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 seemed as though they had emerged from a tunnel. The overhanging trees thinned to nothing, and suddenly they were under the open sky, and the causeway was a flat ribbon before them. Puddles from the earlier storm reflected a sliver of moon. “It’s too bad we couldn’t see it in the daylight,” Adam said. … More Fiction: In the Space Between Our Houses
A while back, after watching the classic 1962 film What Ever Happened To Baby Jane?, I went down something of a rabbit hole about the small but potent “psycho-biddy” subgenre, also known by the delightful name of “hagsploitation.” You can probably guess just from the names what these movies involve, but if you can’t, they’re … More Movies: Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? (1971)
It sometimes seems as though Canada doesn’t get the attention or respect it deserves in regards to their contributions to the horror genre. The nation has, after all, given us one of the earliest and best slasher films (Black Christmas), one of the best werewolf films (Ginger Snaps), one of the best ghost story movies … More Movies: Curtains (1983)
Not too long ago, when I did a post and video about Disney’s 1980s “Dark Phase” and talked particularly about the 1980 film The Watcher in the Woods, I happened to mention that the movie in this specific cycle and era that actually got the most discussion for being straight-up nightmare fuel for 80s kids … More More Dark Disney: Revisiting Return To Oz (1985)
The afternoon sun dappled the fields like droplets of honey, shining on the backs of the men as they gathered the remaining harvest in their blue-black hands. Far off, a brick structure stood like a paper cutout against the sky, its tall stacks producing a haze that hung over the landscape, the promise of a … More Fiction: Time, of the Essence
All right, after my abortive last post, where I was only able to review episodes 19 and 20 of Thriller, someone informed me that pretty much all of the episodes in the series are on YouTube, an obvious platform which for some reason I had forgotten to check. So I’m back in business with another … More Revisiting Thriller with Boris Karloff: Season 1, Episodes 21-26
Imagine, if you will, a largely forgotten, late 80s psychological horror film with sci-fi and paranormal elements that legitimately feels like a very low-budget, proto-Inception that also tries to dabble in as many different subgenres as possible, containing flavors of Altered States, Alien, From Beyond, A Nightmare on Elm Street, a haunted house tale, a … More Movies: Nightwish (1989)
It so happened that I had something of a “strange bromance” theme with today’s picks, which is odd because even though I generally choose movies I’ve heard positive things about through the grapevine, I mostly pick the movies at random, and I deliberately try not to read too much about the movies before I watch … More Double Feature: Creep (2014) and They Look Like People (2015)
Although Netflix is generally not the first (or the fourth, or the ninth…) streaming service I think of when I’m looking for some good horror, every now and then they surprise me by platforming a real gem that I previously only heard about through word of mouth, and happily, this turned out to be one … More Movies: Coming Home in the Dark (2021)
When you say the words Rankin/Bass to people of a certain age (ahem), images will immediately be conjured up in the mind: of a big-eyed Rudolph the reindeer and his shiny red nose; of Hermey, the elf who wants to become a dentist; of prospector Yukon Cornelius and his quest for silver and gold; of … More Revisiting Mad Monster Party? (1967)
