diff --git a/app/controllers/stories_controller.rb b/app/controllers/stories_controller.rb
index ea55cc7..0e48d0c 100644
--- a/app/controllers/stories_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/stories_controller.rb
@@ -237,8 +237,7 @@ class StoriesController < ApplicationController
       return render :text => "can't find story", :status => 400
     end
 
-    Vote.vote_thusly_on_story_or_comment_for_user_because(0, story.id,
-      nil, @user.id, "H")
+    HiddenStory.hide_story_for_user(story.id, @user.id)
 
     render :text => "ok"
   end
@@ -248,8 +247,7 @@ class StoriesController < ApplicationController
       return render :text => "can't find story", :status => 400
     end
 
-    Vote.vote_thusly_on_story_or_comment_for_user_because(0, story.id,
-      nil, @user.id, nil)
+    HiddenStory.where(:user_id => @user.id, :story_id => story.id).delete_all
 
     render :text => "ok"
   end
@@ -299,9 +297,11 @@ private
     if @user
       if v = Vote.where(:user_id => @user.id, :story_id => @story.id,
       :comment_id => nil).first
-        @story.vote = v.vote
+        @story.vote = { :vote => v.vote, :reason => v.reason }
       end
 
+      @story.is_hidden_by_cur_user = @story.is_hidden_by_user?(@user)
+
       @votes = Vote.comment_votes_by_user_for_story_hash(@user.id, @story.id)
       @comments.each do |c|
         if @votes[c.id]
diff --git a/app/models/hidden_story.rb b/app/models/hidden_story.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..03ea233
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/models/hidden_story.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+class HiddenStory < ActiveRecord::Base
+  belongs_to :user
+  belongs_to :story
+
+  validates_presence_of :user_id, :story_id
+
+  def self.hide_story_for_user(story_id, user_id)
+    HiddenStory.where(:user_id => user_id, :story_id =>
+      story_id).first_or_initialize.save!
+  end
+end
diff --git a/app/models/stories_paginator.rb b/app/models/stories_paginator.rb
index 36838d7..3229d1f 100644
--- a/app/models/stories_paginator.rb
+++ b/app/models/stories_paginator.rb
@@ -26,10 +26,16 @@ private
     if @user
       votes = Vote.votes_by_user_for_stories_hash(@user.id, scope.map(&:id))
 
+      hs = HiddenStory.where(:user_id => @user.id, :story_id =>
+        scope.map(&:id)).map(&:story_id)
+
       scope.each do |s|
         if votes[s.id]
           s.vote = votes[s.id]
         end
+        if hs.include?(s.id)
+          s.is_hidden_by_cur_user = true
+        end
       end
     end
     scope
diff --git a/app/models/story.rb b/app/models/story.rb
index 850a87d..b3da7d4 100644
--- a/app/models/story.rb
+++ b/app/models/story.rb
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ class Story < ActiveRecord::Base
   RECENT_DAYS = 30
 
   attr_accessor :vote, :already_posted_story, :fetched_content, :previewing,
-    :seen_previous
+    :seen_previous, :is_hidden_by_cur_user
   attr_accessor :editor, :moderation_reason, :merge_story_short_id
 
   before_validation :assign_short_id_and_upvote,
@@ -298,11 +298,11 @@ class Story < ActiveRecord::Base
   end
 
   def hider_count
-    @hider_count ||= Vote.where(:story_id => self.id, :comment_id => nil,
-      :vote => 0).count
+    @hider_count ||= HiddenStory.where(:story_id => self.id).count
   end
 
   def is_downvotable?
+    return true
     if self.created_at
       Time.now - self.created_at <= DOWNVOTABLE_DAYS.days
     else
@@ -328,6 +328,10 @@ class Story < ActiveRecord::Base
     is_expired?
   end
 
+  def is_hidden_by_user?(user)
+    !!HiddenStory.where(:user_id => user.id, :story_id => self.id).first
+  end
+
   def is_recent?
     self.created_at >= RECENT_DAYS.days.ago
   end
diff --git a/app/models/story_repository.rb b/app/models/story_repository.rb
index 3507289..97391de 100644
--- a/app/models/story_repository.rb
+++ b/app/models/story_repository.rb
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ class StoryRepository
 
   def hottest
     hottest = positive_ranked base_scope
-    hottest = filter_downvoted_and_tags hottest
+    hottest = filter_hidden_and_tags hottest
     hottest.order('hotness')
   end
 
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ class StoryRepository
   end
 
   def newest
-    newest = filter_downvoted_and_tags base_scope
+    newest = filter_hidden_and_tags base_scope
     newest.order("stories.id DESC")
   end
 
@@ -94,9 +94,9 @@ private
     Story.unmerged.where(is_expired: false)
   end
 
-  def filter_downvoted_and_tags(scope)
+  def filter_hidden_and_tags(scope)
     if @user
-      scope = filter_downvoted scope
+      scope = filter_hidden scope
     end
     if @params[:exclude_tags].try(:any?)
       scope = filter_tags scope, @params[:exclude_tags]
@@ -104,20 +104,16 @@ private
     scope
   end
 
-  def filter_downvoted(scope)
+  def filter_hidden(scope)
     scope.where(Story.arel_table[:id].not_in(hidden_arel))
   end
 
   def hidden_arel
     if @user
-      hidden_arel = Vote.arel_table.where(
-        Vote.arel_table[:user_id].eq(@user.id)
-      ).where(
-        Vote.arel_table[:vote].lteq(0)
-      ).where(
-        Vote.arel_table[:comment_id].eq(nil)
+      hidden_arel = HiddenStory.arel_table.where(
+        HiddenStory.arel_table[:user_id].eq(@user.id)
       ).project(
-        Vote.arel_table[:story_id]
+        HiddenStory.arel_table[:story_id]
       )
     end
   end
diff --git a/app/models/vote.rb b/app/models/vote.rb
index 9775d8c..9ee1a60 100644
--- a/app/models/vote.rb
+++ b/app/models/vote.rb
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ class Vote < ActiveRecord::Base
 
     Vote.where(:user_id => user, :story_id => stories,
     :comment_id => nil).each do |v|
-      votes[v.story_id] = v.vote
+      votes[v.story_id] = { :vote => v.vote, :reason => v.reason }
     end
 
     votes
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ class Vote < ActiveRecord::Base
     v = Vote.where(:user_id => user_id, :story_id => story_id,
       :comment_id => comment_id).first_or_initialize
 
-    if !v.new_record? && v.vote == vote && vote != 0
+    if !v.new_record? && v.vote == vote
       return
     end
 
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ class Vote < ActiveRecord::Base
 
     Vote.transaction do
       # unvote
-      if vote == 0 && reason == nil
+      if vote == 0
         # neutralize previous vote
         upvote = (v.vote == 1 ? -1 : 0)
         downvote = (v.vote == -1 ? -1 : 0)
diff --git a/app/views/stories/_listdetail.html.erb b/app/views/stories/_listdetail.html.erb
index 4b6e0d0..0eb4f89 100644
--- a/app/views/stories/_listdetail.html.erb
+++ b/app/views/stories/_listdetail.html.erb
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 <li id="story_<%= story.short_id %>" data-shortid="<%= story.short_id %>"
-class="story <%= story.vote == 1 ? "upvoted" : "" %> <%= story.vote == -1 ?
-"downvoted" : "" %> <%= story.vote == 0 ? "hidden" : "" %> <%= story.is_expired? ?
-"expired" : "" %>">
+class="story <%= story.vote && story.vote[:vote] == 1 ? "upvoted" : "" %>
+<%= story.vote && story.vote[:vote] == -1 ? "downvoted" : "" %>
+<%= story.is_hidden_by_cur_user ? "hidden" : "" %>
+<%= story.is_expired? ? "expired" : "" %>">
 <div class="story_liner">
   <div class="voters">
     <% if @user %>
@@ -100,10 +101,13 @@ class="story <%= story.vote == 1 ? "upvoted" : "" %> <%= story.vote == -1 ?
           <% end %>
         <% end %>
         <% if !story.is_gone? && @user %>
-          <% if @user && @user.can_downvote?(story) %>
+          <% if @user && story.vote && story.vote[:vote] == -1 %>
+            | <a class="flagger">unflag (<%=
+              Vote::STORY_REASONS[story.vote[:reason]].to_s.downcase %>)</a>
+          <% elsif @user && @user.can_downvote?(story) %>
             | <a class="flagger">flag</a>
           <% end %>
-          <% if story.vote == 0 %>
+          <% if story.is_hidden_by_cur_user %>
             | <%= link_to "unhide", story_unhide_path(story.short_id),
               :class => "hider" %>
           <% else %>
diff --git a/db/migrate/20150211170052_move_hidden_votes_to_hidden_story.rb b/db/migrate/20150211170052_move_hidden_votes_to_hidden_story.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..47012f1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/db/migrate/20150211170052_move_hidden_votes_to_hidden_story.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+class MoveHiddenVotesToHiddenStory < ActiveRecord::Migration
+  def up
+    create_table :hidden_stories do |t|
+      t.integer :user_id
+      t.integer :story_id
+    end
+
+    add_index "hidden_stories", ["user_id", "story_id"], :unique => true
+
+    Vote.where(:vote => 0).each do |v|
+      hs = HiddenStory.new
+      hs.user_id = v.user_id
+      hs.story_id = v.story_id
+      hs.save!
+    end
+
+    Vote.where(:vote => 0).delete_all
+  end
+end
diff --git a/db/schema.rb b/db/schema.rb
index 9a970a1..544a8e0 100644
--- a/db/schema.rb
+++ b/db/schema.rb
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 #
 # It's strongly recommended that you check this file into your version control system.
 
-ActiveRecord::Schema.define(version: 20150127180326) do
+ActiveRecord::Schema.define(version: 20150211170052) do
 
   create_table "comments", force: true do |t|
     t.datetime "created_at",                                                                    null: false
@@ -46,6 +46,13 @@ ActiveRecord::Schema.define(version: 20150127180326) do
     t.string   "link"
   end
 
+  create_table "hidden_stories", force: true do |t|
+    t.integer "user_id"
+    t.integer "story_id"
+  end
+
+  add_index "hidden_stories", ["user_id", "story_id"], name: "index_hidden_stories_on_user_id_and_story_id", unique: true, using: :btree
+
   create_table "invitation_requests", force: true do |t|
     t.string   "code"
     t.boolean  "is_verified", default: false