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.
Seven Blood Stained Orchids (Sette orchidee macchiate di rosso) was released in 1972 and was the last of a series of four Italian/German co-productions (fun fact: in Germany, the equivalent of gialli is “Krimi”) based upon the works of prolific British crime writer Edgar Wallace. It was directed by Umberto Lenzi, probably most infamous (at least … More Movies: Seven Blood Stained Orchids (1972)
Duncan Birmingham, who according to his IMDB bio wrote for the Weekly World News in high school and has gone on to write for TV and direct several short films, has made his feature film debut with the 2022 Shudder original, Who Invited Them. It’s a well-paced and decent psychological thriller with a large dollop … More Movies: Who Invited Them (2022)
I am an absolute sucker for a well-told and terrifying short story. Sure, novels are fantastic too, and can conjure an entire world that you can lose yourself in for days or weeks at a time; but there’s something really special about that sharp jolt from a short tale that can be read all in … More An Appreciation of Alfred Hitchcock’s Stories That Scared Even Me
Today’s review sees us covering another novella, as well as another book I was happily able to read for free using my Kindle Unlimited subscription. I’m not going to lie; I definitely chose this one mainly for the cover art, which is incredible and was done by an artist known only as Thom. I’ll admit … More Books: Dirty Heads by Aaron Dries
Daniel J. Volpe was a name I’d heard before, though I didn’t know much about him and had never read any of his prior works. It seems that he’s mostly known for extreme horror and splatterpunk, and while his 2021 novel Left To You is certainly gory and stomach-churning in places, it’s also a heart-wrenching … More Books: Left To You by Daniel J. Volpe
Although I’m usually a big fan of buying and reading print books (as my groaning, overstuffed shelves can attest), I’m also perpetually broke and unable to spend the amount of money I’d like to on them. While I resisted reading ebooks for a long time, for many still-valid reasons (I already look at a screen … More Books: Man, Fuck This House by Brian Asman
Here we are on the fourth installment, and once again, a particular year provides too many delectable options to cram into one top five list, so for the first time in this series, I’m going to have to give a tip of the hat to a couple of honorable mentions before we get into the … More My Favorite Horror Movies from Every Year Since I Was Born: 1975
In terms of horror movies, the 1980s was the decade of the slashers: they were relatively cheap to make, could go direct to video, and had a built-in audience of fans who would rent anything that promised creative, grisly kills (and maybe some nudity). By the latter part of the 80s, though, slashers were on … More Movies: Edge of the Axe (1988)
Stephen Graham Jones is an author that comes up a great deal in horror circles, but I must admit that I hadn’t read any of his novels (though I’m fairly certain I’ve read some of his short stories in various anthologies at one time or another). Several people had recommended the 2020 novel The Only … More Books: Night of the Mannequins by Stephen Graham Jones
I’ve generally had good luck with most of the Shudder originals and exclusives that I’ve watched; the team at Shudder seem to have a decent handle on ably curating what appears on their streaming service, and almost everything they acquire is at least worth watching (and no, I’m not sponsored by them; I’ve just had … More Movies: Revealer (2022)
