Vamped was officially launched on Jan. 20, 2014; however, Vamped wasn’t always Vamped: it used to be called Vampirologist. Why did we change direction and go with Vamped? According to Anthony Hogg, Vamped‘s Editor-in-Chief:
the site needed a new name. Something with mass appeal. Something that would accurately reflect the site’s direction and development—and “Vampirologist” wasn’t doing that for me. It didn’t inspire the purpose I had in mind. And if I wasn’t inspired, the site would’ve lingered in limbo.
In fact, I was this close to shutting it down. It wasn’t until I explained how dissatisfied I was with the name to Sufi, that I was forced into the position of coming up with an alternative. I discussed the matter with my friend and colleague, Erin Chapman. We brainstromed a few alternatives, and even collaborated on a proposal to refine what we wanted from the site. Sufi wanted something with more “pop”—he suggested Vamped.
Anthony and I had no idea that Vamped would take off as it has and lead us into new pursuits within the vampire genre. Personally, I didn’t think I would become so inspired to write articles, something foreign to me prior to meeting Anthony. My backlog of topics at the moment is kind of ridiculous, but I love it.
His past and current work has been inspirational and his encouragement has kept me going through a tough learning curve, despite some moments of frustration.
I think Anthony’s work has evolved, allowing him to branch out from his more academic style into a journalistic approach with a hint of fun. One of my favourite articles he wrote last year was the one on “antique” vampire killing kits, which happened to be the top post for the month of July.
Vamped has provided us with a platform for unique content you won’t find on any other vampire sites, which we pride ourselves on. We don’t do the boring media rehash and investigate to find the story behind the story. We are also developing a reputation: “The guys at vamped.org are practically religious in their research and fact checking.”
We hit a major milestone on May 22, 2015 and published our 100th article, where I talk about my top ten moments working for Vamped. Today at 7:50pm Pacific Time we hit another milestone: 200,000 site views since the conception of the site in 2014.
One of things that I didn’t anticipate when we started this endeavour was developing our own fan base. I know you have vampire groupies, but we have been seeing more and more Vamped groupies emerge from the woodwork as we go along. Having people tell us they follow all our posts and they can’t wait for new articles is an amazing feeling.
We connect with our fans on our website and through different social media platforms. Our Tumblr account has 790 followers; Twitter Account has 663 followers; and Vamped Facebook page has 1694 likes.
Facebook is our main choice for social media and you can find us interacting with fans on the following groups and pages: The Vampirologist (3,784 members), Vampires and Death (4,207 members), Vampire Community (4,939 members), Vampire News (1,347 members), Vampire Shopping (512 likes), and our latest gem, Vampire Fans (837 members).
Anthony and I would like to thank all our fans and readers and hope that as Vamped grows, you will follow us along our journey. We have some cool projects coming up this year and would love for you to be a part of them.
Notes
- officially launched on Jan. 20, 2014: Anthony Hogg, “Official Website Re-Launched,” The Vampirologist (blog), Jan. 24, 2014, accessed Aug. 16, 2015, https://thevampirologist.wordpress.com/2014/01/24/official-website-re-launched/.
- According to Anthony Hogg: Ibid.
- was the one on vampire killing kits: Anthony Hogg, “6 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Buy An ‘Antique’ Vampire Killing Kit,” Vamped, Oct.31, 2014, accessed Aug. 16, 2015, http://vamped.org/2014/10/31/6-reasons-why-you-shouldnt-buy-an-antique-vampire-killing-kit/.
- top post for the month of July: Anthony Hogg, “Monthly Digest: July 2015,” Vamped, Aug. 17, 2015, accessed Aug. 17, 2015, http://vamped.org/2015/08/17/monthly-digest-july-2015/.
- We are also developing a reputation: annimi, “Sean Manchester, the Last Real Vampire Hunter, Is Apparently a Jerk,” Vampires.com, Dec. 5, 2014, accessed Aug. 16, 2015, http://www.vampires.com/sean-manchester-the-last-real-vampire-hunter-is-apparently-a-jerk/.
- published our 100th article: Erin Chapman, “The 100th Post: My Top 10 Moments Working for Vamped,” Vamped, May 22, 2015, accessed Aug. 16, 2015,
http://vamped.org/2015/05/22/the-100th-post-my-top-10-moments-working-for-vamped/. - Tumbler account: http://vampednetwork.tumblr.com.
- Twitter account: https://twitter.com/vampednetwork.
- Vamped Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/vampednetwork.
- The Vampirologist: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thevampirologist/.
- Vampires and Death: https://www.facebook.com/groups/vampiresanddeath/.
- Vampire Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/VampirecommunityVC/.
- Vampire News: https://www.facebook.com/groups/vampirenews/.
- Vampire Shopping: https://www.facebook.com/vampireshopping.
- Vampire Fans: https://www.facebook.com/groups/vampirefandom/.
For another taste of our social media presence, check out Erin’s article “Vamped’s Top 10 Tumblr Posts” (June 6, 2014).