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.
Born in 1919 in Stirlingshire, Scotland, Frederick Walter Jeffs moved to Birmingham, England as a child. He trained as an electrician at the Austin Longbridge car factory, a hub of wartime production, before enlisting in the Royal Army Service Corps during World War II. Captured as a prisoner of war, Jeffs endured the hardships of … More Fred Jeffs
In the quiet coastal village of Laugharne, Carmarthenshire, Wales—a place immortalized by poet Dylan Thomas for its serene estuary views and timeless charm—a single scream shattered the winter twilight on January 10th, 1953. Seventy-eight-year-old Elizabeth Thomas, a beloved local figure known for her cheerful demeanor and tireless work as a church cleaner, was brutally attacked … More Elizabeth Thomas
Twenty-eight-year-old Andrew Paterson Drury lived at 21a Carnegie Street in Dundee, Scotland, and worked as a machinist. Dundee, with its jute mills and bustling docks, was a hub for seafarers from across the Commonwealth, and on Saturday, November 25th, 1950, Andrew found himself in the heart of this transient world. According to trial testimonies, he … More Andrew Paterson Drury
In the quiet market town of Arundel, West Sussex, England, where the River Arun winds lazily through medieval streets and ancient castles, a shocking discovery shattered the summer calm on August 8th, 1980. The body of twenty-nine-year-old Jonathan Lewis, a charismatic antiques dealer from nearby Brighton, was pulled from the murky waters of the river. … More Jonathan Lewis
Fifty-five-year-old Lillian Wright lived in Lowestoft, Suffolk, England. Born in 1925, she had spent much of her adulthood in the town, a hub for the region’s fishing industry that was then grappling with economic shifts amid North Sea oil booms and declining trawler fleets. In 1980, Lillian was retired or semi-retired, her days filled with … More Lillian Wright
Gladesmore Community School, located on Prospect Place in Tottenham, North London, England, was a microcosm of the area’s diverse yet tense demographic landscape in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The school served a predominantly working-class neighborhood, home to large Caribbean, African, and growing Southeast Asian communities, including many Vietnamese families who had resettled in … More Arif Roberts
Fifty-six-year-old William “Bill” Murfitt had built a reputation as a hard-driving, modernizing farmer with a lively social life. He and his family had leased Quays Farm in Risby, Suffolk, England earlier in the decade and were well known in the Bury St. Edmunds area. On the morning of May 17th, 1938, Bill collapsed and died … More William “Bill” Murfitt
On June 30th, 1926, forty-three-year-old James White died in Acorn Wood, on the outskirts of Nottingham, England. Early press digests and later crime compendia preserve a brief but striking outline: White was found at the foot of a tree as if he had run into it—yet the medical opinion was that the collision wasn’t what … More James White
On the cold Monday night of February 4th, 1929, the quiet clifftop bungalow colony of Limeslade, above the Mumbles on Swansea Bay in Wales, was shattered by a scream. Minutes later, forty-three-year-old Kate Jackson lay outside her back door with devastating head injuries. Within six days she would be dead, and a century later her … More Kate Jackson: The Limeslade Mystery
Sidney Marston was born on May 24, 1911, in Kings Norton, a district within Birmingham’s sprawling metropolitan borough. Described as a thickset young man who could “look after himself,” he worked as a grocer’s assistant, embodying the unassuming working-class life of interwar Britain. Birmingham in 1932 was a booming industrial hub, fueled by factories and … More Sidney Marston
Crime Immemorial 