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.
Just as March of 1970 gave way to April, there would be a brutal child murder in England with very little in the way of motive or suspects. Eleven-year-old Philip Green had been hanging out with friends at a field near his home in Bristol on the morning of Tuesday, March 31st. After lunch, he … More Philip Green
In England in October of 1970, there would be another brutal rape and murder of a young hitchhiker near the M1 that hearkened back to the slaying of Jackie Ansell-Lamb from the previous March. Twenty-four-year-old teacher trainee Barbara Mayo had been taking a road trip with her boyfriend David Pollard on Sunday, October 11th when … More Barbara Mayo
On the afternoon of Sunday, March 8th, 1970, eighteen-year-old Jackie Ansell-Lamb (whose first name is sometimes spelled Jacci) was in London, picking up some belongings from her old flat and spending the weekend hanging out with her former roommate and a young man she had met at a party all three had attended on Saturday. … More Jacqueline Ansell-Lamb
On Independence Day of 1988, a pair of teenagers rekindling their romance would disappear from a Texas lakeshore and be found dead four months later. Eighteen-year-old Sally McNelly and sixteen-year-old Shane Stewart had met in high school and had been dating off and on for a year; they had, in fact, just moved in together … More Sally McNelly and Shane Stewart
Eighteen-year-old Inga Maria Hauser was originally from Munich, Germany, a free-spirited, artistic young woman with a passion for travel. Toward the end of March 1988, her family had dropped her off at the train station, and she had journeyed through Holland before taking a ferry to Harwich, England and then on to London. She had … More Inga Maria Hauser
In March of 1988, in northern India, a crime took place in broad daylight on a crowded street and claimed the lives of four people, including one of the most famous singer-songwriters to ever emerge from Punjab. It was around two p.m. on the afternoon of March 8th, 1988, and Amar Singh Chamkila, his wife … More Amar Singh Chamkila and Amarjot Kaur
On Valentine’s Day of 1988, authorities were summoned to a dumpster located near the intersection of Kaiser Road and Old Perkins Road in Millen, Georgia. Three people had noticed a foul stench coming from inside the dumpster, and when police investigated, they soon found the source of the odor: inside was a large, nylon duffel … More Jenkins County Jane Doe
It was a little past six p.m. on the evening of Tuesday, January 4th, 1994. Eleven-year-old Kim Heyrman and her eight-year-old brother Ken left their home in Antwerp, Belgium, and went to visit their friends David and Natacha Musik. David was not at home, though, having earlier traveled to the nearby town of Merksem to … More Kim and Ken Heyrman
In England in the 1920s and 1930s, there was a small but horrific trend in a very particular type of crime, in which murder victims were dismembered and stashed inside trunks, some of which were discovered at train stations. Though these murders were ultimately found to be unrelated, the bizarre series gave the seaside town … More The Brighton Trunk Murders
It was December 16th, 1978, and fifteen-year-old Kerry Graham was planning a shopping trip with her best friend and next-door neighbor, fourteen-year-old Francine Trimble. The girls lived in Forestville, California, and on that Saturday afternoon, they were heading to the Coddingtown Mall in Santa Rosa to buy Christmas gifts for their families. Neither of them … More Kerry Graham and Francine Trimble
