Another year is almost at a close on Days of Our Lives, and after a few sluggish storylines taking center stage at the soap over the years, 2015 saw the show revamp itself with intriguing characters, shocking twists and amazing stories which kept viewers glued to the NBC daytime show.

Celebrating its 50th year in November, the show pulled out all the stops throughout 2015 to ensure that the show received the celebration it deserved. From old faces returning to stir up some drama, to a serial killer wreaking havoc and other new faces making an appearance to show Salem that it is never safe from problems, there were a chock full of stories that helped amp things up over the course of 2015.

Here are our 10 picks for the best stories the soap unveiled over the course of the year:

The Necktie Killer Strikes In Salem

Without a doubt, the top storyline of the year involved the serial killer who stalked Salem and killed Serena Mason (Melissa Archer) Paige Larsen (True O'Brien) and legacy character, Will Horton (Guy Wilson). Fans quickly learned after a failed attack on Marlena Evans (Deidre Hall) that the killer was Ben Weston (Robert Scott Wilson), who was trying to frame Chad DiMera (Billy Flynn) for the crimes in a misguided attempt to ensure his fiancee Abigail Deveraux's (Kate Mansi) loyalty. The storyline came to an end after Ben kidnapped Abigail when she learned the truth and hid her away in a cabin-and eventually tried to kill both her and Chad as well.

Abigail Is Pregnant-But Who's The Daddy?

Abigail was committed to Ben but found herself drawn back to Chad when he came back to town-and the two did wind up sleeping together. Not long after, she learned she was pregnant. She had a secret paternity test done, but it wasn't secret enough, because Ben's father Clyde (James Read) learned the truth and manipulated the results in Ben's favor. However, the storyline won't end 2015 with Abigail still believing her murderous ex is her baby's father, and the truth will come out as everyone starts gathering to celebrate the arrival of 2016.

The Weston/Kiriakis Feud Boils Over

When Clyde came to town and began moving in on Victor's (John Aniston) territory so he could ship drugs into Salem, it started a nasty war between the two men. Victor hired a man to shoot Clyde dead in the park early on, and he appeared to go missing after that. However, Victor knew that Clyde had survived after his nephew, Sonny (Freddie Smith) was stabbed in the park not long after-forcing him to cooperate with his enemy in order to protect the other members of his family.

Nicole Winds Up In Danger Because Of Serena & Xander

After watching for months as Serena unsuccessfully tried to get Eric's (Greg Vaughan) elephant statue from Africa to recover blood diamonds for Xander (Paul Tefler), the story finally got interesting after Nicole exposed Serena's secrets. However, Xander didn't take very well to Nicole not only choosing Daniel (Shawn Christian) over him, but trying to foil the entire operation. After locking her and Eric in a boiler and trying to kill them, the former lovers confessed their feelings for each other. However, after their rescue, Nicole still chose to be with Daniel, and after Serena's murder, Eric started to go off the deep end and drink heavily.

Paige Learns Of J.J. & Eve's Affair

Though they initially began hooking up in 2014, the truth about J.J. (Casey Moss) and Eve (Kassie DePaiva) betraying Paige's trust didn't come out until her birthday party. After the truth was exposed, Paige isolated herself from her ex and her mother, and continued trying to find ways to get revenge on them. However, after she and J.J. seemed to be on the path towards making amends, she became Ben's second victim, keeping the love story they shared from having a happy end.

Will Sleeps With Paul & Then Tries To Destroy Him

He got the scoop of a lifetime when he learned Paul Norita (Christopher Sean) was gay while doing a profile interview on him-but Will soon came to seriously regret not only cheating on Sonny, but the fact that he did it with a man who was unknowingly the first man Sonny had ever proposed to. After realizing Paul could be competition, he resorted to endless schemes in an effort to keep the ball player away from his husband, which only succeeded to push Sonny even further away from him.

Brady + Melanie= Love

Fans were delighted when Daniel's feisty red-headed daughter Melanie (Molly Burnett) came back to Salem, and a true new romance seemed to be blooming as she and Brady (Eric Martsolf) continued to grow closer before 2014 came to an end, By 2015, they were a full-fledged couple-and even had plans to marry. But unfortunately, Theresa (Jen Lilley) managed to scheme well enough to keep them apart-and Melanie soon exited town again.

The Great Sami Returns

She was the biggest fan favorite character for decades, and fans had been sorely missing Sami (Alison Sweeney) after she left in late 2014. But after her son's murder this year, she came back to Salem and delivered another stunning performance. And naturally, she didn't stay out of trouble either, finding a letter from EJ that allowed her to steal money from Stefano (Joseph Mascolo). She has been in hiding ever since.

Melanie Finds Theresa and Brady's Baby

She was genuinely trying to help the man she loved after growing more suspicious that he did have a son with Theresa that neither of them knew about, but Melanie's investigation into Brady's missing baby wound up being the very thing that later ripped the two apart. Theresa later used her son, Tate, as a tool to drive a wedge between Brady and Melanie, forcing the nurse to leave town.

Sonny Leaves Salem And Heads To Paris

After his husband's affair and continued schemes to try and manipulate their marriage in his favor, Sonny finally had enough and decided to leave Salem-and Will-behind for a temporary breathing period. Unfortunately, not long after he left, Will became Ben's third and final victim-and a devastated Sonny was forced to come home so he could say a permanent goodbye to the husband he loved. After the funeral, he headed back to Paris again to avoid the heartache of being in town once again.

Days of Our Lives airs Monday-Friday at 1 p.m. on NBC.

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Days Of Our Lives, Nbc, Soap Operas