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.
It was the morning of April 23rd, 1994, and a cleaning woman at Inokashira Park in Tokyo was emptying out the garbage cans when she came across a plastic bag that smelled particularly foul. At first believing it contained rotten fish, she opened the bag to take a peek inside, but was instead horrified to … More The Inokashira Park Dismemberment Incident
On September 21st, 2001, in the United Kingdom, a heartbreaking and gruesome crime was discovered that would reveal a troubling undercurrent of black magic and human trafficking taking place in the nation’s capital. A passerby strolling near Tower Bridge in London, England on that Friday afternoon noticed a flash of something bright orange, floating in … More Adam, The London Torso
Early in May of 2001, a high-profile case in Hollywood, California would make headlines, and a well-known celebrity would be put on trial for the murder of his wife. Bonny Lee Bakley was born into relative poverty in New Jersey, but from a young age, she was stubbornly determined to become rich, famous, or both. … More Bonny Lee Bakley
January 18th, 1974 was a Friday, and twenty-year-old Glenis Carruthers had driven from her home in Bedford down to Clifton, in Bristol, England, to attend the twenty-first birthday party of her friend, Sandra Hardyman. The party seemed to be in full swing by around ten o’clock, with more than three dozen people present in the … More Glenis Carruthers
The first few years of the twentieth century in Britain had already seen at least one unsolved murder involving a train—that of Mary Sophia Money, from 1905—but 1914 would see yet another. It was a little past eleven a.m. on the morning of January 8th. Agnes Starchfield was planning to go out that day to … More Willie Starchfield
It was May, and Anne Dunwell had been staying with her aunt in Bramley, South Yorkshire, but only a few days into her visit, she decided to go back to her home in Whiston, where she lived with her grandparents. Reportedly, she had been meaning to stay with her aunt for several more days, but … More Anne Dunwell
On the afternoon of Friday, October 5th, in the small town of Rices Landing, Pennsylvania, eight-year-old Debbie Makel left Dry Tavern Elementary School and got on the bus headed toward her home a mile away. Debbie had two older brothers, aged ten and eleven, who would sometimes ride the bus with her, but on this … More Debbie Makel
Fifty-one-year-old Terrianne Summers had spent the first part of her life as Gary, and had served twenty-two years as an engineer in the Navy under that moniker, eventually attaining the rank of Commander. She had also married and fathered two sons. But in the late 1990s, Terrianne realized she could no longer stifle her true … More Terrianne Summers
Thirteen-year-old Carol Spinks set out on the evening of April 25th, 1971 to walk to a 7-Eleven store less than half a mile from her home; her older sister had given her five dollars to pick up a few things. On the way to the store, Carol was seen by her mother, who had been … More The Freeway Phantom
On the morning of Monday, July 10th, 1967, in Des Moines, Iowa, twenty-five-year-old Leota Camp saw her husband Raymond off to his job at the Iowa Employment Security Commission, then set about her tasks for the day, which included doing laundry and looking after her three children: four-year-old Kevin, three-year-old Brenda, and three-month-old Kristine. The … More Leota Camp
