To hell with ghost stories and bad horror flicks – have you ever been on a first or second date that made you want to run screaming for the door? I’m not talking about your date coming at you with a chainsaw… . How about him wielding a Bible, a leather whip, or a wedding ring instead? Scary! So to help you celebrate Halloween “Tao of Gay” style, here are a few scary date stories as told to me by my friends. And yes, they’re all allegedly true.

The war-monger: Chris still remembers the Army guy he arranged to meet at a coffeehouse. “The guy had his laptop,” says Chris, “and he was showing me photos of bombs being dropped on Iraqi civilian targets. If that wasn’t enough, he then said loudly enough so everyone could hear that ‘Hitler would have finished the job.’ He asked me if the photos made me uncomfortable and squeamish. Needless to say there wasn’t a second date.”

The pervert: Greg met a guy online who he’d seen at a restaurant, and so he decided to meet at the guy’s apartment. “When I got there the guy acted really creepy and kept asking me over and over, ‘What are you thinking right now?’ I was thinking he was scary and I wanted to get the hell out! But as I was walking to the door, he physically blocked it and I freaked. After I finally persuaded him to move, I ran to my car and locked the doors!”

The psycho: Ever since Tina’s date from hell a few years back, she has been extra wary about inviting dates home. “This was someone who was otherwise adorable, sweet, and soft-spoken,” she says. “But one time when I invited her over for drinks, she slipped me a drug. For several hours, I was left paralyzed while she taunted and screamed at me. Then she left before I could call for help.”

The jealous ex: Rob refuses to go on another double date with someone he meets online. “Maybe I should have gotten a clue when my date loaded up a grocery bag of beer,” he says. “I thought he was bringing it for all of us, but later realized he intended to drink it all himself. Things went south when we arrived at his ex’s date’s apartment. When my date saw his ex’s date, he suddenly shouted a string of profanities, hurled a beer can, and they scuffled.” Amid all the shouting, Rob pieced together that 1) his date wasn’t quite over his ex, 2) the ex’s date was a part-time escort, and 3) Rob’s date once paid the escort for services that were not rendered to his satisfaction. “As I cowered in the corner,” says Rob, “My date proposed that the two of us should just go eat on our own. Of course I declined.”

The collector: Jill, who is straight, was talking with one of her dates about E-Bay. “He told me he bought stuff on there for his collection,” she recounts. “When I asked what he collected, he didn’t want to say because it was weird. When I begged him to tell, he revealed that he collected antique prosthetic arms and legs. I immediately pictured his place decorated with body parts. When I actually went to his house the first time he hid them, but I made him show me one. It was creepy to know that I was holding what used to be someone’s arm!”

The religious fanatic: After going on a couple of nice, low-key dates, Tim was excited to be invited to his date’s home. “Suddenly I thought I’d stepped into the Vatican,” he says. “Every wall, case and countertop, even in the bathroom, was loaded with crucifixes, icons and religious paintings. The biggest, most graphic crucifix hung over his bed and featured Jesus with a crown of thorns and weeping wounds. I’m not into priest /altar boy fantasies, and I’m not even Catholic, but I felt as if doing anything remotely carnal in this place would send me straight to purgatory!!”

The hardcore fetishist: Dan met a guy online who was excited by Dan’s budding interest in leather. “When I went to his place,” recalls Dan, “he was wearing a hot-looking harness and studded jock, and we played around a bit. But then he threw me on the bed and he put on a leather pig mask – you know, the ones that cover your whole head – with a leash attached. I didn’t know what to do… . I mean, it’s cool for some people, but I was freaked out!”

There you have it… some real-life scary dates. Some spiked cider, anyone? BWAH-ha-ha-ha!

(All names have been changed to respect privacy.)