To mark Vamped‘s fourth anniversary, I thought I’d use our annual list of most popular posts from the previous year. I get a kick out of seeing which ones were most viewed. There’s always some surprises there (#10 and #9 this year in particular).
We published 44 posts in 2017—a slight drop from 49 in 2016. Only one 2017 post cracked the top 10, though that’s not too surprising considering our drop in contributions (life gets in the way!). Hopefully that’ll change this year.
But you know what helps keep us going? Feedback from you guys. Take the following banter on a reddit thread about 19th century vampire killing kits:
That was beautiful. Thank you, guys! Always nice to be appreciated. I still can’t believe I wrote it in three days to make our Halloween 2014 deadline (I still hate the way I ended it, though).
#10. Vampires in Alaska?
Author: Anthony Hogg
Published: September 15, 2014
Views: 2,626
Sample: “Now, before we dismiss Steve’s declaration out-of-hand, let’s take a look at a demonstration of this advancement in “vampirology and in technology”, courtesy of one of the pictures featured in his post […]”
#10 in 2016: Erin Chapman, “Milestone: Vamped Has Been Viewed Over 200,000 Times,” August 18, 2015 (2,208 views).
#9. 5 Vampire Cocktails for You to Try
Author: Erin Chapman
Published: January 22, 2014
Views: 3,189
Sample: “Call up some vampire-loving friends, dust off the martini glasses, get out the candles and open bar! If you have to justify it with a holiday, Valentine’s Day is rearing its ugly head around the corner and not everyone is keen on the idea of spending it gushing over a current or potential love interest.”
#9 in 2016: Erin Chapman, “Ten Years of Twilight: Visit to Forks, Washington,” October 5, 2015 (2,377 views).
#8. Interview with Juliet Landau, Director of “A Place Among the Undead”
Author: Erin Chapman
Published: October 28, 2015
Views: 3,735
Sample: “I was extremely fortunate to work with the brilliant Joss Whedon and to play Drusilla on his BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER and spin-off show ANGEL. It was such an amazing world to play in. Through the years, whenever I’ve hung out with creators, writers, directors, actors who have lived in the vampire universe, I have had the best conversations…”
#8 in 2016: Andy Boylan, “Reflecting on Vampires: Why Don’t They Appear in Mirrors?,” September 15, 2014 (2,535 views).
#7. Vampire Burial Uncovered in Romania? The Strange Case of Grave 42
Author: Anthony Hogg
Published: March 2, 2017
Views: 4,025
Sample: “Vampire burials are a popular news topic. An archaeological dig will uncover corpses buried in an unusual way—and media outlets will rush to call them ‘vampires.’ Brick in its mouth? Vampire. Nailed to the grave? Vampire. Sickle over its neck? Vampire. The problem with these breathless conclusions is obvious […]”
#7 in 2016: Erin Chapman, “5 Reasons Why a Wampyr Didn’t Walk in Highgate Cemetery,” February 27, 2015 (2,551 views).
#6. The Other 5 Most Popular Vampire Songs on YouTube
Author: Anthony Hogg
Published: July 13, 2014
Views: 5,015
Sample: “Two items on this list will probably be disputed, but for the sake of consistency, I’ll defer back to Susan R. Kagan’s definition of vampire songs. On the plus side, ‘Love Song for a Vampire’ made the cut this time (Sting didn’t, though).”
#6 in 2016: Anthony Hogg, “Was Vlad Dracula a Vampire?,” January 27, 2015 (2,784 views).
#5. Reflecting on Vampires: Why Don’t They Appear in Mirrors?
Author: Andy Boylan
Published: September 15, 2014
Views: 5,277
Sample: “Bram Stoker created one of the most enduring pieces of media vampire lore in Dracula (1897)—the idea that they do not reflect in mirrors. In fact it was meant to be more than that, his notes tell us that ‘painters cannot paint him—their likenesses always like some one else’ and ‘Could not codak him—come out black or like skeleton corpse’.”
#5 in 2016: Matthew E Banks, “The Vampire Films of Bela Lugosi,” November 30, 2014 (5,009 views)
#4. The Vampire Films of Bela Lugosi
Author: Matthew E Banks
Published: November 30, 2014
Views: 6,687
Sample: “Bela Lugosi, an imposing figure at 6’1”, piercing blue eyes and Hungarian accent, was born to play Dracula and in 1927 he starred in the title role on Broadway in Dracula – The Vampire Play. He and the play were an instant success, so much so that when Universal were casting the film version, unlike popular myth and legend, Lugosi was a very serious contender.”
#4 in 2016: Anthony Hogg, “20 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About the ‘Interview with the Vampire’ Movie, Pt. 1,” November 11, 2014 (5,593 views).
#3. 20 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About the ‘Interview with the Vampire’ Movie, Pt. 2
Author: Anthony Hogg
Published: December 26, 2014
Views: 8,260
Sample: “If you felt there was a long wait between this article and its previous instalment, you might empathise with Australian movie audiences 20 years ago: Interview with the Vampire was released on Nov. 11, 1994 in the US, but wasn’t screened in Australia until Dec. 26, 1994. But it could’ve been worse if you were in the Czech Republic (Mar. 16, 1995).”
#3 in 2016: Anthony Hogg, “20 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About the ‘Interview with the Vampire’ Movie, Pt. 2,” December 26, 2014 (8,260 views).
#2. 20 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About the ‘Interview with the Vampire’ Movie, Pt. 1
Author: Anthony Hogg
Published: November 11, 2014
Views: 19,431
Sample: “To commemorate the movie’s 20th anniversary, we’ve hand-picked 20 facts about the film you may’ve known—and others you probably didn’t—in this two-part article. For instance, did you know…”
#2 in 2016: Anthony Hogg, “The Other 5 Most Popular Vampire Songs on YouTube,” July 13, 2014 (10,452 views).
#1. 6 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Buy an ‘Antique’ Vampire Killing Kit
Author: Anthony Hogg
Published: October 31, 2014
Views: 19,642
Sample: “Many ’19th century’ vampire killing kits are sold through auction houses and purchased by museums or private buyers. They were apparently sold to travellers vacationing through Europe, as a superstitious novelty item. But I’m here to tell you that whoever’s bought these should’ve held onto their money.”
#1 in 2016: Anthony Hogg, “6 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Buy an ‘Antique’ Vampire Killing Kit,” October 31, 2014 (23,960 views).
We celebrated last year’s anniversary with cake—and there’s a story behind that, too.
If you’re curious, you can view our most popular articles in 2016, 2015 and see a video we made of our top 10 articles in 2014.