M.A. Kleen

This year has been kind to this website. After climbing out of the COVID slump, growing my family, and juggling side projects, I finally started posting regularly again, and readership has picked up. Looking back at my 2025 site statistics offers a good cross section of the topics I return to most often, so I thought it would be fun to share the ten most-read articles of the year. These pieces were published at various times, and the #1 spot was a surprise. See if any of them catch your interest!

10. The Many Mysteries of Rogues Hollow Road

Published March 1, 2017. A headless horse is among the phantoms said to haunt this formerly rough-and-tumble holler near Doylestown, Ohio. According to legend, a low-hanging branch decapitated a horse along the trail, and its spirit returns. Check it out.

9. Robert E. Lee’s Greatest Military Blunders

Published February 3, 2020. Longtime readers know I’m a huge Civil War buff and love studying and visiting ACW sites. By many accounts, Robert E. Lee was the greatest Civil War general. But Lee’s record is not spotless, and he had his share of grave military errors. When Lee was in command of the Army of Northern Virginia, he racked up a total of 209,000 casualties. What were some of his biggest mistakes? Check it out.

8. Have a Swig with Nig

Published June 28, 2019. This famous dive bar in Wisconsin Dells in named after the owner, Nigel, and opened in 1947. I love its cool old sign and can see why readers love it too. Check it out.

7. St. Lawrence State Hospital in Ogdensburg, New York

Published October 10, 2018. The St. Lawrence State Hospital in Ogdensburg, New York treated thousands of mentally ill, disabled, and epileptic patients. It closed in 1983. Parts of the hospital were repurposed, while the more historic buildings were left to decay. These buildings were torn down in 2024. I was fortunate to visit before that happened. Check it out.

6. Fairmont Château Laurier’s Invisible Guests

Published October 24, 2018. Fairmont Château Laurier in Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada’s most lavish and elegant hotel and sits just up Wellington Street from Canadian Parliament. It also has a reputation for being haunted. In this article, I explore its strange history. Check it out.

5. Did Lynne Cheney’s Dad Murder her Mom?

Published December 26, 2018. Adam McKay’s 2018 biopic of Vice President Dick Cheney, Vice, courted much controversy with its unusual style and loose relationship with facts. One of its more outrageous inventions was the not-so-subtle implication that the mother of Lynne Cheney (Dick’s wife) was murdered by her dad. Is there any evidence for this claim? Check it out.

4. EIU Memories: Shannon McNamara’s Murder and the Trial of Anthony Mertz

Published June 24, 2019. My alma mater, Eastern Illinois University, was a safe school in a relatively safe small Midwestern town. But in the summer of 2001, right before the start of my sophomore year, the murder of 21-year-old Shannon McNamara at the hands of a fellow Eastern student shocked and horrified the community. This article covered what happened. Check it out.

3. Navigating Stalin’s Paranoia in HOI IV

Published September 3, 2024. My articles covering the World War 2 grand strategy game Hearts of Iron IV continue to be among the most consistently popular, and this year, readers were especially interested in how to successfully navigate the “Paranoia” mini game when playing as the Soviet Union. Check it out.

2. The Terrifying Truth Behind Crawford Road Bridge

Published November 3, 2020. A remote road in Virginia’s Historic Triangle holds secrets, or at least that’s what storytellers say. In 2025, readers continued to be fascinated by this macabre destination. Check it out.

1. Five Little Birds: The 1968 Cox Murders

Published December 18, 2025. Interestingly, my most popular post of 2025 was one of the most recent. This article traces the worst mass murder in Coles County history and what came after. It went unexpectedly viral, racking up over 1,500 views in a few days. Check it out.