A Strange Company 2014

As everyone in the blogosphere seems to be doing end-of-year wrap-ups, I thought I'd post my own look at what was most popular around here during 2014.  Besides, as I don't check my stats very often (too humiliating, if the truth be told,) I was genuinely curious to see what sort of topics made the biggest hit with my three or four readers.

It turns out you all are very big on dead women and dysfunctional families.

So, here are the top posts of this past year, in order from #1 to #10:

1. The Mysterious Murder of Nora Fuller.  This was the leading post by a very comfortable margin.  I suppose I'm not really surprised, as I've long felt that this creepy case has not gotten nearly the amount of attention in true-crime literature that it deserves.

2. Who Killed Jane Stanford?  Another puzzling murder that has been oddly forgotten.

3. Hell's Bells.  Fun and games with one of California's most lunatic families.  (Curious, isn't it, that the top three posts are all San Francisco-related?  Coincidence, or does the Bay Area just have a special gift for historical weirdness?)

4. Joan Risch:  Runaway Wife or Murder Victim?  No matter how many times I read about this story, I still can't decide which one I think she was.

5. Mrs. Harvey and Her Mummy.  Oh, come on, haven't we all known the embarrassment of having relatives find long-dead bodies in our cupboards?

6. Newspaper Clipping(s) of the Day, Till Death Do You Part.  Bring this collection of stories to the next wedding you attend and be everyone's pet!

7.  The Brooklyn Enigma.  The strange, haunting tale of invalid Mollie Fancher and her Wild Talents.  Several people have told me that this was their favorite post ever on this blog.

8. The Deadly Duke de Praslin.  A notorious--and particularly ugly--wife murder in French high places.

9. Newspaper Clipping of the Day, from October 22.  The tragic tale of an abused elephant and his deadly revenge.

10. Robert Coates, the Greatest of Bad Actors.  The title says it all, I think.


So, there you go, the best--or at least, the most popular--of Strange Company 2014.  I have no idea what the new year will bring, but I hope to keep the murder, mayhem, and general nuttiness coming!