As we get older, we all wonder if we'll ever end up with the love of our lives. Frankie Valli, 80, just married his longtime girlfriend Jackie Jacobs on June 28th, 2023. If he can find love for the fourth time, then we have hope, right?
Valli has the time and money many of us don't to date around, so we often end up settling for what we can get. A decade ago, the really "desperate" people searched online for love.
Now, with the ever-growing digital dating market, no one bats an eye if you tell them you're meeting up with someone you met online. They might check to make sure you're being safe about it, but that's it.
While many people find on- and offline dating rewarding, there are a lot of weirdos out there that make you feel better about being single. Have you had one too many first dates from hell? Check out these six dating horror stories from Reddit to feel better about being "alone."
Note: Recaps of these stories use gender-neutral terms when the OP's (original poster) pronouns aren't specified.
1. This Tinder Date From Hell
From u/twotoethumbsup on r/dating comes this absolute batshit anecdote about matching with a guy who BIT them. Not once, but TWICE. And it doesn't stop there.
From punching out kitchen cabinets to flinging himself all over the house and running toward OP's car at full speed when they tried to bail, this story will have you thinking twice about that "nice" guy you just matched with.
2. The FBI Fraud
In r/askreddit, u/Giggledust shares a story where their date got arrested after getting caught flashing someone else's FBI business card to get out of trouble for returning fake Gucci sunglasses.
OP mentions this creep they met online happened to be "the school principal for a reputable Catholic school in [OP's] area." Yikes.
3. A West Hollywood Weirdo
The top comment on u/Giggledust's post calling for online dating stories comes from u/snackburros, who shares a shocking OKCupid tale.
After meeting a girl who was vaguely socially related to Ozzie Osborn and who looked nothing like her photos, OP took her out to dinner where she spent the whole date "doing cocaine in the bathroom."
Throw in some drink-spiking, awkward requests for rope play and a refusal to let OP leave her garage, and you've got yourself a recipe for crazy. To top it all off, OP says their date called them three days later to accuse OP of causing her miscarriage. Big yikes.
4. The Wizzing Wizard
Also on u/Giggledust's post, u/blacktara provides a brief anecdote about an online guy they met in the park who "spent a lot of time trying to get [OP] to believe that he was some sort of psychic or wizard."
When the date started going south, OP says the dude begged for a ride to the bus station and wet his pants during the five-minute drive. Gross.
5. The Unintentional Creep
Buckle up for a wild, slightly heartbreaking ride. On r/AskReddit where one user asked for times an OP was the horror in the story, u/awallpapergirl delivers. It started with her meeting a guy in a bar in a flurry of romance novel magic.
After one night together, the guy ghosts OP and stops frequenting their karaoke bar. Hurt and confused, OP turns to the Missed Connections section on Craigslist to see if he said anything. When she comes up empty, she pours her heart out in a Craigslist post and wakes up the next morning to a message from the guy she thought she lost forever.
They email each other for a while; some conversations make her uncomfortable, but she brushes it off because she likes him. Then, by chance, he just so happens to show up at the bar again, and all hell breaks looks. You gotta check this one out because it's way too intense to spoil. Just know: It wasn't OP's missed connection who messaged her on Craigslist.
6. Accidental Bloodshed
In r/AskWomen, u/mookie8 delivers a shocking dating horror story that has less to do with her actual date and more to do with the unfortunate situations we sometimes find ourselves in on the date.
A small-town girl, OP decided to take a chance on "this hockey bro who was pretty popular in town." Despite an initial date of boredom from both parties, OP figured she and her date would take things to the next level when he asked her out again, so she sported a fashionable yet not functional bra on their dinner date in a city miles away from where they lived.
After fifteen minutes of her date acting strange while they're talking, a server rushes over to OP and points out the massive blood stain on her side that resulted from her bra's underwire snapping and puncturing her skin. Oof.
Thankfully, OP's date took her to the hospital, but he then abandoned her miles from home. Luckily, OP had a friend in that city and decided to take the bus and walk the rest of the way to their house. In a time before everyone had access to the internet in their pockets, OP relied on the directions she'd written down from Google Maps and ended up in a place she'd never imagined. For the rest of this story and its happy-ish ending, head on over to the link above.
To Date or Not To Date?
In a recent study on social relationships and depression, researchers Alan R. Teo, HwaJung Choi, and Marcia Valenstein found that "quality of social relationships is a major risk factor for depression." Dating introduces us to a variety of people, expanding our network of social relationships. Enmeshing ourselves with people who only offer us poor-quality relationships leaves us questioning our thought processes when it comes to dating.
Everyone's going to have a dating horror story at one point in their life, and we should always treat a new relationship with a little caution as we try to learn more about our proposed partner. While you should always be a smidge wary of the new people who come into your life, never forget to take care of yourself.
In an episode of the podcast The Art of Being Well with Dr. Will Cole, communication pathologist and cognitive neuroscientist Dr. Caroline Leaf discusses at length the science of reducing stress and anxiety. This podcast serves as a great reminder for us to take care of ourselves both physically and mentally, especially after one too many nightmarish first dates.
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