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Ken Greenhall (August 1, 1928 – 2014) was an American author of supernatural horror hailing from Detroit, Michigan, where he graduated with a B.A. from Wayne State University. He was the author of five published supernatural horror novels including Elizabeth and Hell Hound (a.k.a. Baxter) in the 1970s, both also published under his pen name Jessica Hamilton, which was his mother’s maiden name. Three more novels appeared between 1982 and 1991, including Childgrave, The Companion, and Death Chain. Not much is known of Greenhall’s personal life. I couldn’t find an obituary online to pinpoint the day he passed away. In fact, data on him is so sparse, recounting it here amounts to a simple rephrasing of other sources online, so I’ll point you to those: Valancourt Books re-released a few of his novels in new editions, and Will Errickson of Too Much Horror Fiction is a notable fan in vintage horror circles who helped bring attention to Greenhall’s work and wrote an introduction for the re-issued Hell Hound from Centipede Press.
The only additional information I found online is that Greenhall served in the U.S. Army from 1951 to 1952, and he had one more novel published later in life that was a departure from his previous novels. Lenoir was published by Zoland Books in 1998 and focused in-part on the issue of slavery in 17th century Holland. The book appears to have been inspired by the famous oil painting by Peter Paul Reubens’ Four Studies of the Head of a Negro, as Lenoir serves as the fictional autobiography of Mbatgha, whom the novel claims is a subject of the painting. Encyclopedia.com reports that he had two additional novels in progress, Rumors of Sanctity and The Standing Man.
The scans below are from my personal library. The featured image is from the cover painting of Childgrave by Lisa Falkenstern. For a list of Ken Greenhall titles currently available on Amazon, click here.
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