Category: Pop Culture

For the past few decades, horror movie villains have been a part of our culture that drives nightmares, closet inspections, and sales of Halloween masks. How many of us get a cold chill at the mere thought of a man dressed in a mechanic’s jumpsuit lurking at the end of the alley? Or, if you’re like us, have never visited their attic thanks to Kayako, the antagonist in The Grudge. 

Horror fans’ Google search histories prove many people are drawn to what they fear. With this on our minds, the team at GetWindstream found each state’s most searched horror villain. Plus, using our freaky fast Gig internet, you can watch your favorite scary movies with even smoother streaming (possibly making the jump scares even spookier). Keep reading to see which villain led the reign of terror in your state. 

Ten Years of Terror: Nationwide Results

Like Norman Bates adding pearls to his mother’s ensemble, we want to be a little extra this year. Along with this year’s results, here are the nationwide findings for the past decade: the most popular horror villains from 2010 to 2021.

• The title monster from Alien was the most searched villain nationwide over the past decade (and tops in four states). The xenomorph, as it’s come to be known, endures as audiences flocked to the two Alien prequels released in the 2010s, Prometheus and Alien: Covenant.
• There’s no stopping this pint-sized terror when it comes to your TV screen. Amongst sequels and revamps, Chucky creator Don Mancini is now launching a TV series. Set to premiere in October of 2021, it may explain the Child’s Play craze in three states, landing the second spot for most searched in a decade. 
• From the comedic caricature in Hotel Transylvania to the iconic depiction in Young Frankenstein, Frankenstein’s monster boasts more than 70 films since his 1910 silver screen debut, and the interest shows no sign of slowing. Frankenstein had over two hundred thousand searches for the past decade alone, and was the most searched horror movie villain over that time period in four states. 
• Hannibal Lecter has no shortage of fans. Thanks to the popularity of this meat-eating murderer, his story has continued with such releases as Hannibal, Red Dragon, and Hannibal Rising. As a result, eight states looked for him most in their Google searches throughout the years. 
• The lore of Dracula goes back not just decades but centuries thanks to his real life counterpart Vlad the Impaler. With ongoing fascination with vampires, this cultural icon continues to take a bite out of search histories and has nationwide fans searching for him by the thousands.

Your State’s Most Popular Horror Movie Villain

Frightening Findings

• Early drafts of The Ring set the story in Massachusetts, where the antagonist Samara was most searched this year. 
• Pennywise takes on Samara in a financial fight: The Ring was the highest-grossing horror remake in history at more than $249 million in the US until the 2017 version of It snatched the honor. 
• The exterior of the Overlook Hotel was filmed using Oregon’s Timberline Hotel Lodge at Mt. Hood, which may explain why Oregonians have Jack Torrance on their minds and search histories this past year. 
• West Virginians love a good scare. For the nationwide decade data, the Mountain State searched for eight out of the 18 villains. No other state came close to that amount.  

Methodology 

For the statewide data, GetWindstream compared 12 popular horror villains and their films by using Google Trends and looked at results for the past twelve months. 

For the nationwide results, the team at GetWindstream searched Google Trends from June 2010 up until July 2021 for the highest search volume for a given horror movie character over a span of 11 years. In the event of a character tie, a keyword search volume tool was used to specify that character’s search volume for each state it was popular in. 

GetWindstream is an authorized seller of Windstream products. For media inquiries, please contact media@getwindstream.com.

Shows like General Hospital, Saturday Night Live, and The Price is Right have spanned generations with loyal fans who still catch new episodes even though the shows premiered over 40 years ago. The beloved children’s show Arthur is about to turn 25 this year, meaning many kids who watched the show in the ‘90s are now able to tune into new plot lines with kids of their own. 

Watching each episode of these and other long-running TV shows is no small feat (we’re looking at you, Days of Our Lives fans who have seen all 14,000+ episodes). With this in mind, the team at GetWindstream, an authorized reseller of Windstream, used an IMDB list of the 20 longest-running TV shows that are still on air and calculated the total amount of time that loyal fans dedicate to the top long-time programs.

Dig into the data

• General Hospital first aired 58 years ago and has aired nearly 15,000 episodes. Since the original air date in 1963, we’ve seen cell phones go from a mere thought to a computer in our pockets.
• By the time the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, nine of the currently-active shows were well established.
• While Grey’s Anatomy is newer than Family Guy, Arthur, South Park, and SpongeBob SquarePants, the show has more than double the amount of airtime to date, clocking in at 15,621 minutes.
• It’s said that it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert in a topic—by that standard, dedicated Days of Our Lives, The Young and the Restless, and General Hospital fans can all consider themselves soap opera masters.
• The average American works 1,801 hours per year, which is fewer hours than Wheel of Fortune, The Bold and the Beautiful, Jeopardy, The Price is Right, The Young and the Restless, Days of Our Lives, and General Hospital have been on air.
• SpongeBob SquarePants has the shortest total time to watch of all the series we examined, but you’ll still have to dedicate over a month consecutively to watch every episode.

GetWindstream is an authorized seller of Windstream products. 

For media inquiries, please contact media@getwindstream.com.

With 20 seasons and over 200 episodes in the books, Keeping Up With the Kardashians is over. No more over-the-top verbal and physical battles between Kim and Kourtney. No more iconic pranks on Kris from Khloe and Scott. But while there will be no more new episodes of KUWTK, our love for them goes on. We follow them on social media, give them headline stories for businesses they start up, and eat up every gif, meme, and TikTok they share on the internet. We also search for them—a lot. Today, we continue to keep up with the Kardashians/Jenners through the internet, searching for each family member, trying to find the latest scoop on their lives.

GetWindstream used Google Trends data to determine the most popular Kardashian/Jenner in each state. While they each boast an impressive Instagram following (see below), it didn’t always line up with their search popularity. Let’s hope these findings will carry you over while you Kim-losing-her-diamond-earring-level ugly cry about KUWTK being over. Don’t worry—a mysterious Hulu Original is on it’s way from America’s favorite family to follow.

Kourtney Kardashian (124 million Instagram followers)

While she may be the “least exciting to look at,” according to Kim, 18 states found her the most exciting to search for—she was the top-searched Kardashian in the most states. Kim can’t complain about Kourtney not having a business of her own either, considering she started her own lifestyle and e-commerce website, Poosh, in 2019.

Khloe Kardashian (150 million Instagram followers)

No one’s cheating Khloe from being the most searched Kardashian in the second most states, with 13. Khloe had a dramatic run on KUWTK, from her quick engagement—and divorce—to Lamar Odom and the never-ending rollercoaster that is her relationship with Tristan Thompson.

Kris Jenner (41 million Instagram followers)

Kris Jenner, the head of the household and creator of the term “Momager,” was searched the most in nine different states. Rhode Islanders searched Kris the most amongst the states, potentially due to her visit to the state in 2019 for Jennifer Lawrence’s rehearsal dinner. Either way, Kris is more search-worthy than some of her children.

Kim Kardashian (225 million Instagram followers)

A few years ago, Kim Kardashian was more of a household name than any of her siblings, appearing on magazines, billboards, and everywhere in between. She was the face of KUWTK and continued to make headlines due to her success and relationships, most recently with Kanye West. Somehow, she only managed to be searched the most in eight states, one being California where the Kardashian family has long called home.

Kendall Jenner (167 million Instagram followers)

Minnesota, Utah, and Vermont were the only states that searched Kendall Jenner the most. While her looks and glam bring envy to the eyes of her beholders, her vulnerability on KUWTK made her an easy favorite, sharing her experience of anxiety during a time when mental health gained mainstream attention.

Kylie Jenner (237 million Instagram followers)

The most popular family member on social media, Kylie Jenner made it in the search bar for several states but was constantly outshined—or in this case, out-searched—by her sisters. She can still boast of her Instagram followers, becoming the youngest billionaire in the world, and the fact that she hid her pregnancy from all of us until baby Stormi was born! That’s an impressive feat when you have cameras and paparazzi following you everywhere.

Each State’s Most Popular Kardashian/Jenner

GetWindstream is an authorized seller of Windstream products. 

For media inquiries, please contact media@getwindstream.com.