The Venomous Serpent, also titled "The Night Creature", is a novel written by Brian Ball. It was first published in 1974.
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The brass in the Derbyshire village church depicts Sir Humphrey and Sybil de Latours. Strangely, despite the clear detail elsewhere, the face of Sybil is obliterated. However, Sally Fenton takes a rubbing to hang in the bedroom. The rubbing takes on a life of its own. Soon life in the village becomes a nightmare, and Sally and her partner are powerless to stop the evil spreading...