Single and Dead? Ghost Singles Allows Users to Find Love in the Afterlife

In the movie “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” Jack Skellington was more interested in finding the meaning of Christmas than in finding love. That is, until he realizes that even the afterlife could be better with a partner, and decides to kiss Sally.

“My dearest friend, if you don’t mind, I’d like to join you by your side,” he said as Sally sat on the spiraling tip of a Claymation cliff. “Where we can gaze into the stars and sit together and now and forever, for it is plain as anyone can see, we’re simply meant to be.”

Jack made that connection on his own, but others may need some help. That’s why Ghost Singles, an online dating site for the deceased, launched to bring like-minded people together — after they’ve passed.

Just as Jack, Halloweentown’s beloved Pumpkin King, needed someone to fill the void in his icy heart, other singles may find post-life relationships appealing.

Randy Tayler, the Founder of Ghost Singles, said he hoped that all single ghosts could find love like Jack and Sally through his site. The dating platform stands alone from all others because of its strict membership rules: Only dead people can join it.

“I figured I could corner the market,” Randy said. “It does take a certain entrepreneurial spirit to create a site solely for ghosts, but there was no competition in this area, which made it less scary.”

Humans and Ghosts Often Have Dead-End Relationships

It’s unclear how many members Ghost Singles has, in part, because anyone who is still alive can’t see what’s going on. Only singles in the afterlife can sign up to find partners.

Still, the ghost dating site probably has plenty of members if you calculate the number of people who aren’t in stable, committed, happy, fulfilling, or otherwise healthy relationships when they die. They may have been ghosted in life, but a second chance awaits on Ghost Singles.

Randy created the Ghost Singles site in 2009 because he said he saw lonely ghosts forced unhappily to haunt places seemingly still looking for fun and fulfillment. The presence of ghosts have been reported in areas like bars, parking lots, old houses, hotels, restaurants, and other public and private gathering spaces. Ghosts are often reduced to wearing outdated clothing, sometimes holding candles or closing doors when there isn’t a breeze.

Randy knew they wanted and deserved more.

He said he thought the ghosts were simply looking for love, like in the movie “Ghost.” When Sam was murdered by his friend, his girlfriend Molly was heartbroken. She even had trouble focusing on her pottery commissions.

Sam knew he had to enlist the medium Oda Mae Brown to communicate with Molly. But eventually, he’d probably be better off letting that love go and looking for someone else. That’s likely what Molly would want, too.

Ghost Singles would be a perfect place for Sam to start. Randy said he’s the brains behind the website, but it doesn’t take a whole lot to match ghosts.

“There’s no real matchmaking or algorithms at play here,” he said. “The dead know what they want. I think. I’m fairly sure, anyway.”

Ghosts Always Get Ghosted After an Exciting Date

The biggest problem about ghost dating, of course, is ghosting. It’s a huge issue, which is just one reason why Randy decided to limit the website’s membership to people who have already died. Living people often come with a lot of baggage and problems, which all get left behind when you die.

One thing people can’t take with them when they die are those hot six-pack abs, so they should get a picture shortly after because the body starts to decompose fairly quickly. Those photos can be excellent for creating a Ghost Singles profile, although fellow dead singles may complain that they are totally outdated.

Sometimes, ghosts don’t look anything like their pictures, especially when they use a photo from when they were alive. If they died in a massive explosion or gnarly train wreck or fell into a pit of sharp knives, the body isn’t going to remain the same. That’s why so many ghosts like to go on dates sporting a freshly washed sheet with two holes from which to see.

“Feedback has mostly been a lot of complaints about excluding the living,” Randy said. “I’ve had thousands of mortal beings try to join, and I have to say, ‘No.’ I try not to judge, but inter-existence relationships seem wrong. Call me old-fashioned.”

Randy discusses the trend of ghosting and many other topics in the dating tips for the dead section of his website.

“You should know as well as anyone that existence in this twilight realm can be inconsistent,” he counsels the dead. “If your date vanishes, don’t be too quick to judge.”

Ghost Singles Technology Only Works in the Afterlife

Living people who think they can log on to Ghost Singles to help make a love connection for grandpa should think again. Randy said it’s impossible to create an account from the living realm. Instead, the platform uses technology that only works for ghosts and anyone in the afterlife.

“You’d think anybody using Ethernet to access the web could get through, but nope,” he said. “If you’re using a physical computer, you’re going to be disappointed.”

Dating experts agree that most living people wouldn’t be happy dating a ghost — although occasionally ghosts stick around for long periods. That can be good for healing, like in the movie “Ghost,” but other times it’s a serious problem.

The film “Beetlejuice” demonstrates what happens when inter-existence relationships don’t work out. Consider how the dead Barbara and Adam match with Beetlejuice when they try to scare the new nightmarish family out of their farmhouse. It seems that Beetlejuice has matched with many ghosts. Ghost Singles has even tried to ban him from the website, but he keeps creating new profiles.

Randy said they’re working on safety, but not very hard since everyone’s dead anyway. He’s the only one putting in the grueling, ghastly long hours on the dating site.

In truth, he said he’s not doing much to breathe life back into the project. It’s just a joke, after all.

“It’s been fun to see it get rediscovered every few years,” he said. “Sometimes I wonder if we belong on the dark web.”