The Science of Halloween: 6 Spooky Insights Confirmed By Research

“…poisoned treats are best seen as legend. “I have been unable to find a substantiated report of a child being killed or seriously injured by a contaminated treat picked up in the course of trick-or-treating,” he writes. A survey of news reports finds no more than two reported incidents of this type in any given year since 1982, and Best notes that researchers who follow up such stories find they are usually hoaxes.”

“Numerous studies have shown paranormal believers misperceive randomness and are poor at judging probability.”

“…sexual female characters were less likely to survive and had significantly longer death scenes as compared to those female characters who did not engage in sexual behaviors.”

“Four horror films were manipulated to create versions with traditional endings (endings in which the evil/antagonist is destroyed) or teaser endings (endings in which the evil/antagonist revives). Analysis explored differences in the preferences for ending type based on watcher motivations. Results suggest that viewers, particularly viewers highly motivated by gore or thrill factors, rated traditional endings more favorably than teaser endings, although seemingly for different reasons.”

“Female undergrads, by contrast, said they enjoyed the film more if their male companion appeared calm and unmoved. Moreover, men who were initially considered unattractive were later judged more appealing if they displayed courage during the film viewing.”

“…lunar phase was not associated in any significant way with psychiatric admissions or emergency presentation.”