Halloween is one of the most divisive holidays. Some, like me, love spooky season for its cozy mysteries and fun fall activities like costume parties or carving pumpkins. For those who don’t love it as much as the rest of the world, I imagine that there are many aspects of October that may send chills down your spine — horror movies, haunted houses, midterms, you know the scares. However, I think there might be one type of Halloween story that is perhaps the scariest of them all: getting ghosted. 

Picture this: October rolls around, and suddenly being with a special someone around the holidays starts to sound like a good idea. So, naturally, you scroll through some dating apps — which is a horror of its own — and find a seemingly nice person to go to the pumpkin patch or corn maze with! After talking for a bit, you start to think, “Wow, this feels like it’s going somewhere!” Things are feeling good … almost too good, and after some time, you realize that you haven’t heard a single word from them for one, two, three days. … Now it’s radio silence. At the risk of embarrassing yourself, you double-text, but still, nothing. A week goes by, and then a month, and you start to accept it: You’ve been ghosted. 

Ghosting seems to be an epidemic of the modern era. The awful Irish goodbye of relationships, the inconclusive and unfair ending, the unresolved trauma that keeps you wondering, why? As someone who has been both ghosted and the ghost, let me tell you: while it does not feel good to be on either side, it is significantly worse to be the former. 

This past week, I took it upon myself to ask the good people of UC San Diego if they had any “ghost stories” they’d be willing to tell. The results were thoroughly terrifying. Despite the warm, San Diego sun, I was shivering with fear listening to the horror stories my fellow students shared. Here are the top three scariest ghost stories I heard. Warning: do not read in the dark or with your situationship!

1. The Ghost of Tennis Past

For one UCSD student, his ghost wasn’t just any ol’ schmuck he met on a dating app. No, unfortunately for him, it was none other than his old tennis doubles partner from high school. The number of layers in that alone is horrifying enough — for those of you who have seen “Challengers,” I’m sure you understand why. After a coincidental match on one of these apps, their relationship evolved from tennis partners to modern lovers. Then, the unimaginable happened: the guy quit their tryst cold turkey without offering the decency to explain why. After all that history and all those tennis double matches, he was gone without a trace. Our poor student was left devastated, ghosted by someone he thought was more than a tennis fling. To this, I say, good riddance! He probably sucked at tennis anyway, and that might just be the true horror.  

2. The Haunting of Ghost Hill

This next story is truly, absolutely mortifying. Prepare yourselves accordingly. In high school, this student had been dating a boy for roughly a year, which is quite the feat for a teenage couple! First love can be so delightful while simultaneously childish and silly. But you know what else is childish? Ghosting someone over winter break, moving to South Africa, and not revealing this information until a month later. Understandably, our student was left heartbroken and confused — her boyfriend had never once mentioned the move to her. Then, the fact that it took him nearly a month to break the news is just outright disrespectful. But you know what’s even worse? She later learned that he did not in fact move to South Africa, but to Arkansas. A ghost and a liar — and a bad one, at that. The horror! 

3. The Thieving Ghosting Massacre

Isn’t it just the worst when you let your friend borrow something and they never give it back? Our last ghost story of the night doesn’t have to imagine it. This lovely student dated a boy who stole her heart. They were in love and had been official for five months; she had no reason to think their relationship was in jeopardy when she left for a short vacation. So you can picture her heartbreak when — upon returning from her trip — she stopped hearing from him. Having to come to terms with this is beyond unfair and terrible, but you know what makes it even worse? Not only did this guy steal her heart, he also stole her very expensive designer bag. To this day, he still hasn’t given it back. A heartbreaker, a ghost, and a thief? Pick an issue, dude! 

Amid all of these horror stories, there were quite a few people I encountered who claimed they had never been ghosted at all — what a lovely, wonderful thing for them! Unfortunately, their numbers are slowly dwindling, as ghost(ed) stories are becoming increasingly more common. I’m hoping that the love lives of the haunted souls I spoke to go from spooky to spectacular soon, because no one deserves to carve pumpkins or get lost in corn mazes alone.

And as for you ghosts out there, try not to drift to the beyond so soon. Otherwise, you might find your name in a horror story!