Most Popular Blogs of 2022

As a blogger, it's important to analyze statistics every once in awhile. I like to see how the blog is doing, and what types of posts you guys seem to like the best. It's both enlightening, and at times, entertaining! Recently, I was curious about 2022. It was a pretty good year in terms of traffic to the site, as well as the number of new posts I was able to put out. But, I wanted to take it a step further and see just which posts I created in 2022 actually brought in the majority of that traffic. And, I thought some of you might be interested as well. So, here are the Top Five Most Popular Blogs of 2022 for Theresa's Haunted History. 

#5: Book Review for Appalachian Bigfoot, by Russ Jones. I'm not even gonna lie; this one threw me for a loop, because normally, book reviews are some of my least popular blogs here on Theresa's Haunted History. I love to read and share what I read, but those blogs don't usually get a whole lot of views in comparison to my other writings. I guess that says a lot about Russ Jones' work! This blog was originally published on Saturday, July 9, 2022.

#4: Friday Night Funny: Hot Bigfoot: Okay, another one that completely shocked me because my Friday Night Funnies, while I think are hilarious, also don't get a whole lot of organic traffic. But this one did, probably because it was a pretty funny summertime meme. This blog was originally published on Friday, July 8, 2022.

#3: TALA Tales: Karl Kunst. I find it important to share the forgotten stories from famous haunted locations that don't necessarily have well-known hauntings attached to them, and the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum is a perfect well of these stories. The story of Karl Kunst is a really sad one; he was not a patient at the hospital, but rather the son of the hospital's superintendent. He tragically took his own life at the hospital in the staff quarters. This blog was originally published on Sunday, July 10, 2022.

#2: The Bewitched Hen of Roney's Point. This was a really weird story I found in an old newspaper about a hen that laid eggs with cabbalistic inscriptions. It was originally published on July 6, 2022. 

#1: June's Paranormal Discussion Group-Haunted Objects. I wrote about the St. Albans Paranormal Discussion Group's monthly meeting for June. That month's topic was a really cool one---haunted objects. We had a great show and tell session, and even had some interactive spirit communication/ghost hunting taking place! That's kind of awesome that this was the most popular blog post of 2022 because I think very highly of this group and am very proud to have the opportunity to attend meetings and write about it. This post was published on July 5, 2022. 

Okay, so I'm seeing a definite pattern here! All of these blogs were published in early July, within a week of each other. That must have been a really, really good month for Theresa's Haunted History! I'm not great about tracking my daily stats (especially around then, as that was when my mom was especially sick) so I'm not sure if I had some older posts 'went viral,' if I was just getting some weird traffic because search engines were indexing me, or if I was just really, really lucky that plenty of people were looking for haunted stuff in and around West Virginia and happened to come across my blog.

Either way, I am so, so grateful to have the wonderful supporters that I do and even though I'd probably STILL write this blog if no one read it, I get so excited seeing my visitor count grow. If you enjoy what you read here, please consider sharing it on social media, sending it to a spooky friend, or even pinning it to Pinterest. I love sharing my love for West Virginia's spooky history and I hope to reach as many people who share that same passion as possible. Thank you and as always...stay spooky! 

Top 5 Spooky Posts of 2020

2020 was a crap year for a lot of reasons, and it was a crap year for Theresa's Haunted History of the Tri-State blog. Not counting this submission, I've only managed to knock out 50 new blogs over the course of the entire year. Therefore, I thought it would be fun (and EASY) to take a look back over those 50 posts and share with you which ones did the best!

5. Bellaire's Sheeted Apparition: (Published January 2, 2020) Bellaire's Sheeted Apparition was a short, vintage newspaper article from 1892, discussing a spook that was terrorizing the people of Bellaire, Ohio, just across the river from Wheeling, WV. 

4. Cold Hands-My Experience at the Ridges: (Published January 3, 2020) What started off as a funny lil' spooky photo turned into an opportunity to share one of my personal ghost experiences. Back in my early days of investigating, I visited the Ridges, an old asylum in Athens, Ohio, and actually got to feel what felt like a small, ghostly hand slip into mine. 

3. Pressing Questions-Familiars: (Published January 17, 2020) This was another Friday Funny, featuring one of my favorite woodcut artworks of a witch and her familiar. It is suggested that perhaps in olden times, witches spoke to their familiars, no matter how grotesque, in the same sweet, soothing, coddling tones that we use on our pets today. 

2. 1952 Louisville Poltergeist: (Published May 2, 2020) The Louisville Poltergeist story was my personal favorite blog to write in 2020. I had stumbled across a newspaper article mentioning it, did a little additional research, and came to the conclusion that what was deemed a hoax, was to me much more complex. Shortly after this blog was posted, I was contacted by a family member, letting me know that the little girl in question had recently passed away...but not before making a successful, loving life for herself and others. There was a lot more to the story than published in the newspapers, and it seems that paranormal activity followed the young woman her entire life. 

1. Fresh Seafood Company: (Published April 28, 2020) Behind the Louisville Poltergeist story, this one was probably my second favorite. I LOVE finding new-to-me haunted locations in West Virginia, and this one is actually VERY close to me! The Fresh Seafood Company is a modern restaurant located in Jefferson, WV...but was once a private residence. It's now haunted by the apparition of a man in a plaid suit.

So there ya have it.  These five blogs were the best performing posts written in 2020. There were a few posts written in previous years that did better than these five this year, so I hope that in years to come, these five will continue to be read and enjoyed by readers of Theresa's Haunted History. I look forward to stepping up my game in 2021 and producing many more quality works for ya'll.  If you have a moment, look over in the sidebar at what I've published in 2020 and let me know in the comments below or over at Theresa's Haunted History's Facebook page what YOUR favorite blog post of 2020 was.

Have a safe and happy New Year's Eve and I'll see ya in 2021! Stay spooky!

Goodbye, 2019....Hello 2020!

Happy New Year!  It's time to say goodbye to 2019...and hello to 2020.  This has been a crazy year. I met my husband in January and got married in March.  My mom battled (and won!) against breast cancer. My tiny boy turned DOUBLE DIGITS! I've spent many a day traveling between Hurricane and Grafton, and many a night sitting in hospital rooms. 

With all the craziness going on, this blog has suffered, and to my regular readers, I apologize.  As life is settling back into a routine, I'm ready to get back to bringing you all the coolest ghost stories, haunted locations, urban legends, and just anything and everything spooky related to West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky and beyond!  To kick start a new year of new content, I'll once again be doing the Ultimate Blog Challenge.  That means there will be a new blog post every day throughout January.  I have failed miserably during the last few challenges, so I'm hoping the motivation of a new year will give me the boost I need to make it through this time. 

If you don't already, please follow me on Facebook for lots of fun and spooky articles, photos, and much more!  It's also the best place to contact me with your questions, comments, and suggestions for haunted locations. Pop on over and let me know if you have any paranormal-related New Year's resolutions, or if you have any awesome investigations, trips to haunted locations, conferences/events, books, podcasts, or anything else spooky coming up in 2020 that'd you'd like to share! You can also find me on Twitter and on Instagram. 

I hope you and yours have a safe and happy New Year, and that 2020 is a great year for you.  Thank you so much for continuing this journey with me as my blog and my involvement in the paranormal community has evolved, shifted, be put on hold, etc.!  I appreciate all the support and kind words you've shown me over the years.  In a few weeks, this blog will be celebrating its NINTH anniversary!  

BONUS

Curious as to what the Top 3 blog posts of 2019 were?  Here's what people were reading and sharing the most this year!

3. David Morgan's Vision---Early West Virginia pioneer, David Morgan, had a sickbed vision that saved the lives of his children from an Indian attack. This tale of supernatural intervention has been passed down from generation to generation, and there is even a historical marker documenting the prophetic dream.

2. Mason County's Mysterious Skeletons---A newspaper from 1821 shares the news of four giant skeletons found in a burial mound, located on a Mason County, WV farm. Folklore is full of claims that West Virginia's Adena burial mounds contain giant skeletal remains of a race of people long forgotten.

1. The Sistersville Stocking Lady---There's a tombstone in Sistersville, WV with a highly damaged carving of an angelic woman atop.  Local legend states than anyone foolish enough to touch the 'Stocking Lady' will meet a horrible fate.