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.
Twenty-seven-year-old Julie Smailes was described as a fun-loving young woman who worked as a sales manager at Sun Micro Systems in Greencroft, County Durham, England. She lived alone in a house on Wingrove Terrace in nearby Leadgate. On the night before Halloween of 1996, Julie was at home, watching TV and chatting on the phone … More Julie Smailes
Fifty-year-old Mary McKinlay was the head English teacher at Duncanrig Secondary School in East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, and was described as friendly, affectionate, dedicated, and well-loved by her students. She lived alone in an eighth-floor flat in Glen Tower on Range Road, Motherwell. On Saturday, May 21st, 1994, Mary was seen conversing with a … More Mary McKinlay
Thirty-year-old Tom Hewitt owned a garage on Bright Street, Bury, Greater Manchester, England, and was only weeks away from marrying his longtime partner Sylvia, with whom he had a son. Sadly, though, he would never get the chance to walk down the aisle. Tom was working in his garage on September 7th, 1974, when an … More Tom Hewitt
Thirty-five-year-old Sarah Lewin was a mother to two children named Leanne and Kyle, but lived alone in a council house on Bradley Boulevard, Sheepridge, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. In 1994, she was unemployed, her only income derived from selling amphetamines. She was also believed to be marginally involved with an operation that smuggled alcohol and … More Sarah Lewin
Dora Pratt was seventy-six years old and ran a corner shop on Bulstrode Road, Ipswich, Suffolk, England. She lived alone, in a house adjoining the shop. The night of Friday, January 8th, 1982 had been unusually snowy, so much so that the scheduled Saturday soccer match between Ipswich Town and Manchester United had been postponed, … More Dora Pratt
Forty-four-year-old Peter Rasini lived in Palmers Green, North London, and had run a stall buying and selling antiques at Alfie’s Antique Market in Paddington for more than twenty years. On Sunday, March 24th, 1991, a friend and colleague of Peter’s went to his house at around six-thirty p.m. to negotiate an antique sale. At this … More Peter Rasini
August 21st, 2004 was the day before the twenty-eighth birthday of Tom Brown, a recent graduate from Southampton University who was working for the BBC as a librarian and archivist. He was described by family and colleagues as pleasant, caring, and popular, a man who could always be relied upon to do the right thing. … More Tom Brown
It was Valentine’s Day of 2007, and fifteen-year-old Billy Cox was last seen walking down a street near his home in Clapham, south London, England, accompanied by two unidentified males. Later that afternoon, Billy’s thirteen-year-old sister Elizabeth came home from school and found her brother bleeding profusely from gunshot wounds. She called emergency services and … More Billy Cox
Forty-year-old postal worker Mick Love, described as a “gentle giant” by his family, lived in Swindon, England with his wife Karen and their two children, aged four and eight. On the night of September 26th, 2004, Mick had gone out with friends to Old Town in Swindon. At three-twelve a.m. on the morning of September … More Mick Love
Twenty-seven-year-old Margaret Muller was originally from Falls Church, Virginia, but in 2003 was living in Hackney, East London, England. She was an artist who had moved to the UK to study at the Slade School of Art, part of University College London. On the morning of February 3rd, 2003, Margaret was jogging through Victoria Park … More Margaret Muller
