Serial Killers, Airbnbs and Freezing Weather: The Most-Read Observer News Stories of 2023

We gotta say: Dallas Observer readers never let us down. Over the course of 2023, you clicked onto our news story links with a fervor that is impossible to not be honored by. You’re also a wild bunch with varied interests, judging by the list of our most-read news stories of the year. Readers in 2023 certainly paid attention to the stories our reporters posted that looked into some of the most pressing issues facing not only Dallasites and Texans, but everyone, wherever they live.

Reports connected to the humanitarian crisis at the Texas-Mexico border, developments in abortion law, City Hall happenings, LGBTQ issues, the Ken Paxton impeachment, gun violence and homelessness were all pretty regular presences on this site. But this year, our news readers really gravitated to the stories we shared that impacted their neighbors and the daily life of those who live and work in North Texas. Here are the most-read Dallas Observer news stories for 2023.

5. What’s Next, Now That Dallas Kicked Most Short-Term Rentals to the Curb?

The saga that’s lasted for more than three years reached a dramatic turning point in June when Dallas City Council voted to ban short-term rental (STR) properties, such as the ones you would find on Airbnb and VRBO, from single-family residential neighborhoods. We say turning point, because it has since been made clear that it was anything but a conclusion. An alliance of local STR owners sued the city in October, and in December a judge halted the new Dallas zoning regulations that would have outlawed the properties. The case is now set for a June trial.

4. Halloween Flirts With Freezing Temps, But the Real Horror Starts Next Week

If there’s one thing North Texans like talking about more than the Dallas Cowboys, it’s the weather. It’s not the sexiest topic in the world, but it still catches a lot of eyeballs. By the time October rolled around in Dallas, we had yet to fully recover from the historically, and smothering, hot summer temps, so a story about getting tricked by some cold weather before things would warm back up was scary enough to attract plenty of readers.

3. Why Is 'Serial Killer Dallas 2023' Trending on Google?

Our reporter, Simone Carter, noticed something odd last May when conducting a bit of online research. People in Dallas were furiously using Google to get information on a serial killer in Dallas. We won’t spoil the article for you if you haven't read it yet, but Carter went down the rabbit hole for you and wrote about what she found.

2. Fatal Perfection

Since things live online forever, this sort of event is bound to happen from time to time. A 1999 article looked at the suicide of local attorney Don Crowder. There’s a good chance that name might not have been familiar to you before the past year or so, but it is now. Crowder represented accused ax murderer Candy Montgomery in her 1980 murder trial in Collin County. Montgomery was acquitted, and more than 40 years later, a pair of high-profile, big-budget Hollywood mini-series portrayed the events of the killing and the trial (Candy on Hulu, starring Jessica Alba, followed by HBO Max’s Love and Death, starring Elizabeth Olsen).

1. Sorry, Frisco. Dallas Mayor Wants Your New Universal Studios Theme Park in Hensley Field.

When news broke that Universal Studios had chosen the bustling ‘burb of Frisco for a future theme park, people in North Texas were understandably intrigued. Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson, the man who would love to recruit pro sports teams from other cities to Dallas, decided he would also make public his attempt to poach the new theme park from our neighbor to the north. The local land he was offering up? A former military base with contaminated ground.