BURBANK, CALIF. – Samantha Manson, 23, didn't find herself affected by scary stories – not at sleepovers, not at summer camps, not even when someone put a flashlight under their chin and made their voice go "oooOOooOOooo". Imagine her horror when she opened her Instagram stories and found herself in the middle of one.

"I dated Danny for a little over a month," Sam says, trembling in a shock blanket. "We were really connected to each other and he assured me that he was in it for the long haul. Out of the blue, he dumped me over text, and then agreed to meet me at a Coffee Bean to dump me there as well, saying that he thought we'd be better as each other's wingmen." She takes a moment to collect herself, and so do I, because holy shit Sam what the fuck that would suck dude.

"We lost him after that," she says. "He became a specter, a shadow. Sometimes I'd see something that would remind me of him, like an episode of Entourage, and I'd get these goosebumps at the back of my neck and I'd think, maybe he's thinking of me, somehow, somewhere…but it all seemed too crazy."

Until.

Sam, after a day of feeling bad about herself because Men Be Like That, posted a cute picture of herself to her Instagram stories to boost her self esteem. After a few minutes, she checked who had viewed it to sip the sweet nectar of validation – and nearly dropped her phone when she saw Danny was one of the first viewers. Sam takes a few puffs of her inhaler before recounting this part of the story.

"It just isn't possible! I was texting him and he was leaving me on read, I found out my mom had cancer a couple days before he dumped me and he didn't check up on me at all – he must be dead," says sweet Sam, who is still learning what Men Be Like. "He couldn't bring himself to talk to me in person, but he was trying to send a message from Beyond – I just have no idea what it is."

She's not the only one. Kat Harvey, 24, experienced a similar haunting.

"Casper and I met on a dating app and we were both looking for something casual," Kat says. "As soon as we saw each other, we were so attracted to each other that we opened up Fandango and bought a one way ticket to Pound Town pretty much immediately. We texted a bunch that night, the next day, and then suddenly - " Kat's voice catches. " – sorry, I'm just emotional for my sweet puss*, - nothing. He was a whisper in the wind. But Casper still interacts with all of my social media." She shakes her head, eyes wide. "You just don't believe in ghosts until they've commented 'haha!' on a Clickhole article you shared."

*Kat's sweet puss was unavailable for comment.

We brought in investigative paranormal detective "In Spectre Gidget" – (Gidget B. Spooki, 30) to try to connect to the men doing the haunting. Gidget was able to communicate to those who had passed on - and, even more incredibly, was able to get men to talk about their feelings.

"I had genuine feelings for Sam," Danny boos (because he's a ghost). "I thought she was really special, and I'd never felt that way about someone before. That's why it's important for me that I confuse the shit out of her and never take the initiative to follow up in person about how we're feeling."

Casper barfs plasma everywhere before adding, "I suddenly realized that I wasn't ready for what Kat and I had planned, but I was also attracted to her so I didn't want to rule out pounding her at some point, so instead of communicating any of that I just thought I'd leave her on read but still comment the cry laughing emoji on a couple of her tweets. She's so funny. Can't wait to ignore her some more."

Gidget posited a question to the ghosts: if they spoke to the women in person about how they were feeling, they'd probably be more understanding than they'd assume – even if they wanted it to be over, even if they weren't really sure what they wanted. The only requirement is the men would have to be emotionally vulnerable and yes, a little uncomfortable – but ultimately it would be better for both them and the women they were haunting.

Gidget was then able to record their reactions to the thought of being emotionally supportive. The first confirmed image of a ghost below the cut:

The ghost, when confronted with common decency.