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 March 27th, 1971, and off-duty special constable David Nathan was taking a stroll on an island in the River Trent in Staffordshire when he spotted something that appeared to be part of a bag of cement poking out of the soil. Curious, he retrieved a spade and began digging. Unfortunately, what Nathan found … More Pink Socks, aka Fred the Head
The town of Montverde, less than forty miles from downtown Orlando in central Florida, was home to less than four-hundred residents in 1980, and was bordered by Lake Apopka on one side and vast stretches of scenic orange groves on the other. It was also the kind of place where everyone knew their neighbors, and … More Georgia Crews
In November of 1969, a terrifyingly random attack on a Pennsylvania graduate student would leave a community reeling, and police scrambling to unlock a motive in a crime that would come to be known as “the murder in the stacks.” Twenty-two-year-old Betsy Aardsma was originally from the Michigan town of Holland, and after graduating with … More Betsy Aardsma: Murder in the Stacks
Early 1968 would see the first in a series of three related murders committed by an as-yet-unidentified serial killer. In February of that year, in the working-class East End of Glasgow, Scotland, a twenty-five-year-old nurse named Patricia Docker left her four-year-old child in the care of a baby-sitter and went out on the town. She … More The Bible John Murders
In the UK in the summer of 1946, the heartbreaking rape and murder of a schoolgirl in Wales would grab headlines under the chilling appellation of the Little Red Riding Hood Murder. It was June 27th, and twelve-year-old Muriel Joan Drinkwater rode the bus home from Penllergaer Grammar School, near Swansea, as she did every … More Muriel Drinkwater: The Little Red Riding Hood Murder
In the summer of 1966, in Paterson, New Jersey, a triple homicide at a local restaurant would ignite a firestorm of controversy, ultimately leading to a groundswell of pop-culture support, allegations of wrongful conviction, and a big-budget Hollywood film. It was about two-thirty a.m. on the morning of June 17th, 1966. Fifty-one-year-old James Oliver, part … More The Lafayette Bar & Grill Murders
In 1943, amid the bright lights and dark shadows of Hollywood, California, an actor who had been born into a world of privilege would meet a strange and rather ignominious end. Gaspar Griswold Bacon, Jr., who later changed his name to simply David Bacon, was the scion of a wealthy and politically influential family in … More David Bacon: The Masked Marvel Murder
Twenty-one-year-old Mima McKim-Hill worked for the Capricornia Regional Electricity Board in Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia, and on March 9th, 1967, she got into a company car with her boss, Isobel Hare, for the more than sixty-mile drive to Gladstone. Mima’s friend and colleague, Shirley Eldridge, was actually supposed to be the one accompanying Isobel that day, … More Mima McKim-Hill
It was Sunday, May 17th, 1953, and seventeen-year-old Kyllikki Saari had been attending a prayer meeting in the town of Isojoki, Finland, not far from her home. After the meeting was over, Kyllikki got on her bicycle and pedaled off down the road. She was seen by a man on a maintenance crew less than … More Kyllikki Saari
It was the afternoon of December 30th, 1957, and seventeen-year-old Ann Noblett had been at a dance class in the town of Harpenden, in Hertfordshire, England. After the class ended, she boarded the Green Line bus that would carry her back to her home in Marshalls Heath. Witnesses saw her get off the bus at … More Ann Noblett: The Deep Freeze Murder
