Okay, I’ll admit it — I’ve been a LOST fan since the beginning, looking forward to each episode and often watching them twice. I’m not just a casual viewer, I’m a fan: I’ve been to LOST parties, where we watch the show and make snarky-but-loving comments. Okay, I’ll admit more — I’ve hosted LOST parties and I listen to the producers’ official podcast. But while I simply enjoy this TV show, there’s an incredible web-based community of LOST superfans, who engage in encyclopedic cataloging of each episode, creating Lostpedia, possibly the most obsessive catalog of a TV show ever (though Trek fans, you’re welcome to prove me wrong).

Lostpedia is intense. Each episode is treated to a complete rundown, often posted moments after it airs (or even while it airs, as seen in the log for this week’s episode). Every location, character (main and supporting — including Vincent, the dog), theme, mysterious happening, and much more, including frankly amazing transcripts created by viewers.

When I discovered Lostpedia, the first thing I looked for was the “Blast door map,” an image shown on-screen for mere seconds, once during the second season. I wondered if the site might have some info on the map. So yeah, there’s an incredible “Blast door map” entry, including photos and reconstructions of the map from all kinds of different sources, and extensive analysis of each piece of text written on the map. The page even links to a fan-created interactive map, featuring a layered recreation of the image. Um. Wow.

But it doesn’t stop there. Through Lostpedia, I found a blog devoted to LOST Island Maps, including extensive 2D and 3D recreations of the island based on maps and topography seen on the show. After spending an hour clicking through all this stuff, I was forced to admit: these folks love LOST way, way more than me. I just can’t compete, with my lame LOST parties and LOST drinking games (oh no…there’s a LOST drinking game page…I warn you not to Google for more…this is just one of many).

Recommended reading for fans: a thorough description of The LOST Experience, an alternate reality game that engaged fans in extensive real-life hunts for information about the show. The most important find: the Sri Lanka video, which was pieced together from 70 fragments discovered by fans.