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.
Over a few months in the latter half of 1985, at least four people were killed in a bizarre series of crimes known either as the Mineral, Washington Murders, or the Tube Sock Killings. Despite a thorough investigation and a great deal of public attention, including being featured on Unsolved Mysteries in 1989, the homicides … More The Mineral, Washington Murders
On the afternoon of August 10th, 1975, eight-year-old Helen Bailey left her home in Great Barr, Birmingham, England to play nearby. However, she never returned from her excursion, and her alarmed mother reported her missing that night. The following day, the girl’s body was discovered in the woods near Booths Farm by her father after … More Helen Bailey
On June 7th, 1958, sixty-one-year-old credit draper Harry Baker was due to visit a house at a little past one p.m. It was a Friday, and he had a specific route he followed every week to collect payments from families who had bought textiles or drapery on credit. He never made his one-ten appointment, though … More Harry Baker
King David Gray was originally from Virginia but moved to Hollywood, California as a young man to work in the burgeoning movie business in the early years of the 20th century. Starting as a lighting technician, King eventually became a cinematographer; his first credit in that profession was the 1915 film The College Orphan. He … More King D. Gray
It was the cold winter evening of February 7th, 1906 in Brussels, Belgium, and eight-year-old Jeanne Van Calck set out from her grandparents’ house at about six-thirty p.m. to visit her mother, as she did for a few hours every evening. Jeanne had lived with her grandparents for some time, since her father had abandoned … More Jeanne Van Calck
In November of 1981, sixteen-year-old Pamela Hastie was walking home from school in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, Scotland. As she cut through Rannoch Woods not far from her home, she was attacked by an unknown assailant, who hit her over the head with a piece of wood, dragged her into the bushes, raped her, then strangled her … More Pamela Hastie
March 1st, 1992 was Michele Brown’s twenty-fifth birthday, and she spent the first part of it at a friend’s house in Frankston, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. At some point in the early evening, she and her friend walked to a local grocery store, where Michele called her mother from a payphone, asking her to come to … More Michele Brown
On November 12th, 1989, which was Remembrance Sunday in the UK, firefighters responded to a blaze at a holiday cottage in Rodborough, Stroud, Gloucestershire, in southwest England. Inside, they discovered the remains of forty-three-year-old Carmel Gamble. But it soon became clear that the dead woman had not been killed by the fire, but by savage … More Carmel Gamble
Thirty-two-year-old mother of two Jeanette Kempton, better known as simply Jean, was last seen alive leaving the Loughborough Hotel in Brixton, south London, England, on February 2nd, 1989. For two long weeks after this sighting, her whereabouts were unknown. Then, on February 18th, two hunters came across her decomposed remains lying in a ditch on … More Jeanette Kempton
It was February 5th, 1980, and thirteen-year-old Tracy Main had stayed home sick from school. Both her parents went off to work as usual. The family lived in a flat in a tower block in the Gorbals, an area of Glasgow, Scotland. When Tracy’s mother came home from work, she made a horrifying discovery: her … More Tracy Main
Crime Immemorial 