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.
On April 18th, 2002, a man out taking a stroll found a woman’s body floating in a lake in Reynolds Nature Preserve in Morrow, Georgia. Though it was clear the woman had been murdered, her identity remained unknown for four years. Then, in July of 2006, through a joint effort by the Georgia Bureau of … More Christine Allen
On March 10th, 1985, a young woman would be found dead on a roadside in the American Southwest. A group of three rabbit hunters out patrolling an area off County Road E73 about twenty miles from Hatch, New Mexico stumbled upon the partial skeletal remains of a human being, scattered beneath a layer of thin … More Dorothy Harrison: Doña Ana County Jane Doe
Just before Christmas of 1982, in Ohio, two murders would take place within a week of one another, with the bodies discovered in very close proximity. To this day, neither case has been resolved, and it is unknown whether the two crimes are related, though it seems quite likely. On Wednesday, December 15th, fourteen-year-old Sonya … More Sonya Green and Annette Lawrence
On August 24th of 1982, a pair of hikers out looking for mushrooms in Gambrills State Park in Frederick, Maryland chanced across a steamer trunk, which was partially covered with leaves and sticks, but did not appear to have been deliberately concealed. What the hikers found inside the trunk sent them hightailing it out of … More The Cheerleader in the Trunk
On the morning of March 13th, 1987, in a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio called Bedford, a twenty-four-year-old mother of two was found viciously stabbed to death inside her own apartment. Analia Zavodny was the night manager of the Alamo Apartments on Broadway Avenue. Three years after she was slain, her boyfriend was put on trial … More Analia Zavodny
It was October 27th, 1985, and a father and son walking across a piece of land off State Highway 51 just south of Springtown, Texas spotted a smattering of human bones in the dirt. Forensic examination determined that the partial skeleton belonged to a white male between the ages of fourteen and twenty-one years old, … More Billy Fiegener: Parker County John Doe
As 1981 was drawing to a close, a young girl in Canada would disappear while trying to thumb a lift. Fourteen-year-old Dana Bradley had been hanging out at a friend’s house in St. John’s, Newfoundland on December 14th, but at around five p.m., decided she had better start heading toward home, as her mother was … More Dana Bradley
The first week of June of 1991 would see the appalling slaughter of a successful businesswoman in broad daylight in a parking lot in England. Ruth Penelope Bell, better known to family and friends as Penny, was a forty-three-year-old woman who ran a thriving employment agency called Coverstaff Ltd., which placed candidates in catering positions. … More Penny Bell
Not long after the end of the 1980s and the dawn of a new decade, an elderly woman looking forward to a sunny Florida retirement would instead turn up murdered in her own home. Sixty-seven-year-old Eileen Jones had only moved to Gainesville, in north Florida, in 1989. She had always been something of a loner, … More Eileen Jones
In the summer of 1990, in France, a gay pastor would be spirited away by supposed police officers and later be found dead, possibly the victim of a nefarious conspiracy. Joseph Doucé had been born to a Catholic family in Belgium, but in later years converted to the Baptist faith, studied to become a pastor, … More Joseph Doucé
Crime Immemorial 