Jenny Ashford is a horror, true crime, and paranormal writer, graphic designer, and podcaster. Her most recent books are a three-volume true crime compilation collectively known as The Faceless Villain: A Collection of the Eeriest Unsolved Murders of the Twentieth Century. Volume One was published in 2017, Volume Two in 2018, and Volume Three in 2019. Her other books include four paranormal nonfiction books: The Unseen Hand: A New Exploration of Poltergeist Phenomena, The Mammoth Mountain Poltergeist (with Tom Ross), House of Fire and Whispers: Investigating the Seattle Demon House, and The Rochdale Poltergeist (both with Steve Mera); as well as three horror novels, Red Menace, Bellwether, and The Five Poisons; two short story collections, Hopeful Monsters and The Associated Villainies; and a graphic novel, The Tenebrist. A second edition of The Associated Villainies was published in 2019, featuring four new stories, an enhanced print layout, and an audio book version. A second edition of The Five Poisons was published in 2020. Her short stories have appeared in several anthologies, including The Nightmare Collective, History Is Dead, 2012AD, ChimeraWorld #3, and ChimeraWorld #4. Her horror blog, Goddess of Hellfire, contains writing news, short stories and articles, and her reviews and opinions on horror films and books. She also co-hosts a podcast with Tom Ross called 13 O'Clock, on which they discuss true crime, unexplained mysteries, paranormal weirdness, horror movies and books, food, and other fun, creepy topics. They recently collaborated on a 13 O'Clock cookbook. Jenny's graphic design work can be seen on everything from books and business cards to posters and packaging. She runs an online store called Gravecake selling products with her designs, and also has a board-and-card game concern called Giallo Games, which produces games based around the beloved Italian horror/crime genre, among many other themes.
In the spring of 1971, the English coastal city of Bournemouth would play host to a crime that bore many similarities to the so-called Coronation Street Murder of Annie Walker from 1969. On May 1st, 1971, seventy-three-year-old Rose Lifely was found dead in the front room of her home on Northcote Road in Bournemouth, where … More Rose Lifely
Chinese immigrants Shum and Toki Sang were in many ways living an American dream. In early 1971, they owned two successful restaurants in New Jersey, and lived in a pleasant two-story home on North Beverwyck Road, the first floor of which they rented out to about a dozen of their employees. On the evening of … More Shum & Toki Sang
In Port Huron, Michigan, police responded to a report of a car accident that had occurred at around two a.m. on the morning of October 8th, 1970. When officers arrived on the scene, however, they were met instead with a bizarre murder. There was indeed a vehicle involved, but it had actually backed into the … More Donald Simons
At around quarter to seven p.m. on Friday, May 15th, 1970, eighteen-year-old Olive Walker left her home on the outskirts of Rotorua, New Zealand to walk to her sister Mary’s house a short distance away. She had agreed to baby-sit Mary’s children that evening. At about seven-fifty p.m., Olive was spotted near the Odeon Theatre … More Olive Walker
It was August 7th, 1969, and workers along I-93 near Salem, New Hampshire spotted what appeared to be human remains in a small pit of water on the side of the highway not far from the Pelham Road exit ramp. Examination of the corpse demonstrated that the individual was a white male between twenty-eight and … More Winston Richard Morris: Salem Unidentified Male
On the first day of February 1968, in West Alton, Missouri, a fisherman cast his line into a lake near Highway 67, and reeled in a macabre mystery. At the end of the man’s hook was an inexpensive black suitcase, sunk in about three feet of water in Lake Alton, four yards from the shore. … More Jane Doe West Alton
In 1969, on the campus of one of America’s most prestigious universities, an academically accomplished young woman would meet her end in a bizarre murder that had possible aspects of a ritualistic burial ceremony. And less than a month after that, another woman who also had connections to the same college was found murdered less … More Jane Britton and Ada Bean
September 10th, 1971 was a Friday, and in Farmington, Maine, fifteen-year-old Judith E. Hand left Mount Blue Junior High School in the afternoon, and proceeded to walk to a relative’s house not far away for a baby-sitting job. Judith, a shy, conscientious young girl, came from a large family who had been financially struggling since … More Judith Hand
In the winter of 1971, three hunters in Galloway Township, New Jersey would stumble across a murdered young woman whose identity is still unknown. The skeleton, found on December 6th in the woods off the Garden State Parkway, appeared to be that of a petite, auburn-haired female between the ages of twelve and eighteen years … More Atlantic County Jane Doe
It was June 13th, 1972, and a fourteen-year-old boy taking his bike to a gas station to put air in the tires happened across a gruesome scene: a dead, naked little boy, floating in Massey Creek near Lorton, Virginia. The child was African-American, somewhere between three and six years old, and appeared to have been … More Fairfax County John Doe
Crime Immemorial 