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.
The Wallace case has been called “the classic English whodunnit,” and though the details seem tailor-made for fiction, they were all frustratingly real. At the heart of the mystery stood fifty-two-year-old insurance agent and chess enthusiast William Herbert Wallace, who lived at 29 Wolverton Street, Anfield, Liverpool, with his wife of seventeen years, Julia. The … More The “Impossible” Murder: The Wallace Case
In the first week of March 2000, in a house on the French Riviera, a troubled entertainer would be found dead in her bed, and although the cause very well may have been an accident or even suicide, rumors persist that she might have been the victim of a murder committed by someone very close … More Lolo Ferrari
In Columbus, Ohio, in 1966, an apparently random murder of a man associated with Ohio State University may have been connected with the victim’s prominence in the civil rights movement. Clergyman and theologian Robert Warren Spike had long been a fixture among activist communities fighting for racial equality. Having started his career in Greenwich Village, … More Robert Warren Spike
In the autumn of 1944, a privileged young person with dreams of Hollywood stardom would find her hopes brought to an abrupt end by a brutal and apparently random murder. Georgette Bauerdorf was born into a wealthy family, the daughter of a New York City oil tycoon. Both she and her sister Connie were given … More Georgette Bauerdorf
In May of 2010, a young woman named Shannan Gilbert made a frantic phone call to 911, insisting that someone was after her. Shannan, an escort who advertised on Craigslist, was last seen fleeing from a client’s home in Oak Beach, New York, and subsequently disappeared. During the search for her, though, authorities stumbled across … More The Long Island Serial Killer
In 1984, the murder of a small child in the rural backwaters of France would kick off an almost unbelievable saga of family jealousy, suicide, and murderous revenge that would come to be known as the Grégory Affair. Four-year-old Grégory Villemin lived with his parents, Christine and Jean-Marie, in the small, working-class village of Lepanges, … More Grégory Villemin
On Monday, April 12th, seventeen-year-old high school student Janice Snow got out of classes at around three-thirty in the afternoon, after which she and two friends—Sally South and Judy Young—proceeded to a nearby bowling alley that was a popular hangout spot for local teenagers. A little more than an hour later, Sally’s father picked up … More Janice Snow
It was around seven p.m. on the evening of November 30th, 1948. A couple strolling along Somerton beach near Adelaide, South Australia noticed a man in a suit sitting with his back propped against the seawall. As they watched, the man extended his arm and then dropped it limply. About a half-hour later, another couple … More The Somerton Man: Finally Identified?
On March 8th, 1921, in Waukesha, Wisconsin, the body of a young boy, aged between five and seven years old, was fished out of a pond near the O’Laughlin Stone Company, by a worker named John Brlich. The child had been killed by a blow to the head with a blunt object, and seemed to … More Little Lord Fauntleroy
In early March of 1983, within the hip, underground music and film scenes of Los Angeles, California, a murder would take place that snatched from the world a man whose name is not all that well known today, even though at the time he stood at the nexus of everything that was experimental and up-and-coming … More Peter Ivers
