Ep. 15: Summer Spooktacular ft. Ryan of The Museum of Death & the 13 O'Clock Podcast's Jenny Ashford

Modern Mythology Presents...

The Parallax Views Summer Spooktacular!

It's a special SUMMER SPOOKTACULAR! edition of Parallax Views as I speak with Ryan of the Museum of Death and 13 O'Clock podcast host Jenny Ashford! And there may be a few... unexpected guests stopping by throughout the night as well!

Hollywood's world-famous Museum of Death

My first guest is Ryan, a representative to Hollywood's world-famous Museum of Death. Alongside it's New Orleands counterpart, the Museum of Death is a one-of-a-kind, must-see attraction that explores all facets of human mortality from murder to executions to funerary and mortician services. The Museum of Death's Hollywood location features fascinating exhibits on serial killer artwork, cannibalism, the Heaven's Gate UFO suicide cult, Charles Manson and the Tate/LaBianca murders, the OJ Simpson trial, the Black Dahlia Murder and much more! If you're ever in L.A. and have a morbid curiosity about the dark side of the human condition the Museum of Death is a must-visit attraction on Hollywood Boulevard.

The Museum of Death contains a comprehensive exhibit dealing with Marshall Applewhite's Heaven's Gate cult, whose members infamously committed mass suicide in the belief that it would get them aboard a UFO trailing the Hale-Bopp comet.

The Museum of Death also features exhibits on such (in)famous true crime cases as the Black Dahlia Murder, the Manson Family, and the OJ Simpson trial

After that I speak with author, podcaster, and graphic designer Jenny Ashford. Jenny is a paranormal investigator, horror fanatic, and true crime aficiando. Her books include The Faceles Villain: A Collection of the Eeriest Unsolved Murders of the 20th Century, Volume One, The Unseen Hand: A New Exploration of Poltergeist Phenomena, House of Fire and Whispers: Investigating the Seattle Demon House, and the graphic novel The Tenebrist among many others. In addition Jenny, alongside her partner Tom Ross, hosts the 13 O'Clock podcast exploring all topics strange and unusual from hauntings to unsolved murders.

We start the conversation by discussing how Jenny, nicknamed "The Goddess of Hellfire", became interested in goth culture, the paranormal, true crime, and all thing strange and mysterious. From there we delve into 13 O'Clock's supplementary Movie Retrospective podcast, which covers such horror cult classics as Phantasm, Dario Argento's Suspiria, the Re-Animator franchise, and, of course, the films of John Carpenter.

John Carpenter on the set of his undisputed classic, Halloween

Still from John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness

We then transition into a discussion about Jenny's favorite hauntings and the dicey reputation of Ed and Lorraine Warren, who famously investigated the Amityville House haunting immortalized in the Amityville Horror franchise. This leads us to a discussion of how Jenny approaches the paranormal as an avowed atheist and her investigations into poltergeist phenomena, which she argues has very little to do with any Steven Spielberg movie.

An iconic image from the well-known Enfield Poltergeist case (the inspiration for the major motion picture The Conjuring 2) in which Janet Hodgson alleges she was hurled across her bedroom by an unseen force

The last portion of our conversation delves into Jenny's work on unsolved murders as explored on the 13 O'Clock Podcast and in The Faceless Villain. Among the cases we delve into are such obscurities as the Atlanta Ripper, the Cleveland Torso Murders, the Jack the Stripper/Hammersmith Nude Murders, the Black Dahlia Murder, and the Gilgo Beach/Long Island serial killer. We also discuss how serial killers as a phenomena seem to have been largely replaced by spree shooters in recent years and attempt to demystify and de-glamorize serial killers as portrayed in popular culture.

Cover art for Jenny Ashford's The Faceless Villain: A Collection of the Eeriest Unsolved Murders of the 20th Century

Jenny and I round out the discussion by talking about the recent capture of the East Area Rapist/The Original Night Stalker/The Golden State Killer and what advancements in DNA research may mean for famous unsolved cold cases in the future.

The arrest of ex-cop Joseph DeAngelo for the East Area Rapist/Golden State Killer crimes thanks to recent advancements in DNA research may lead to the closing of many famous cold cases

Jenny Ashford

I hope you enjoy this special Summer Spooktacular edition of Parallax Views and...

PLEASANT SCREAMS!