Dating can be full of surprises — and not always the good kind. One woman went to the movies with a guy she met online, only to faint after drinking something he gave her. He didn’t even notice she was gone and later accused her of ditching him, while she ended up in the hospital with food poisoning. Another man had a date who demanded to see his confidential work emails, while someone else drove hours to meet a girl for a concert, only to find she’d matched with another guy during his drive and went to the show with him instead.

Some stories were just bizarre. A woman pretended she was moving to New York after a first date just to cut off contact, but it turned out she never left town and did this to other people too. One man had a crush so intense he showed up uninvited, sat silently on her bed while she pretended to sleep, and later posted obsessively about her online. Another poor guy was tricked into going on a date with a complete stranger because the girl he thought he was talking to gave his number to her friend.

Things got even weirder with one woman who asked her date to “go half on a baby” at Applebee’s and another who claimed her brother was her soulmate. A man even confessed to living in a 55+ senior center despite being only 28 years old, while another person got ghosted mid-date after driving 45 minutes to someone’s house for pizza and conversation.

While these first dates were cringe-worthy and awkward, they also make for hilarious and unforgettable stories. They remind us that dating can be messy, dramatic, and sometimes downright strange — but at least they give us something to laugh about later.