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 autumn of 1967, nineteen-year-old WRAF aircraftwoman Rita Ellis was getting ready for a babysitting job on the RAF Halton base in Buckinghamshire, England. She had joined the WRAF the previous April, and by the time November rolled around, she was working for the St. Mary’s Hospital catering department on base, though she periodically … More Rita Ellis
Herbert Wilkinson was fifty-four years old, and up until 1966 had worked as a solicitor in the Cheshire village of Middlewich in England. However, he had been removed from his law practice for reasons which have since been lost to time. On June 2nd, 1967, he left a note for his housekeeper and went out … More Herbert Wilkinson
Twenty-nine-year-old barmaid Gloria Booth had been working at the White Hart pub in Northolt on the night of Saturday, June 12th, 1971. Her shift ended at half past eleven, and she began walking home shortly afterward, a journey she had taken countless times. Early the next morning, a newspaper delivery boy taking a shortcut through … More Gloria Booth
Seventeen-year-old Dorothy Leyden had spent the evening of April 24th, 1971 at the Golden Garter nightclub in south Manchester. She and her friends had been watching a concert by American Motown singer Jimmy Ruffin, and while enjoying herself in the front row, Dorothy had even caught a towel that Ruffin had tossed into the crowd … More Dorothy Leyden
Sixteen-year-old Pamela Conyers was a student at Glen Burnie High School in Maryland. At a little past eight p.m. on the evening of Friday, October 16th, Pamela had just returned home from a pep rally, and planned to spend the hours before bedtime working on the outfit she was going to wear to the school … More Pamela Conyers
Susan Long, an insurance clerk at Norwich Union in England, actually lived in the market town of Aylsham, but often traveled by bus to Norwich for work and to visit her boyfriend, who lived there. After spending a pleasant evening at the Gala Dance Hall on March 10th, 1970, Susan bid her boyfriend goodbye and … More Susan Long
On January 9th, 1970, a man named Reg Williams phoned police in Milford, New Zealand and reported his twenty-five-year-old fiancée, Jennifer Mary Beard, missing. Jennifer, a schoolteacher from Wales, had been hitchhiking down the west coast of New Zealand, and she and Reg had been planning to meet for a vacation on the South Island, … More Jennifer Beard
In spring of 1969, a thirteen-year-old girl in Norfolk, England would go missing in the middle of the afternoon, and while her body was never found, her probable murder has been linked to two of the UK’s most diabolical serial killers. On April 8th, April Fabb was riding her bicycle from her home in Metton … More April Fabb
Thirty-eight-year-old Edwin T. Pratt was a prominent figure in the black community in Seattle. He had been born in Miami, and had had a distinguished career as an activist for the Urban League in various cities before settling in the Seattle area in 1956 and eventually becoming the Executive Director of the Urban League chapter … More Edwin T. Pratt
Seven-year-old Nikki Allan lived in the Wear Garths block of flats in Sunderland, northeast England, with her mother Sharon and her three sisters. On the evening of October 7th, 1992, the whole family was visiting Sharon’s parents, who occupied a residence in the same complex, only a short distance away from the Allan home. At … More Nikki Allan
