last room, Elisa unlocks the trapdoor and flees to the car. As Elisa drives down the road, she regrets not finding out the whole story about Salazar House and shamefully admits that her father had been right all along, implying that she is going to quit her career and move back with her father.
* 4 of 8 - "You Got What You Wanted": Elisa is able to lay all members of the Salazar family to rest except Isabel by putting out their candles and relights them. If Elisa enters the last room with the cup of blood in her inventory, Isabel will be docile, but putting out her candle and relighting it will inadvertantly allow Isabel to take over her body, in essence killing Elisa, who becomes the last sacrifice needed to complete the first ritual. Isabel thanks Elisa for what she's done and vows to bring her back to life, along with the rest of her family. As Isabel traverses the house, she is horrified to see all the damage she has caused, repeatedly apologizing to the spirits of Cazán, Gabriel, Gloria and Jaime, promising that she will resurrect them and fix everything as soon as she has Javier back. Once at the initial ritual site, Isabel sees Javier in the arms of the Devil, who has kept his side of the pact by reviving her son, but since Isabel only wished for his revival, he takes his share of the deal by taking Javier away, thus making the deaths of the Salazars and Elisa for nothing.
* 5 of 8 - "A New Life": Elisa is able to lay all members of the Salazar family to rest except Isabel by putting out their candles and relights them. If Elisa enters the last room without the cup of blood in her invetory, Isabel will be docile and putting out her candle and relighting it will set Isabel free as well, who becomes the last sacrifice needed to complete the first ritual. Elisa then hears crying from the ritual site and finds Javier with a note attached to him, simply reading "Take care of him". Elisa escapes the house with the baby in tow and adopts Javier.

Exclusive to the updated "Horror of Salazar House" version:

* 6 of 8 - "Overdosed": Elisa takes too many healing pills in rapid succession, causing her to overdose and die. The ending screen retells the story of the Salazar Family disappearance, adding that reporter Elisa Muñoz was sent to investigate the mansion, but was never seen or heard from again.
* 7 of 8 - "Possessed": Elisa follows the instructions on the note in Blood hole room and sticks her hand in the smaller hole on the control board three times, allowing her to enter the Blood hole. She meets the Devil on the other side, who congratulates her for remembering their first conversation and reveals that by doing so, she has surrended her soul to him, making Elisa one of Hell's mortal servants. Elisa is allowed to return to her realm, under the condition that she safeguard the now revived Javier with her life, with plans to use the baby for nefarious purposes.
* 8 of 8 - "Don't Forget, Your Family Loves You": Same as "A New Life", except that Elisa discovers a letter by Isabel in which she expresses her loathing for God, as she blames Him for the death of Javier. The note attached to Javier changes to a confession from his mother, who wishes him the best in his new life. Elisa intends to honor the Salazars' legacy and raise the baby as her own, but tells Javier that his family "will remain in his heart forever".

## Trivia

* Another game by Maldo19, *The Horror of the Vigil*, shares the setting in Chiloé with a similar premise centered around the occult.

## Gallery

Title card of the game.Game's video cover.
## References

1. ↑ https://torturestar.itch.io/salazar-house
2. ↑ https://store.steampowered.com/app/1405440/The\_Enigma\_Of\_Salazar\_House/