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.
A few days before Christmas of 1961, in Liverpool, England, the appalling murder of a young woman in her own home stirred up lurid speculations about fake medical doctors, leather-jacketed strangers, and violent pagan cults. Maureen Dutton was twenty-seven years old, and resided on Thingwall Road in the Liverpool suburb of Knotty Ash with her … More Maureen Ann Dutton: The Knotty Ash Murder
Bella Wright was a twenty-one-year-old factory girl, the eldest daughter of a working-class family in the village of Little Stretton, near Leicester. She could often be seen riding her bicycle along the five-mile path that led between her family’s cottage and the factory where she worked. But on the early evening of July 5th, Bella … More Bella Wright: The Green Bicycle Case
In late February of 1957, in the woods near Fox Chase, Philadelphia, a young man out checking his illegal muskrat traps came across a horrific find stuffed inside a large cardboard box. Not wanting to alert the police to his own unlawful behavior, however, he decided to leave well enough alone. A few days later, … More The Boy in the Box
Twenty-two-year old Rose Harsent was evidently a popular girl around Peasenhall, a small parish in the county of Suffolk. She worked as a domestic servant at Providence House, the residence of Baptist elder Deacon William Crisp and his family, and she apparently had no shortage of suitors, who would send her dirty poems and graphic … More Rose Harsent: The Peasenhall Murder
Megan Curl was a kind, outgoing, twenty-six-year-old woman, the kind of person who never let her mild mental disability get in the way of living her life. Though she had been bullied by classmates as a child, and had suffered through an abusive marriage, she retained her sunny outlook and natural openness and trust of … More Megan Curl
In the late winter of 2001, a woman in a rural town in Minnesota would vanish from her workplace during one of the coldest nights of the year. Fifty-year-old Rachel Anthony had worked at Ultimate Liquors in Pine River, Minnesota for about a year and a half, often handling the closing shift alone. The town, … More Rachel Anthony
As autumn descended in England, on the evening of September 7th, 1963, forty-three-year-old pub landlord George Wilson was sitting in his establishment—which was also his residence—with his wife Betty, their two children, their dog Blackie, and three other individuals: pub regular Mr. Smith, and a couple named Arthur and Irene Ash, who were learning how … More George Wilson: The Pretty Windows Murder
