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 the afternoon of June 1st, 1948, a woman and her daughter rushed to a train station in Texarkana. Secretly, the woman, Hazel Carpenter, hoped the train had already left so that she could drive her daughter to her destination, but unfortunately, the train was still on the platform. The younger woman kissed her mother … More Virginia Carpenter
It was around noon on August 9th, 1974. Seventeen-year-old Mary Ann Pryor decided to go to the Garden State Plaza Mall in Paramus, New Jersey to look for a new bathing suit; she had a gift certificate for Macy’s she wanted to use. Since she didn’t want to go alone, she called up her friend, … More Lorraine Kelly and Mary Ann Pryor
Fifty-six-year-old schoolteacher Lillian Elizabeth Hedman Randolph had not had very good luck with the men in her life. Her beloved first husband Bob O’Hara, with whom she had two children, had died of an accidental fall at the couple’s home in 1945.Five years after that, Lillian married again, this time to a man named Roy … More Lillian Hedman Randolph
It was the afternoon of October 9th, 1965. Fourteen-year-old Elsie Frost had been hanging out with her friends at the sailing club on Horbury Lagoon. It was nearing four p.m., and the teenagers decided to start making their way back home. Elsie’s friends set off along the towpath that lay parallel to the Calder and … More Elsie Frost
Irving Sicherer, better known as Al, was originally from Brooklyn, New York, but moved to Miami Beach, Florida with his wife and adopted son in 1967; the couple had another child three years later. Al was in catering, and worked as a maître d’ at the upscale Tides Hotel for many years. It seems, though, … More Irving “Al” Sicherer
Twenty-one-year-old Suellen Evans was majoring in home economics at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. In 1965, she had just enrolled and signed up for several summer classes, and on the morning of Friday, July 30th, she had two of them: sociology and education. After classes were over for the day, she was … More Suellen Evans
In the summer of 1965, within the seemingly all-American confines of Nashville, Tennessee, a disturbing homicide would occur that would be something of a bellwether of a grisly string of crimes that would plague one area of the city up until late 1969. Though it remains possible that the chilling murders of three local girls, … More The Nashville Murders
In the late summer of 1984, in Australia, there would be a shocking double murder in a Victoria suburb which remains one of the best-known unsolved homicides in the country. Thirty-five-year-old nurse and law student Margaret Tapp was a beautiful and socially popular young woman, and apparently had no qualms about getting attention from married … More Margaret and Seana Tapp
On February 28th in St. Louis, Missouri, two individuals broke into an abandoned Victorian house on Clemens Avenue, ostensibly to look for scrap metal. While they were in the basement of the dwelling, one of them decided to light a cigarette, and the glow from its tip suddenly illuminated a grisly scene. Lying on the … More St. Louis Jane Doe
In the very early spring of 1966, a terrifyingly random murder of a little girl on a New Jersey street in the middle of a sunny afternoon would mark the beginning of a formerly safe town’s tragic downward spiral. It was about four p.m. on March 8th, and seven-year-old Wendy Sue Wolin was standing on … More Wendy Wolin
