Why we love a fright at Halloween | Daniel Glaser

The startle response is a universal human reaction – and with trick or treat, we create it in a controlled way for pleasure, says Daniel GlaserHalloween is here again and although it seems to get more commercial each year, one constant remains – giving each other a good fright. The startle response, whether from a particularly convincing trick-or-treater on your doorstep or a fright in a horror movie, seems to be close to a human universal. When we look at other animals, even very si